Our Final Two Game Drives

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Today will be our last full day at Hippo Lakes. We have two game drives scheduled and dinner around the campfire. Again our first drive began at 7 am. The one Big 5 animal that resides locally is the African Buffalo and thus far it has been elusive. We are on the hunt for it this morning. I have also been on a mission to photograph a very noisy and "annoying to me" bird called a Red-chested Cuckoo. This bird begins it's song at 4 am and continues endlessly throughout the day. I have seen it several times but it has not posed for a photo. This morning it was sitting proudly in a tree top and I finally got my photo thanks to Shaun, our guide, spotting it. We also found a crocodile sunning itself by the lake.

Onward to a favorite spot for the Buffalo and happily there they were, a herd of six, who stared us down as if wishing us to move on. We did finally move on to share a cup of coffee on the overlook above Hippo Lakes.

Our evening drive was shortened by an rain shower that made the road slick for driving, but we did enjoy watching a mom and baby zebra, finally getting to see the local giraffes and getting a quick view of a Brown Snake Eagle.

Then it was back to camp for a delicious dinner by the campfire.

Tomorrow we pack our bags to return to Johannesburg for our flight to Cape Town to continue our adventure in South Africa.

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Photos

Red-chested Cuckoo
This bird interrupted my sleep every morning by starting his morning song at 4am.