Game Drive #6: 14 October, 5:45am-9:30am

In a light fog, not quite a drizzle, nice-feeling air

-emerald-spotted wood dove
-bearded woodpecker (red head)
-female leopard on top of a termite mound, then walking (on the
hunt?); as we followed her, and she stopped in a dry river bed to
listen & watch, a giraffe suddenly appeared behind her, and a
Wahlberg's Eagle was up in a tall tree to their right. An amazing trio
to witness simultaneously. One leopard can't take down a healthy adult
giraffe, though - the guide said it would be like an ant trying to
take down a human.
-African jacana (water bird)
-African fish eagles (2 - standing and then flying - beautiful, huge wing span)
-water thick-knee (bird, formerly called a dikkop)
-tentnest spider webs
-crocodile eyes protruding from the water
-brown snake eagle
-CHEETAH!!! On a termite mound. Rare in these parts, just a visitor.
Cheetahs have no retractable claws (so they show in their pawprints)
and spots on their coat, while leopards' claws retract and leave no
imprint, and their coat has rosettes. Cheetahs also have two black
stripes down their face, called tearmarks.
-red-crested korhaan
-greater blue-eared starlings
-pied kingfishers
-yellow-throated longclaw
-more kudu, impala, grey duiker, steenbok, hooded vulture (drinking),
blue waxbill, blacksmith lapwing, tawny eagle, African hoopoe,
Egyptian geese; bateleurs in their nest eating something they had
caught - and elsewhere, for a total of 6.

Also: smelled wild anise-seed crushed between our fingers

THEN: we got to get out of the vehicle a do a bush walk! Wow. We
weren't able to do it until now, because the conditions have to be
just right: no elephants, buffalo, rhino or big cats around, and no
wind (so we can hear animal alarm calls from any direction, which
would tip us off to a possible predator nearing our location). We had
gotten out for a drink or pit stop ("any tree is a lava-tree" around
here) before, but never walked along the road any distance until now.

Patrick, our ranger, took his rifle out of its case, had his waist
bullet pouch open with six bullets showing, explained safety
procedures to us, the other tracker drive away in the vehicle, and
there we were! We basically had to remember to stay behind Patrick and
his rifle, but not lag behind, and not talk too loudly. We were right
near where the leopard had been walking earlier in the morning...but
she had apparently moved on. :-)

Features of the walk:
- smelled the leaves of a mint bush relative
- felt the softness of the foliage of a  weeping wortley tree: also
known as the toilet paper bush (in case you've forgotten to bring it),
and a good luck bush (put branches under your car and you won't be
stopped by the police)
- saw elephant dung & learned that locals with a headache burn the
dung and inhale the smoke as a cure. They boil the dung and make tea
to drink as a general cure-all (because elephants have such a varied
diet of roots & leaves & grasses, and digest so poorly, it's all in
there...lovely, eh?)
- spider-hunting wasp
- buffalo dung, tiny giraffe dung (giraffe, unlike elephants, digest very well)
- a tree with a very complicated name that I couldn't quite attempt to
spell, that is used for brushing teeth, putting out fires (tough
leaves that don't come off the branch), and finding water!
- stretching out our hands one person at a time and feeling the 37°
(98.6) heat at the entrance of a live termite den, and seeing the
termites inside. Hot!
- flanked by impala, some on each side of the road
- Patrick plucked a branch from a silver clusterleaf tree, stripped it
into cords and proceeded to fashion a twisted bracelet for Emily,
tying it on her wrist. Lovely.
- first sighting of a bushbuck

Back at the camp, we admired a gorgeous lizard on our deck: orange
head, black & white striped body, and brilliant blue tail.

Posted via email from K's Café