More at Moremi

As we left our room, a bushbuck and her fawn greeted Tien as we left our tent. They escaped into the bushes before we got to close.

A painted reed frog joined us for breakfast.

I'm wrapped in a blanket and ready for the morning game drive.

My seated view with Coca driving and my gear at the ready: r.o. water in an aluminum bottle from Camp Moremi, iPhone for note taking, camera, and binos for long distance viewing.

Hand-made bridge crafted from local timber is heftier than it looks.

Elephants at a water hole -- we stopped to watch for a while.

A male, not part of the herd, left the watering hole. "A male elephant," you ask, "How can you tell?" Click on the image for a close-up of outdoor plumbing.

Eventually, the herd followed in the same direction.

Not wanting to be left behind, the littlest elephant took its food to go.

Side-striped jackal! Three kinds of jackals inhabit southern Africa and we saw two species so far. The other was the black-backed jackal at Savute Safari Lodge.

Elephants rub against dead trees sometimes causing them to fall and block roads. In national parks, we drove around these roadblocks, leaving the tree where Nature put it.

Senegal coucal

Fresh elephant footprint, enhanced to show detail, and lumbering in the direction of the upper left

Wildebeests are among The Ugly Five, which includes hyenas, baboons, marabou storks, and the lovely warthog. These animals were at a distance. Coca shut off the engine and we stopped to observe. [explain differences in horn shapes]

Eventually, the wildebeests turned onto the road and walked past us, coming within a few feet of our vehicle. They were not frightened by our presence.

Still in the same area, we watched while a zebra mother and her young one grazed.

The colts are beautiful, miniature versions of the adults. I loved it when animals looked directly at us!

Click on this extra-large photo to see the colt's soft coat. I wanted to reach out and pet it, but we weren't allowed to nor would it likely allow me to approach.

Red-billed oxpeckers do more than hitch rides. They eat insects that inhabit the coats of zebras, giraffes, buffalo and most antelopes.

Seed pods on sausage trees grow up to 24" long.

A dried pod looks like a loofah inside. We saw baboons nibbling on soft pulp, which also disperses seeds.

This giraffe was trying to say something (but probably just consuming acacia leaves). Pity the distance, but close enough for me to admire its long, full eyelashes. Envy!

Back to camp for lunch of pork ribs, sausages, maize bap, scrambled eggs, spinach and garbanzo beans. After the yummy food, Tien and I inspected the pool and, behind it overlooking the delta, we visited the viewing platform. Still, the big lunch induced a long nap and we rested during the warmest part of the day, readying ourselves for the afternoon game drive.

Pillows in our room were hand-embroidered with warthogs. Notice the upright tail, "Radio Botswana," said Coca!

Guineafowl were hand-embroidered on curtains over our tent windows.

Back into the safari truck, we spotted more vervet monkeys. My gosh, they're so cute.

"Please, Mommy, I'm still hungry!"

Ground hornbills, really ugly hornbills.

Hamerkop -- I love these birds. Their brown color is beautiful and the shape of the head is so odd because of the feathers.

[need ID help!]

Two trees and a termite mound/column

Dead treescape

Heading back to camp, we passed the airstrip where off-duty soldiers played soccer. In the evening they patrol the national park, keeping watch for poachers and other criminal activity.

To begin dinner, we were serenaded by the staff before the menu announcement:
Tender steak (with a marinade like the chewy kudu), curried chicken, Basmati rice, vegetable bake gratin, broccoli, salad, and a cheese selection.

The starter was prawns with avocado, delicious!

Dessert was creme brulee, lovely!

Lights out, but not before a shot of the inside of our mosquito netting.

* * * * * * * *

We all thought that the bush was quiet today. Other Moremi guides agreed with us. No one knew what we were in store for tomorrow! Stay tuned...

Notables:
When walking to dinner, our escort pointed out the track of a slithering puff adder snake that went across the path to our tent!

Spoor: Tracks of giraffe hippo hyena, buffalo dung, buffalo grunting from a distance, giant eagle owl nest in ranger station's roof, one of its feathers and last night’s rat-dinner remains

Birds: African harrier-hawk (everyone saw it but me), African marsh-harrier, Bateleur eagle, black-winged stilt, Egyptian geese, great white egret, grey heron, ground hornbills, hamerkop, little grebes, red-billed oxpeckers (starlings), red-billed wood hoopoe (2 on a dead tree), red-chested flufftail, sacred ibis, Senegal coucal, white-faced ducks, white-faced or whistling duck, woodland kingfisher

Mammals: Baboons, elephant herd and baby with branch in its mouth, two elephants greeting each other face-to-face, giraffes, hippos in water, impala male chasing off another male, side-striped jackal, kudu in distance, lechwe herd, mongooses, tsessebes (3), vervet monkeys, wildebeests