Xakanaxa Camp day 2

Dennis insisted we do an early morning game drive, so we were at breakfast by 6:30 and out on safari by 7am. We told Dennis we wanted wild dogs today and Cape Buffalo. After finding our laconic lions again (who were in a different spot) we did find the wild dogs. They were near a den which apparently houses a bitch and pups. The 4 dogs outside the den were the guards and the rest of the pack (about 20 in this pack) would have been out hunting. They feed the bitch and puppies by regurgitating their food. Only the alpha male and alpha female of the pack breed. I am not sure how they control this but I am interested to know.
Poor Kate started to feel sick while we were there and we had to leave and come straight back to camp. We hurried back and whizzed past a few hippos, giraffes, a herd of elephants at the edge of the airstrip (who trumpeted when we made them get off our track), monkeys and various other wildlife. Hopefully Kate only has something temporary. The food has been of a high standard so I doubt it is anything like food poisoning.
After lunch I got on the internet to try and update this blog but as there is only one computer there were people waiting and I could not do much. The area where the computer is has an electric fence they put up at night to stop the hyenas who like to come in and bite the leather lounges.
We had a few hours off and tested in our tents then we got in a tinny and cruised around the waterways near our camp. There are lots of pampas grass floating islands and the occasional clump of papyrus. We saw quite a few different birds and hippos. It was interesting to follow where the hippo was going underwater by following the bubbles. We stayed out and watched the sun set into the water. The sky was red and purple and the it was a stunning sight. When we arrived back at camp there were two of the workers waving to Dennis indicating to him that there was a hippo somewhere underwater where we would normally get off, so we went a little further upstream. We saw that hippo a few more times during the evening. He has been kicked out of the herd by his father because he is getting too big. Apparently he is not too happy about it and keeps trying to return to the herd. As a consequence he is hanging around the camp. After dinner he was grazing on the lawn. He's a cute little fellow - about ½ size. I needed to go to the toilet at one point during dinner and due to the presence of the hippo I had to be escorted there because he was very close to the toilets. He didn't look at all worried about me but the staff treat hippos with great respect as they can be very dangerous. I also heard something outside our window early this morning and when we looked out he was a few feet from our tent grazing. He hung around there for quite a while until shooed away by the staff.
While we were out in the boat Dennis and Stefan explained how the Okavango Delta formed due to the movement of tectonic plates. Any plans by Angola and Namibia to dam the tributaries that feed the Delta have been successfully squashed by international pressure. Myf and I both thought it is a great shame that same pressure had not been applied to the Chinese government re the Mekong.
On a map the place where we stayed was near Moremi. Moremi was the name of the local indigenous chief. He advised all the people living in that area to move out because of the tetsi fly. However, the Botswanan government eradicated the tetsi in the area by spraying DDT. It was not only effective for the tetsi but also wiped out a heap of other useful stuff in the ecosystem too. Of course it is banned now but it was still being used in Botswana long after Australia/USA recognized it's teratogenic and carcinogenic qualities and banned it.Okumaya devam et