Day 40, pt 2

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We left on the drive at 8 and bundled all up. It wasn’t really that cold yet, and we started out on our patrol. Not too long into the drive, we saw a lesser bushbaby in a tree. A few minutes later, we saw a genet, and followed it up the road a bit. We drove for a bit more, and suddenly there were lion cubs running up the road in front of us! I didn’t see the adult, but Jamie and Leon did. We tried to follow them but they went into the block. We circled around and entered into the drainage line where we expected them to head, but they apparently had gone a different way. We had a pretty interesting time getting out of the drainage line though! There were some huge rocks and we had to trample some trees to finally get out. We think it might have been Bella and her cubs, because Andrew saw them in that area earlier today. After abandoning that mission, it was about 930. We drove on a bit, but Jon wasn’t feeling well. I was sitting next to Judith, and she and I were taking little “doo-doos” on each other shoulders. When I woke up, we were at Twines to drop Jon off. We left again, and drove along the river for a while, in some really nice leopard habitat. It had gotten SO cold, especially down by the river. At this point, I had on leggings under jeans, two pairs of socks, a t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, two kinda thin zip up hoodies, and a proper thick jumper, plus a hat and a scarf, AND a thick lap blanket over my legs. I was actually quite cozy, except my nose and cheeks going numb, and eventually, my toes going numb. We saw a black-backed jackal running up the road for a ways, which was really cool. Around 10:30, we stopped at a t-junction on a little rise for a drinks break. Jamie had been awesome enough to pack us a hot box. So Judith and I played barista, and made everyone steaming hot cups of coffee and hot cocoa, complete with cream and sugar. I had also packed some peanut butter sandwiches for whoever wanted them, and some other people brought snacks, as well. We all sat there in the truck, sipping our hot drinks with our snacks, and talking about the stars. Leon told us about some of the constellations, as well as some of the local traditions and stories about the stars. A couple people had to pee, but they didn’t want us to go far, so people took turns using the nature lavatory right behind the truck, while the rest of us sang or whistled. It was so funny, and it brought the French girls into a rousing round of singing songs in French. We left a little before 11 to continue the drive. Not long after, we saw a spotted hyena in the road. We watched him as he joined two more hyena in the bush. They ended up circling around the car, pausing to give us nice photo opportunities, and then making their way down the road. We turned around and followed them for a while, until they moved off into the bush. They were super calm and actually very curious, because they got really close to the car! After we lost them, we continued driving around to see what we could find. After those hyena, we saw some impala, nyala, and zebra along the road, just chilling in the night. I was getting sleeping again, so I accidentally took some “doo-doos” on Judith’s shoulder again. But Jamie kept hitting these huge bumps, which she SAYS was accidental. Hm… suuureee. Haha. Around 12, we heading back to bush camp to drop off Lauren and Daniel. Somehow, on the way home from there, Judith and I started to make all the animal calls we knew. We were making predator noises to call them to come to us, since earlier we had made hyena calls. Obviously, that one worked! Justine joined in, and the three of us were laughing and making strange noises. We kept asking the rangers what different animals made, even though they pretended they couldn’t hear us. They love us though! :D We were all pretty cold and ready for bed at this point, and right when we were about to turn right onto the road where Twines is, we saw elephants in our way! There was a whole herd right in the middle of the clearing by camp. We shut off the engine, and waited for about 20 minutes for them to calm, move around, check us out, and clear out. There was a little baby with them, and also a bull in musth following as well. We got to see some really cool actions and interactions of the pride. For example, one female came close to us to check us out, then went directly behind us, and then turned to each side of the road and tapped her front foot on the ground, as a signal to the others in the herd. Also, the matriarch, or one of the other ellies who is fairly dominant in the herd, came out from the bushes, rounded up the ellies in the road, and then faced us and backed up with everyone else bhind her. You could tell she was dominant because she guided everyone else and put herself between her herd and the possible threat. It was really cool to see how she protected them. She watched us for a while, backed up slowly, while the herd backed with her, then turned and moved down the road with them. It was definitely an awesome sighting. The moon was full, and you could see them so clearly, even without a torch or spotlight. We just sat in the silence and listened to them feeding and moving around. You could hear the low rumbles they use to communicate amongst themselves, as well as the slow footsteps as they pass through the thickets. Definitely an awesome end to my last official game drive. I may have partially gotten frostbite in my toes, but I saw lions, hyena, jackals, a genet, and ellies all in one drive! Plus, the sky was beautiful, and we had a lot of fun singing and making animal calls. Definitely one of my favorite drives of the trip. :D

 Look closely, there is a hyena!

 Full moon on the drive :)