Happy Birthday to me - but to be honest the day was a bit of a travelling blur! To make sure the 7 of us catching the South African airways flight, at 1310, we had a wake up call at 3am, a light snack at 3.30 and were on the road back to the airstrip by 4am after saying goodbye to the Ngaga staff ( today's picture is Ngaga camp communal area). We made good time and were there just after 7am - where breakfast was to be set up by the team from Lango camp who were ...

As we were going to visit the gorillas second today, we were offered an optional morning activity - the others stayed in camp while John and I decided on a forest walk, for a couple of hours, with Stephanie looking at the birds and vegetation - we also heard putty nosed monkeys. When we returned we were sitting in the lounge area looking out over the sea of marantaceae in front of the lodge, imbibing a hot chocolate,when the American family came back beaming - t...

We were the the first group to go gorilla trekking today, so with much enthusiasm, we were all in the the jeep by 5.50am along with our guide and very experienced tracker. We drove to a point which was close to where the gorillas nested last night ......and then the fun began! We followed their trails as they looped around an area then crossed the main track and headed off through the marantaceae plants. Along the trails we saw discarded half eaten fruit, eaten m...

A lie in this morning as we were transferring to Ngaga camp for the gorilla focussed part of the trip - we however opted for a 5.30 delivery of tea as we would be awake - there is nothing better than an unhurried cup of tea in bed in John's book. Imagine our surprise when the call came at 4.40am - Patrick, the assistant manager, had set his watch on by an hour and unperturbed by the lack of staff in the kitchen he set about the making and delivery himself....unlu...

Another 5.00am wake up, today we were out early to drive to the boat jetty on the Lekoli river to search for primates and other animals on a boat trip along the river. Enroute a marsh mongoose scampered across the road, then as we passed an old camp, being renovated by Wilderness for future guests who want to stay near the river, we got good views of another bull elephant eating his way through the tall grass; and saw a male buffalo seeking sanctuary under what w...