Sunday, September 11, 2011

Senyati Lodge, 10/9/11 (Day 6)

Usual sounds through the night (didn't hear lion, though).
Woke before sunrise to witness sunrise! (me thinks that's the only way you can do it?) Best vantage point was near the waterhole so I trundled off in the (mostly) dark night. Taking pics and an Ellie came to join me. Got quite a fright as I was all alone with nowhere to go! Fortunately I was downwind and he was more interested in water! I don't think I've mentioned that the waterhole is a mere 20 paces from where you stand and no barrier between you and the wildlife. Awesome!




First sighting of Bradfield's Hornbill:




The "resident" yellow billed kite - he's the same one who was dive bombing the work crew on our first day here:





Patience rewarded after all those years, a relatively unimpeded shot of "Spookie":





Splish, splash I was taking a bath (under the watchful eye of the family):






Remember, there is no fence. While I was filming this water celebration on video, I was keeping a wary eye on the sentinels. I noticed one coming very close so I backed off behind a bush. Won't make for steady video footage, I'm sure!

C'mon ellies, you do NOT own the mud patch:





Tropical Boubou - pretty bird but his call sounds like a bullfrog:





Luis is out tiger fishing with Christo. The staff seem to have gone off for the afternoon. Noticed a lot of smoke coming from the back of a unit close to us. Turned out to be a fire starting. I rushed backwards and forwards with water and managed to put it out.
While sitting here, all alone, minding my own business, I hear a slow rustling among the root growth and dead leaves at the foot of the tree next to me. Managed to convince myself it was a snake and sat for ages, intensely watching, waiting for him to pop out somewhere. Eventually plucked up the courage to investigate and it turns out to be a tiny tortoise!

Luis has just returned - proud "catcher" of 3 x tiger fish. Largest was 1.8kg







He also managed to "catch" (capture) some lovely pics of the sun going down on Chobe river. This is my favourite:






Chobe river is very wide. Luis ended up fishing in Botswana, Namibian and Zimbabwean waters.

It's currently 19h30 and the elephant are very vocal!

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