We had our first early morning game drive today and though it was cloudy, the rain held off and we were treated to more lions lying around, including a beautiful male. We then saw a fish eagle sitting on the side of the road. This is not typical behaviour and since it was still there when we drove back down the road a little while later, our ranger suspected it was injured. Unfortunately, there are no rehab facilities for injured birds so its fate may be a grim one…
We then saw more rhino – fitting since World Rhino Day is on September 22. The poaching situation is so critical that even rangers don’t know how many there are in the reserve so the information doesn’t get leaked to poachers. It still boggles my mind that demand for rhino horn is going up and not down. When will science and common sense win over greed and myth?
Giraffes necking were quite entertaining. This is how males fight but it’s so slow that they just look like lazy drunks, swinging and missing half the time. They then stop, walk a few steps and start over. Vervet monkeys were feasting on the bright red Boer Berries but that didn’t stop some of them from picking fights either.
Back at the lodge, the nyalas seem very comfortable close to us. Then more birds on the afternoon drive, including a tawney eagle and the goway bird (the tour operator I used to customize this trip is called Goway after this bird). We search in vain for the elusive leopard. We did get to smell its poop (smells like popcorn if you can believe it).
Other blog posts from this tour:
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Days 8 & 9 | Days 10 & 11 | Days 12 & 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 | Days 16 & 17 | Day 18