Today is Fri 11^th May and I am sitting under another shady tree in the Moremi Park at a place called 3^rd Bridge.Google Map it if you wish. This is getting remote in the Okavango Delta. The single track windy roads are slow going as they weave their way around trees, marshes and bog holes. Averaged speed is around 20km/hr and frequently the sand is deep and heavy going. Even NSS (see previous blog) keeps getting lost.

Last night we went to sleep with a chorus of lion roaring, hyena yelping and hippo grunting. In the middle of the night something was wandering around the car and the footprints in the morning confirmed that it was a Hippo.

This morning we drove 15km (1.5 hrs) to  Xahanaxa for breakfast & a boat ride onto the delta of waterways. Saw a large Baboon family digging grubs.

We had an exciting Breakfast. We were parked under a tree with our muesli & mini toaster and a bull took exception to our presence and charged Neil. The attached pic is taken on Neils camera.

 

Sad about the “motion blur” I think he was mov...in

There are a lot of elephants around here. It is not uncommon to see herds of 20 or more with both bulls cows and young.

Neil’s problem was that the tree he was beside was an amarula tree and the elephants love the berries on them. They simply come up and thump the tree ( 4-500mm thick) with their head and trunk to shake the tree so the berries fall on the ground.

There is more to Game Parks than just looking at some amazing critters. If you want to look at these critters just go to the zoo, get a David Attenborough DVD or if you’re really budget simply search the net. It is a lot cheaper and a lot quicker.

Game Parks is more about personal discovery of the country its people, roads, camps, culture and critters. There is a bizarre sense of accomplishment when you do get to your destination, survive a night or see the rare spotted cat all on your own. The more assistance your given the less sense of “self accomplishment”.

 

Driving around a corner and there are 4 lions casually sitting on the road and you having to drive through the pride with them 1m away from your window. Bronni was a tad nervous and sat on her feet.

Going to bed at night knowing that at 6.30pm a pride was seen 100m north of the camp and 3 cheaters to the south and there is no fence.

Watching a giraffe racing alongside Neil & Libby at 30km/hr

Seeing a pair or Ostriches with 10 chicks casually walking down the road.