The big 5 - part 1

Another wake up call at 5am, but to be honest, it is so exciting to go again and meet nature that waking up so early becomes easy. The weather was not as good as previous days, grey clouds and a slight drizzle.
We jumped in the land rover with our now safari-friends: a couple from Germany and another one from France with whom we shared previous safari days. We maybe drove 1 minute outside the camp and met 3 giraffes having breakfast !! After admiring them for a few minutes, we drove on and 5 minutes later a big male elephant appeared on the road. What a great animal! We were all in awe as he walked by the car, 2 meters away! All animals consider the cars as non-threatening as the reserve made a point of driving near them every day since years. So the animals are fine with the cars and their noises. But getting out of the car or even standing in the car is not allowed: it changes the outline the animals are used to see and one do not know how they would react when facing a human.
Anyhow after the elephant, we drove another 20 minutes and suddenly there they were…. Brown shapes far away lying on the road: Lions!!!!!! Woooaw. 5 females lions and Jess our guide, told us their pride story. The brother, whom they call “floppy ears” was not with their sisters this time. We watched them lying, sleeping and being big cats that one wants to cuddle. After that, our day was made! We, all 6 of us, had our dream come true with meeting the lions. But the morning safari did not end there: on our way, we met zebras, an elephant mother with her 2 cute babys, 2 ostrichts and countless impalas.
Back to lodge for breakfast at 0830.
We did another bush walk with Tye and learnt a lot about termites and dung beetles!Read more