Overnight we heard lions roaring so we knew the predators were around. After breakfast we headed out on our walk exploring the western side of the park.
We dodged and watched Ellie's without them knowing we were there - the favourable wind and trusty dust bag made sure we were invisible to them. We also found lion prints, probably a mating couple, on the edge of the river where they had come to drink and then as there were no return prints we knew they must have crossed to the other side.
We finally saw a red eyed dove which we had heard for days but not seen and k*** billed ducks flew past. We also saw plenty of zebra - one was suckling its youngster.
On our return to camp we saw an eclectic group of giraffe - one very old dark male with a reduced grey mane and a young giraffe with a large furry growth on his chest which looked like he was carrying a koala bear.
In the afternoon we headed off early to drive towards the eastern boundary. Again a very different landscape -more open with smaller trees and great river views. It looked like real cheetah country but sadly we didn't see any.
The birds included yellow throated sand grouse, a large impressive flock of spur winged geese and k*** billed ducks and blacksmith plover.
It was a brilliant sunset which we glimpsed to one side as we looked over a green pan to the other which was glinting in the setting suns rays. The pan was covered in vegetation with a pair of saddle billed storks strutting around looking for food.
Our night drive back revealed jackals which looked stunning on the brown grasses and enabled me to take my best photos ever of black backed jackals ( today's photo).We also saw bat eared foxes, genet,hyena, and bush babies.
We had a slightly later return to camp due to our extensive travels - but it was a great trip revealing even more faces of this amazing park which very few people have ever seen!