With Chris and Susie leaving after lunch we'd assumed we'd be sharing with whoever arrived on the noon flight but, as no one did, we were delighted to have Nelson and the truck to ourselves. Although it can be a bit daunting as there is so much choice.
As we've only seen Fig's daughter in low light, we thought a little more leopard would be nice so we set off in search. A few photos on the way.
Long Tailed Shrike aka Magpie Shrike
We'd only just been chatting to Nelson about the agamas we'd seen previously and that we hadn't seen any this year and suddenly there before us was a male Rock Agama. I think I took better pictures last time but still couldn't stop myself.
We did pass a Tree Agama a little later but Nelson didn't stop in time.
This mongoose (I presume, common slender) was horrified to see us and promptly disappeared down into its den and then came up again the other side of the tree stump, only to find we were still there.
Grey Heron up a tree.
We've seen very few flowers this time; the Tissue Paper ones aren't nearly as prolific as they were before but that's probably due to the amount/timing of the winter rains. This is a species of Crinum but I don't know which one.
I hadn't heard the terms "wiglets" used to refer to baby warthog before Nelson used it - what a wonderful name (although these ones aren't particularly young).
A very handsome Topi; we are a couple of weeks earlier than before and there were far less Topi standing on earth mounds showing themselves off, they seemed quite content just grazing.
I'm not entirely sure where this lone elephant picture comes from and have no recollection of taking it, but the metadata puts it right here.
We didn't remember this bridge spanning the dried up river, but Nelson assured us it had been there a long time.
What made me laugh was the baboon in the middle that really looked like he was taking a selfie.
We spent ages and ages and ages driving up and down a dried up river where Nelson thought he might find leopard but no luck and to be honest it was probably one of the most boring drives we've done. We kept suggesting that we give up and go and look at something else (anything else) but he was quite zealous.
Eventually we did give up and found the lioness with four cubs but as you can see there were already a few vehicles around - the first time in the whole holiday we've witnessed this. I think the limit in his conservancy is 5 per vehicle, so we stayed back and enjoyed our sundowner until one of the other trucks left.
By now the light had gone completely so these aren't very good photos and also a little repetitive. The different colourings are due to a) changing light levels b) different cameras, c) some I've edited and d) some SOOC.
It was lovely to watch the little ones playing - they never strayed far from mum.
Time to leave them in peace for the night.
So we headed back to camp for dinner, much as this hippo was heading out for his night of feeding.
