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Published: June 17th 2017
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01 Out of the Water
A hippo out of the water. Geo: -23.9986, 31.8026
This morning we went for a game drive. It was a short and boring one. Some of the few things we saw was a hippo walking by the river and about to enter it after a night out grazing. There was also a tortoise walking on the road. We stopped and waited until it safely crossed. Then we came across a Southern Reedbuck, a zebra with a Red Billed Oxpecker on its rump, a giraffe under a tall tree and an elephant also under a tree with its rear end facing us.
We got back to camp just after 9am. For the next half an hour we followed and photographed a Tree Agama and a Water Monitor around the rest camp. I witnessed that Water Monitors are very good at climbing trees and have sharp claws. Once we finished bothering the reptiles we had breakfast and packed up our tent.
It was a bit after ten that we hit the road. Tonight we were staying at the Olifants Rest Camp in a bungalow because we were only staying there for one night.
On our morning drive part two, firstly we saw giraffe and a warthog up a tree! I had
02 View
The scenic view from the lookout. to think about it at first when Paul spotted it. It looked like an older warthog. It had been dragged up the tree by a leopard. Unfortunately the leopard was nowhere to be seen. The tree was just by a main road. We parked under the tree and looked at the warthog. The leopard had only eaten a bit of it from its back right leg. It looked like a fresh kill. We planned to come back here later in the hope of seeing the leopard return and eat its prey.
During the rest of the drive we saw herds of impalas, journeys of giraffes, a giraffe bending over to drink, herds of wildebeest, fluffy looking waterbuck, zebras, young impalas and an elephant standing in the shade of a tree.
We took the scenic route at arrived at about 2pm at Olifants Rest Camp. We checked in and relaxed in our basic bungalow. It was right on the river – a nice view of the Olifants River. We sat on the deck enjoyed the view and had a little afternoon nap.
It was about half past 4 when we headed out for a short afternoon game drive. We saw a
03 Tortoise
A tortoise walking along the road. mother hippo and her calf out of the water and grazing. We drove to the spot where yesterday we had spotted lots of herds of elephants. Paul parked the car and we got out to stretch our legs and admire the view. It was still a great view – but there were no elephants today, or any animals. We decided to stay here anyway as there was a good chance that we will see animals. Patiently we sat here and daydreamed as we frequently scanned the bush looking for animals.
It was about 15 minutes after arriving that we finally saw some animals. A breeding herd of elephants appeared, they crossed the river and drank. It was just in time too, as we need to head back very soon. They slowly started walking off, so we got in the car and drove down the road so we could watch them cross the road. We parked near the game path and watched them walk towards us and then walk off into the bush. The matriarch led the way. Once they were all out of sight we quickly drove back to camp and made it in just in time!
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