Saw a black rhino right
outside of camp today! Probably about 200m away. It seems like we see them
every time after it rains. No rhinos all summer when it was hot and dry, lots
in May when it was rainy. It was a young male, looked to be in very good
condition. He watched us as we took photos then meandered into the forest at
the far end of camp. Super cool – always makes me glad to know that they’re
still around. Photo credit to Emily Thomas.
Just me on evening obs
(from 5-8) today since Emily is still recovering. She wanted to come out but we
agreed it would probably be better if she took it very easy. Only a few hyenas
tonight but go a special surprise- baby bat-eared foxes! They were tiny, about
the size of two fists together. Three little guys all cuddled up together in a
pile. Their parents were wandering around about 50m away. Super adorable.
Not
too far away more tourist cars were gathering and I found two adult male lions
completely asleep. They didn’t look like they’d be lifting their heads anytime
soon so I left and drove around on the other side of mgorro lugga to look for
hyenas. After 6:30 all the tourists cars go back to the lodge so around 6:45 I
looped around to take another look at the lions figuring they’d start waking up
now that it was dark out. I was right, both males had their heads up and one of
them started to walk to the north even before I could get photos of him. I
drove back to the road and looped around to a track that I predicted would be
in their trajectory and waited. Sure enough first in the distance four orange
eyes appeared, followed by the faint tawny color and prowling gait of the two
male lions. I positioned myself in their path and got some good ID photos- and
cool shots- of the two males as they walked within 20m of my car. After they
passed I saw two tiny orange eyes about 30m away. I drove closer and saw one of
the baby bat-eared foxes staring towards where the lions had walked off! As I
drew up he turned and bolted back to the safety of the little hole I’d seen
them sitting by earlier. Super cute, the male lions hadn’t even noticed but to
this little guy they must have been terrifying.
Took the river road back
to camp, still no sign of George or the den, but bumped into Eleanor nursing
her cubs Michelle and Jude. Closer to the river orange hippo eyes started to
appear, it’s pretty typical to see many hippos driving along this road at night
because it curves along about 50 to 100m from the river and as soon as it gets
dark out the hippos start to emerge in force. Only saw 6 tonight, in pairs of
two. Mostly looked like adult females and their almost grown offspring. With
their huge bulk and bright glowing orange eyes they can be quite formidable,
even to me in the land cruiser. I am always very careful to give these guys
their space, I’ve never been charged by one and I don’t want to experience that
anytime soon!
Chapati tonight for
dinner! I don’t know what it is about chapatti that is so freakin’ delicious,
especially with lentils and guacamole. Emily super tired and with no appetite
so she went to bed early. We’ll see tomorrow if those meds have gotten rid of
the malaria. If she’s still feeling off tomorrow we might need to start
worrying.
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