Bumbling along on an evening game drive
Our first full day ended on a low note .. animal sightings that is. We all jumped on the game vehicle bright eyed and bushy tailed ready for a spectacular evening of game viewing. We saw nothing !! Of course the usual warthog and impala but absolutely nothing else 🙁
But it was pleasant anyway, bumbling along the strip roads, looking deep into the trees and thicket hoping to catch a glimpse of something moving, admiring the views (and I’m loving the trees), stopping at each bird we came across – most too small for my camera – and eventually making our sundowner stop with nibblies and drinks – beer and wine or whatever guests ordered before we left
Graham stopped to show and explain what was used as tooth brushes in the old days by the tribes who lived or passed through the wilderness. Now I can’t remember the name of the small tree/bush (must always remember to take notes!) After peeling the outer bark, the strong fibres are flattened .. and violá .. a toothbrush ..
This isn’t it 😉 I loved all the trees
Blue headed tree Agama … two of them .. the other is camouflaged. The blue colour changes to a browny colour when in danger. Very tricky creatures to photograph as they scampered round the tree to hide and the head turned brown quickly …
I was so excited to see this pretty bird as I’ve never seen one before .. a Broadbilled Roller ..
Driving under the huge Sycamore Figs …
Bumbling along the Msunduzi River bed again ..
Graham explaining the make-up of elephant ‘poo’ ..
Trumpeter Hornbill …
Beautiful specimen of a flat-topped thorn tree ..
Sundowners time … (unfortunately we didn’t see the sunset .. we stopped with the sun behind us, behind a hill) … But it was still a magnificent spot …
Paola with camera in hand to capture the glorious evening ..
Hubby and Terry ..
Here we are, drinks in hand … (me rather windswept (!) .. it was windy and quite chilly)
Beautiful isn’t it …
…
2 Replies to “Bumbling along on an evening game drive”
I was in a presentation the other day where somebody said something very true. It shouldn’t be called a game drive. Its a safari. Its about so much more than game. Yes everybody wants to see the Big 5 and all the other animals, but there is so much more. A good game ranger will make any game drive (safari) interesting, even if there is no game to see. Yours clearly did that.
Yes I agree, it should be called a safari. I enjoy it – love everything about it – I love the grasses, trees, birds, flowers, insects .. all of it. A bonus is seeing the animals in their natural surroundings. There was one particular German lady who just didn’t stop moaning because we weren’t seeing animals around every corner. She was definitely not enjoying ‘the journey’