Mick and I got up early, and left the campsite as soon as the gates opened at 6am. We watched the sun rise from a look out spot, then drove back to the turning for Botswana. The road on the South African side of the river bed is very low, and it's much harder to see the animals as ours is a relatively low car. We sit there watching some birds, and a couple of mice that sit in the road, then head back to camp.
After breakfast ourselves, Armin and Liesel and Chris and Teri explore the road south from the campsite. As we drive we see a male lion on our left, then Mick sees a second head for a moment, with a strip of meat hanging from his jaws, we think we have just missed seeing a kill!
We continued driving south, seeing several birds, and a hawk that screams at us through our open window. He was about 2 meters away, and I was too astonished to get a photo.
Suddenly Chris stops, and the next thing we see is an African Wildcat walking towards us. Chris tells us its a rarer sighting than a cheetah or leopard, and only the third he's seen in over seven years. It crosses the road just behind us, but I get a last quick glimpse and see something hanging from his mouth. Another kill?
Our lunch is borewas dogs at a picnic spot. Despite the rules about never getting out of you car, and the bars protecting the toilets, there are picnic tables set out, with no protection, and lion prints in the bush behind us!
After lunch we head back to our campsite, pausing by the area where we saw the lions earlier. We spot a female asleep under a tree, then see a male's head pop up and look around. The lions are almost completely invisible when lying down.
Mick and I stop to look at another social weaver bird nest and see a hawk sitting underneath it, presumably hoping dinner will just fall off into his mouth. Back at camp I buy a braai cookbook, then have a rest.
We head back out on the road south again, and suddenly find an old male lion asleep in the road.
We wait for while, as the truck driver from the opposite direction is also doing, then a car from behind us cautiously edges past. The lion ignores him, but when the truck also decides to move, he leisurely climbs back into the bush, then falls asleep again a few feet from the road.
We drove up to a watering hole, but it was deserted apart from a few birds, then we went back to camp, watching the sun set on our way. Rick, Mark, Conrad and Ossie were back in camp, and they had seen four lions very close up, walking round past their car. There was much laughter as they talked about their options, windows up or down, arms in or out, take photos or just sit tight.
We finish the day with a delicious curry, the. Are in bed well before 10pm.
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