Day 3 Safari by Arushi

Our wake up call was bright and early this morning with alarms set to 5.30 Our trusty guide Bryony picked us up at 6 and we rumbled off into the bush. Sleepy eyed we were delighted to find hot water bottles on our seats, which were definitely needed in the cool wind. The camp was full of elephant dung, as the herd had been inside the gates again last night, even venturing as close as the verandas of one of the lodges!

Trundling along we were relying on the torch again in the dark to light up the way until the sun rose revealing the cloudy sky. Our first spot of the day was a wilderbeast Millen saw. The animal was alone and he had the most peculiar coat with half stripes and half almost mane like. He galloped off in a fashion very similar to a horse and we were with him for a few minutes watching his random sprints showing off his surprisingly fast speeds.

We were then in pursuit of white rhinos which had been spotted nearby. Bryony led us to some spots of midden, shown in the picture, which is essentially a pile of dung. These piles are essentially a form of communication, showing the dominant male rhino’s territory. They’re also surrounded by the female piles who are part of his herd. The poo was somewhat fresh and gave us hope for a rhino seeing, but unfortunately we had no luck this morning. However, we then did happen across a tower of giraffes (called a journey if they’re walking), consisting of one male (darker shadings and no hair tufts) and three females (smaller, lighter shadings and brush like tufts of hair on their ossicones). They were surprisingly easily camouflaged for such tall elegant, and it was hard to spot them again once you lost sight of them. They’re my favourite animal so it was so breathtaking to see such magnificent creatures in real life, with their extraordinarily long necks and funny knees. They are so silent, and it’s not even fully known how they communicate to each other. Interestingly, google also claims they only drink water every few days, mostly owing to the difficulty in drinking it with their front limbs I think.

Then we were off again after the giraffe left us, and came across two large bull elephants about half an hour later. They were both munching on grass, filling their daily need of 25kg a day (5% of their body mass which is around 50,000 kg!). One elephant even ventured close we could examine every wrinkle and count every eyelash as he ate the shrubbery next to our jeep. At one point he warned us to move further away with a flak of his ears and small trumpet sound, and he then resumed his munching, indicating he was comfortable with us where we were. We then moved on for our mid morning break, which was muffins and hot drinks, so I enjoyed my second hot chocolate (and then third when eashan passed his on to me), whilst eyeing up the surrounding bushes and even seeing the flash of a hyena, who’s head just darted above the shrubs. He was bigger than I’d imagined and fast! After that excitement we piled back into the jeep for the rest of our morning drive with Bryony, who we learned was former teacher turned paramedic turned safari guide!

The last hour was fairly uneventful, featuring a few kudus and a stork in a watering hole. Back at the lodge we had a hearty breakfast, with our out selected items including french toast (savoury), eggs, tomato and bacon.

Then we had a few hours to ourselves, which we filled with blog writing, gym time, pool time, naps and reading, before it was time to eat again at 2. Since the other Dutch group left this morning after breakfast, we ate in our villa a delicious lunch of meat and veggie burgers with sides of chips and salad. The burger was scrumptious and was homemade with veggies, and the meal was completed with brownies as the cherry on top. The staff cleared the meal as quickly as they lay it out and then we were left for 45 minutes or so before our afternoon game drive at 3.30.

It was quieter this afternoon, starting with a fleeting appearance of a warthog running away. We then saw a herd of elephants, the females with some of their young (adult males get kicked out the herd). It’s still so amazing seeing such magnificent creatures up close, watching them eating. Their trunks are like slinkies, expanding and so flexible bending round branches. We even saw one break off a branch with her tusks. The calves are funny too, as the young ones around 1/2 years old still don’t know how to fully use their trunk, so they instead seem to entertain themselves by swinging it around in circles!

We then moved on and saw a shy steenbok, another antelope member. She was very still and possibly pregnant, her mate is likely nearby since partners travel close to each other, and they mate for life. We saw a red crested korhaan bird too, with a long ish neck that kept bobbing around. This bird is nicknamed ‘suicide bird’ due to the male’s performance of diving and then opening his wings near ground in a showy manner to impress females. We also saw (or heard) a ‘go away’ bird, which made a very loud almost squeaky calling sound, which certainly rivalled the volume of Eashan’s snoring last night.

We then had our afternoon snack break, with tomato crisps, nuts and raisins, and biltong accompanied by g&ts and soft drinks for the boys. We were on the cusp of hilltop reserve, where we weren’t permitted to enter, so after our break we turned around and drove into the dusky evening, pulling our oodie blankets on.

Our final sighting of the day was a bush baby, which was buried in a bush ironically, and appeared ferret shaped from our jeep, and was so hard to spot we could only really glimpse it when the animal moved across a branch.

We then returned to the lodges just in time to stream the remaining half of the Euros final (spain vs. england), and even had the luxury of being served dinner straight to our villa, so we could watch the match at the same time, as we requested (felt like royalty!).

The match was nail biting and went to penalties due to the 1-1 score, but the Lionesses clawed the game back with a thrilling win that was a very high point to end the day on!Read more