Another late rise by safari standards albeit the tea arrived at 6.00am - well it was actually coffee - John was despondent as he needs his morning cuppa to get going! We also thought we may have someone else's coffee - but as it turned out we didn't.....the good thing was we had enough coffee for two cups each which made up for the mistake.
( At this point I am also despondent because for some reason my lovely blog didn't publish properly and now 9 days later I am trying to remember what happened - thanks to my helpfully rated photos my memory is being helped!)
Today we started with another walk this time along the river watching the hippos and bird life - I actually photographed a hammerkop flying and captured it quite clearly which was pleasing. We then ventured through the bushy areas and onto the plains which were wide and clear - we could see for miles. As we were walking back Sam could see a big herd of elephant heading into the woodland behind camp and with those and the Serian generals - a group of grumpy old buffalo discarded by the herd as past their prime sent for the jeep as it would be too dangerous to walk into camp - they are excellent with your safety and read situations very well. Old Sam appeared and we hopped aboard for the 10minute drive into camp.
Tea was ordered - a good refreshment after an almost 3 hour walk- we quickly showered then sat on our verandah
watching the wildlife on the other side of the river and drinking our tea - very colonial!
Tonight was the night for our stay in the tree house - my weather app indicated no rain and it had been accurate to date so I was confident we would remain dry - in case the app was wrong they did put a bell tent under the tree house for emergencies.
As we had to be in by 6pm we had a short drive first into the plains - I got great photos of a lilac breasted roller, a new born giraffe rubbing his head on mum, dwarf mongoose popping their heads in and out of their burrows and guinea fowl running around feeding close to the giraffe.
We then headed to the bridge, walked across the one person swing bridge and the 10 minutes to the tree house with overnight bag in hand. The two SAMs made a camp fire while we climbed the metal ladder and settled in to our new home ( today's picture). On the first small platform there was a flushing loo and wash basin and on the second platform a table and what could be 2 'bedrooms' so 4 could sleep there. We had the bed made up closest to the river and watched as hippo emerged for their nightly graze on land.
We joined the guys for a short time by the camp fire then decided on dinner and an early night. The dinner had been brought earlier by one of the guys from the camp. I especially enjoyed the pancake dessert it was yummy!
It was only 8.15pm but bed beckoned - I wanted to listen to the world go to sleep - which the baboons on the opposite bank were doing - or animals going about their nightly business. The bed was really cosy and warm; the moon was up - a full moon - so it made the river glisten and gave us extra light. We snuggled down and I was soon asleep to be awoken by John saying - 'what's that?' It was a genet looking for any remaining dinner scraps - unlucky so it sniffed Johns boots and left as quickly as it arrived. I drifted off again to be awoken not long after by the baboons making a racket - they quietened down and I drifted again. This time I was awakened by an almighty and aggressive roaring - we both shot out of bed - John with trusty torch in hand said he could see eyes in the bushes - I couldn't - next I saw a male lion, mane streaking in the moonlight, chasing something across the small open area - I presumed it was another male or female lion. The sound dissipated and all went quiet - they didn't return - we went to bed and I finally went to sleep properly - but what a start to our stay in the treehouse!!