Just as we went to bed we heard hyena but sleep came quickly as we were exhausted.
We woke with tea being delivered at 5.45am and slowly 'came to'with the dawning day. Before we went to breakfast at 6.30 am we imbibed the beautiful view down across the river and to a ridge in the distance - the green and golds of foliage, as the trees and plants move from the wet to dry season, made it look like an autumn day at home.
After truly scrumptious scrambled egg we set off at 0730 from camp for our first walk exploring the area. We were joined by a ranger, Mattius, he and Moli went at the front with the guns - just incase - while John and I followed on in single file behind.
Moli, a walking natural history book, punctuated the walk with explanations of the fauna and flora we passed. We saw the original cucumber, ( today's photo) which due to mans toilet habits & fruit selection over time became less prickly, greener and straighter, the very toxic fruit aptly called because of its appearance,lions balls, and which only becomes edible to some animals when very dry otherwise the white latex fluid in the plant would make them very sick or kill them. We also saw a tawny eagle -the elephants however eluded us this morning. I found the landscape which was dotted with baobab trees so unique - I have never seen as many baobabs anywhere - they had already lost their leaves and were an impressive sight. We also saw the tourist tree in different stages of development - the white bark turning red!
We walked until about 1130 when we were picked up by a jeep, relaxed with a cold bitter lemon which became our favourite drink, and taken back for lunch.
In the afternoon we opted for a drive - it was hot and we thought we would appreciate the area more if we had a few jeep drives - however today set the routine for the trip - walk in the morning and drive in the afternoon.
The animals in this area are very unused to vehicles, there are no other camps at this end of the park, consequently they are skittish both on foot and with the vehicle - which in many ways is lovely as you see their natural behaviours with man -but tougher if you want to take photos!
We saw a pigmy falcon, a marshall eagle trying to take a banded mongoose - unsuccessfully, @50 elephants running from us and kicking up dust, vervet monkeys alarm calling - we thought they had seen a leopard but we couldn't find it. On the way back it got dark so we had a night drive - we saw a hyena which is a rare sighting here - they are more often heard rather than seen - and a civet foraging.
We could also see deliberately set fires burning across the river in the conservation area.
Dinner was at 8pm so we had time for a lovely hot bucket shower before a food extravaganza - every meal had Noelle's touch as she endeavoured to put together a scintillating menu for a week - she tested some dishes on us - they were all lovely and we enjoyed every mouthful of every meal - definitely the best food we have had at any lodge.