Saturday, August 30



We decided to take a hike that morning along the perimeter of the park. The fence runs along the dam, and the trail goes beside the water along the campside.




The pictures of the pennisulas are from the deck before we started down the trail - you can't see them in the distance, but there were at least a dozen crocks on the beach, waiting for something to get close enough for them to snack on.






Nothing between us and the crocs except an electric fence. Which we figured out wasn't working - at least during the day. It certainly made us more wary - if that one wasn't working, what about the others in the park? Did the rest of them work or was it for show??


We saw a baby croc sunning itself on a rock. Shortly after, we met an older British couple who came their for a few months after retirement and never left. We heard quite a few stories like that, and it was easy to see why.


This is me, after I realized the fence wasn't working.


This one, I think, is called a Yellow Hornbill.


A closer shot of the pennisulas with the crocs - you can see the impalas are close, but not TOO close.


Aaron checks out the crocs - we didn't get to watch a feast. The crocs weren't moving, and the animals were smart enough not to get too close.


Me in front of the Baobob tree in our camp - it was huge!! Apparently whole species of insects and birds can live in the tree and never leave during their life span. And the tree is a favorite of elephants - if the trees aren't protected, elephants will dismantle and consume an entire tree!.






That night, we went on a night drive. We thought there might be a chance that would go off the roads to get closer to wildlife, but it turns out a night drive is just like a regular drive, only guided, and at night (duh). At night in the parks, the gates close at 6:30 - meaning you better be inside the camp at 6:30 or you're screwed. Our first sighting was an elephant. It was even more intimidating to see an elephant upclose at night.




We got to see some hyena cubs - they were so cute!! The babies looked just like stuffed animals; I wanted to bring one home. Until the guide told us that they have to move every few weeks because they don't clean themselves, so their dens get full of lice and bugs. Gross!


There are two kinds of scorpions - the bigger the pinchers, the less of a sting. Watch out for the ones with a bigger tail. If we hadn't been on that bus, I would have squashed it. The only good scorpion is a dead one.


My dad's favorite reptile - a dead snake. The guide said that it would probably be gone in the next few hours. Sure enough, when departing the next morning from the camp, we drove that way, and there were no snake remains.




More pix of the hyena cubs - they were playing and it was so cute! There was an even younger one hiding in the den. We saw their parents the next day.






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