Yesterday evening Joyce, our camp host, shared with us the daily schedule. We won’t be bored or hungry!
- 5:00 wake-up
- 5:30 armed walk to continental breakfast
- 6:00 – 10:00 for AM game drive
- 11:30 brunch
- 3:30 high tea
- 4:00 – 7:00 evening game drive
- 7:30 dinner
- 9:00 armed walk to room
Right on schedule, our day began at 5:00 a.m. with bush guides making the rounds to be sure everyone is awake. They’re back at 5:30 to escort us to the common area for breakfast. Since it’s still dark and there is no fence around the camp, they are armed in the event there are any critters about. Pre-drive breakfast is a light continental style with tea and coffee.
By 6:00 we are in our safari vehicles and head out. This is Boone’s last morning in camp and he’s eager to locate the male lions we heard roaring last night. About a few hours into our search, Reggie finds a great place to set up a table for us to enjoy some coffee, snacks and scenery. No luck finding the lions, but we did see a lot of wildlife – groups of elephants, a ‘dazzle’ of Plains Zebras (what a great name) and a few mongoose. We also spotted one of Boone’s favorite birds to photograph, the beautiful ‘Lilac Crested Roller’. It’s a lovely bird that sports seven tropical colors.
We dropped Boone off at the airstrip for his 10 o’clock flight back to civilization then return to camp, spotting lots of elephants along the way. At 11:30, brunch is served buffet style, and we chat with the four gals about their sightings for the morning.
The rest of the morning and early afternoon are free so we hung out on our deck and observed the wildlife wandering by. Our ‘tent’ looks over the pan (watering hole) where wildlife gather throughout the day. One of the trees next to our tent is a favorite with a large elephant the staff calls ‘Big Mark’. He’s big alright. The tree has a branch he uses as a scratching post. He is particularly curious about us and likes looking through the window of our tent to see what is up. Mary is careful to wait for him to mosey off before sitting on the deck.
Elephants have a very inefficient digestive system and so a lot of what they eat they excrete. And there’s a lot of excrement! Soon after Big Mark wanders off, a group of Vervet Monkeys arrive to check out the elephant poo. The monkeys are quite proficient and methodical about going through the droppings picking out nuts and berries to eat. Sounds gross, but nature is at work. They also like to climb up on top of the tents and run about the tent tops and nearby trees.
It was a lively afternoon in camp. In addition to Big Mark & the monkeys we observed some African Fish Eagles, a fight between a group of Chacma Baboons, a beautiful Grey Heron, a Great Egret hunting for fish, a herd of Impalas, Helmeted Guinea Fowls, a Water Monitor, Nile Crocodile and female elephants with their young at the pan.
Our tent has an indoor toilet, but the shower, soaking tub and another toilet are in a private area outside near the the deck. It feels rather strange to shower outside. We share the indoor toilet with some tree frogs, they like to hang out between the bowl and the seat. Mary had an interesting encounter with a LARGE spider that required staff intervention. Ask her about it! .
At 3:30 a high tea is served. Geez, how many meals do you need? We passed on the food and instead prepared for our evening game drive.
With Boone gone, it’s just the two of us on the drive with Reggie. He’s been a certified guide in this area for 25 years and his knowledge shows. He heads off to an area of the preserve where the male lions had been spotted before. The lions have a wide range and do not stay in one spot too long unless they have a kill. We ended up seeing one of the males, but at quite a distance. Lots of elephants – some solo guys and smaller groups. We spotted a Leopard tortoise out for a walkabout, a Ground Hornbill, a Small-Spotted Genet (looks like a mongoose). We also see a pile of Hyena Poo that is notable for its white color due to the amount of calcium they get from eating the bones of animals they hunt and scavenge. The Leopard tortoise will eat Hyena poo to get the calcium from it. Nature at work.
At sunset Reggie set up a table in a beautiful spot for the lovely ‘Sundowner’ tradition. He cracks out snacks and prepares some excellent Gin and Tonics. On the way back to camp, we have an incident with a young male elephant being very aggressive. Reggie says he’s harmless and is just displaying but still keeps his distance. Tonight, the staff treated us to some traditional Zimbabwe music and dancing followed by a dinner of local delicacies. Very nice. We were escorted by an armed Reggie back to the tent.