November 21 - Late Day Game Drive

 We decided to sleep in this morning and scheduled breakfast for 8:30 a.m.  We were up earlier, of course, and spent the morning on our deck.  We can watch monkeys on a tree nearby and listen to so many birds singing and cackling.  It's truly amazing to be here.  My heart is turning to home though, so I try not to think about how much I miss you all.

We swam and read and caught up on notes at camp.  We had lunch at 1 and left for our game drive at 2.  We looked like geniuses as clouds were starting to form and therefore it was much cooler for the game drive without the sun.  It has been absolutely draining to be in this heat and sun every day.  We never have air conditioning and we really couldn't do it without the pools at each camp. In the National Park, both vehicles went a separate route and were planning to meet again later.  We were really trying to find a leopard, so splitting up would give us a better chance.  

Pete spotted a leopard walking and said to stop.  When we stopped the leopard was sitting at the bottom of a large Baobab tree.  I noticed that there was a large eagle in the tree and we wondered if there was a kill in the tree.  Our guide, Rashidi, then noticed that there was another leopard lying in the tree.  How amazing to see 2 at one time.  Everyone said that never happens.

We tried to call the other vehicle, but there were not experiencing cell service at that moment, so after enjoying the leopards for a short time, we decided to go find them.  By this time the leopard on the ground was gone, but the leopard in the tree was very comfortable.  

A short drive away, we tried calling again and this time Steve answered.  There was a lot of very excited talking in Swahili and then we sped back to the Baobab tree and the other car beat us there.  It was a very exciting day!  We even experienced a short rain shower which really cooled things off and smelled amazing.  

Unfortunately, John and Lizette did not accompany us on the game drive.  John was injured earlier in the day jumping into the shallow end of the pool and Lizette just wanted to have a quiet day at camp.  We had a lot of fun reuniting and sharing our respective days.  They also had a good day at the camp water hole.

We have now seen 4 of the big 5 animals of Africa.  The only one left is the Rhinoceros and it is pretty much only seen by rangers in a very protected park.

An exciting thing also happened was that Johannes and Linke's daughter became engaged.  We celebrated with sparkling wine before dinner.

We had another glorious dinner and sang 'Father We Love You' to close this sabbath day.
















Comments

  1. Jane LunshofNovember 24, 2021 at 5:59 AM

    It has been amazing to watch your trip unfold but my heart is also longing to see you! Safe travels!!❤

    ReplyDelete

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