The day started early with Chris going out the gates at 6am. He didn’t have much luck but did with the help of Olivia’s (Gary and Ashleigh’s daughter / Karls cousin) keen eyes did find a Hippo for Karl. Chris returned to camp to collect Karl to see “his” hippo and a day out exploring.
After the Hippo we travelled north via a few side roads seeing 30+ Giraffe. A quick stop for morning tea for Karl, breakfast for Chris and a few snacks had us set for a 4 hr round trip looking at animals. Karl was really good keeping himself amused with a water bottle that was both a plain, runway, telescope and my favorite, a camera so we would both wind our windows down and each take photos with our respective cameras.
Dan’s day…
Dan and Isaac remained at camp for the day to have more of a R&R day, We went for a walk along the buffalo walk in front of the units through to the reception area and the waterhole where we found more deer and then back.
Issac had a nice long sleep during the middle of the day and Dan had a nice relaxing time sitting outside listening and watching all the wildlife pass by. 3 different herds of elephants went to the watering hole, there were plenty of squirrels (or what counts for squirrels here), plenty of lizards and one very persistant bird that kept trying to get into the unit by flying into the window.
After Chris and Karl returned from their day trip all kids went for a swim in the camp pool (it was very cold) before a sleep over with Reghard and his parents. The adults went out for a Bush Braai.
A Bush Braai is literally that, a Braai in the bush. First we are driven around in one of the camp buggies hunting out animals while the food is being cooked. 5 minutes from camp we found a Rhino. We didn’t see too much on our travels, but did see some Bush Babies, Warthogs and other smaller animals. We drove around for about an hour and a half. It is quite different being out with the animals after dark, much different than during the day with others around.
We then arrived at the Braai location, a lovely flat area lit with candles, complete with drinks table, a dinner table elegantly set for 7, roaring outdoor fire and a very long table laden with food. Oh, and the ranger with the big gun to ward off any unwanted animals. We had a lovely dinner underneath the open sky with more than enough food and a very nice dessert. Dan was quite nervous being out in the open, but Chris was quite relaxed.
Back to camp, we managed to pass Issac off to his Nana and Poppa for the night, so a good night sleep all around!
Chris, Dan, Karl and Issac