The 2021 Africa Journals, Chapter 11: In Which We See Spots before Our Eyes

 

Chapter Eleven:

In Which We See Spots before Our Eyes

As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was about to happen.” – A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

(Note:   to see the photos at their best, click on one and a filmstrip will appear at the bottom of the page where you can see the photos one by one.)

    Late afternoon game drives start at 4 o'clock.   Before then, Marg and I tried to cool down in the 100 degree heat by getting into the pool fully clothed but for shoes and socks.

    It helped.   I tied a soaking wet neck buff around my forehead or around my neck and that helped, too.   

    Great Plains Exploration camp gave up the best water bottles ever.   They were insulated to keep water cool and had a built in straw.   Many of the camps are using water bottles now rather than plastic, disposable bottles.   

 

    In Kenya's Maasai Mara reserve, plastic bottles are banned, and plastic bags are outlawed in all of Kenya.  Announcements on airlines landing in Kenya tell you it is a crime to bring plastic bags into the country.   That includes ZipLok bags and such in addition to plastic shopping bags.  

 

    In addition, Kenya has institutes laws designed to keep plastics out of National parks, beaches, forests, and conservation areas.

 

    From the UN Environmental Programme site:   Visitors will no longer be able to carry plastic water bottles, cups, disposable plates, cutlery, or straws into protected areas. The move follows Kenya’s ground-breaking step of a nationwide ban on single-use plastic bags in 2017.

 

    

    While we lingered in the pool, a herd of elephants appeared in the meadow across the creek from us.   I had my camera and tried to get photos of one upstream that was frolicking in the water.   There was too much brush in the way so I got out of the pool and made my way through some of the brush.       An elephant across the river, about forty feet away, told me I was too close and to back off.   I did.    Charl, our photo coach, told me I had my warning and that I would be surprised how fast they could move.   I had no doubt.

Elephants are so joyous in the water.

        So off we went on our late afternoon drive.  

Pied kingfisher with fish.

These two impala quit knocking horns when we stopped.

Mousebirds.

That light-colored column is a termite mound.

Squirrel

    One of the nice things about visiting the private reserves or conservatories is that the rules are a bit more relaxed.   Instead of being back by 6 PM, we are allowed to stay out longer and even take night drives.

    This (Above) is a springhare.  It resembles a small kangaroo in that it has short front  legs and long, well-built rear legs.   These rodents are nocturnal, feeding on a variety of plants and roots.        

During the day they sleep standing up in a burrow with their head and front legs hanging between their hind legs.

 ***

 

    The next morning was our last game drive in Selinda Spillway.   It would be a short one---only three hours as we had to be back in camp for breakfast at 9 o'clock and then a drive to the airstrip.

    We  searched without success for three days for one particular animal.    This morning, there she was in the golden light of the rising sun.  A beautiful female leopard out in the open on a perfect branch in a perfect tree.

        In the photos below, the leopard was stalking a pair of small antelope called dikdiks.

    We spent most of our allotted time with the leopard, watching her in the tree, stalking the dikdiks and failing to catch one.

    Then, it was back to camp, breakfast, last minute camera packing, and a flight from the airstrip to the airport in Kasane, Botswana.

My favorite tent on the whole trip.

Flying over some of the country around Okavango Delta.

The bluish stuff is sand and the darker bluish is water.   The pathways in the sand are animal trails.   It's blue because it was taken through an airplane window.

  

  We went to the ticket agent to get our boarding passes for the Airlink flight to Johannesburg, but she did not have our COVID-10 PCR test results.  No test, no tickets.

    It took several people  about a half hour before the airport folks had the results (negative) FAXed to them and printed out for us.

    This was just another example of how Murphy and his Law was stuck to me like porcupine quills.  Unknowingly, we were in for epic battles in Johannesburg.  But, hey, three negative COVID-19 tests ain't bad.

 

 

Lunch containers on Airlink featured another sunbird.   Loved these boxes.

 

 

 

Next:   Murphy and his horde of Malicious Minions try their best.