We awoke before our alarm call at 6.00am and headed to breakfast at 6.30am - not much food was required as we were both still full after last nights ample dinner. We then set off for a really relaxing mokoro ride - today's mokoros are fiberglass not wood but still shaped like a long dugout canoe, they are propelled by a poler with a long wooden pole - the most similar experience we have is punting on the River Cam at home - where luckily there are no hippos or crocodiles to look out for! ( today's photo is the lead mokoro with Gibson,our guide, and the cooler boxes - we are following with our poler Tollen).
As we went along I tried to photograph the reed frogs - but they were really difficult to focus on due to their tiny size and the movement of the mokoro,caused by the wind,current and propulsion by the poler.
We looked in the tiny intricately woven nest of a tawny flanked prinea, precariously suspended from the tips of some reeds but well away from predators.....and saw a couple of eggs no bigger than the nail on my little finger! At 0930 we pulled onto one of the islands for coffee and biscuits before slowly wending our way back through the now open day lilies and much smaller snowflake lilies - admiring the view and looking at passing birds.
Back in camp we refreshed before brunch and then relaxed until 4pm when we had yet more food at high tea. While munching on carrot cake we watched the staff basket making and learnt more about how they do it and the dyes they use to get the different colours. We decided to buy 3 items, particularly as the money goes to the respective staff member and acts as additional income.
Our afternoon activity was another mokoro ride; we started by checking out the Pels fishing owl - we had done the same before brunch but the light was in the wrong place and it was hard to get good photos but it worked perfectly this time as - he/she was in and obliged by perching on a high branch so I could get some good photos.
We then headed off around the islands - we heard vervet monkeys alarm calling but we could not see them or the predator. Gibson, standing poling, glimpsed a sitatunga but from our sitting position we missed it so we are going to try again tomorrow in a similar spot.
Again we watched another beautiful sunset before returning, showering and having a lovely dinner.....accompanied by mini Yorkshire puddings which we suggested they learn to make to go with last nights dinner.