Day 2

May 14 ^th- Got up at 5am to begin getting ready. After I had dressed and packed my bags, I went to the kitchen and had breakfast. I had cereal with WARM milk because it had apparently just gotten put in the refrigerator. It was…. Different. We left on out drive a little late, led by our guide Andrews. It was FREEZING. I was layered in clothes and still cold wit the wind whipping past. We drove on Set Route 3, which took us until 12 noon! I was in charge of collecting pachyderm data (rhino, elephant, buffalo, hippo).  Throughout the drive, we saw impala, kudu, zebra, giraffe, elephant, hippos, wildebeasts, baboons, and crocodiles. It didn’t warm up until around 830 or 9, so we were glad for that time! I got really tired on the way home and kept nodding off for the last 1.5 hours. It is pretty scary to wake up when you hit a bump and you and falling toward the metal bar in front of you! We got to hear lions twice, but didn’t see any. We also got some tracking education, including how to tell what animals moved through and when by the poo left behind. When we returned to camp, we had some downtime before lunch was served. The oven is out, so the meat couldn’t be baked, or whatever was supposed to be prepared. So the table was set with bread, mayo, butter, maramite, peanut butter, lettuce, onions, red pepper, tomatoes, cheese, a small bowl of tuna, and crackers. I had a PB&J and some fresh veggies made into a makeshift salad, as all the Australians and South Africans made strange sandwiches with maramite and veggies! I tried a bite of maramite and cheese on white bread, and it left much to be desired. VERY salty and not much else to taste. After lunch, I took advantage of the break to lay down. My alarm apparently didn’t get set properly, so although I was supposed to wake up at 2:45, Kira knocked on my door at 3:30 to leave for the afternoon drive!  I popped up and grabbed my bag and extra clothes. We left out on a hunt for lion and cheetah! We had driven for a few hours and seen nothing more than some zebra, some impala, and some kudu, when we heard on the radio that lion had been spotted. It took us a while to get there, and we stopped to watch the sun set and gather firewood, as well as look at some other animals on the way. The sun was down by 5:30 and it was getting cold again. We finally got to the place where the lion had been spotted. The two other vehicles were leaving, so we got a private audience with a handsome male and two female lions. One of the lionesses gave a beautiful call as soon as we arrived. We watched them for a while, within 7 meters, as they lounged lazily in the grass, completely unconcerned by the trucks presence. We moved the truck around for a different view at them, and the male got spooked by a moth or something in the headlights, so he got up and moved around a bit. We got to see his full size as he walked, and then lay down again. We kept the lights off to avoid irritating the lions, which was absolutely incredible and frightening, to be so close to such powerful animals, in the dark! The lions were not getting ready to move, in any way, so after sitting with them for probably 30 minutes, we decided to head home. It was absolutely an amazing cap to the day! When we returned to camp, there was a huge bull elephant in musth in our camp! That is when elephants are in heat, so to speak, and are scent marking everything, and also unusually aggressive. He was standing near out kitchen, scratching himself on a tree. Andrews shooed him out of camp so he didn’t damage anything, but he returned before dinner for a bit. I had a cup of coffee, which was much needed, and learned about data entry and collection from Andrew. Dinner was a delicious stirfry of chicken, zucchini, onions, green and red peppers, mushrooms, and rice. Then we sat by the fire for a bit, and talked. Andrew also found female leopard tracks right through the fire pit! We didn’t see them last night, so we think she must have moved through camp last night as we slept. Gail, Peter, and Kira had been looking for leopard all week, and there she just snuck through without us even knowing! Hopefully we will find her in the next few days. I headed to my room about half-past 9. We get to sleep in a bit tomorrow! We leave at 6:15 for our rhino walk, instead of 6 for a drive!

A few assorted highlight photos from the drives today. To see more, go to my album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151370259357161.1073741827.511962160&type=3

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