October 22, Wednesday. We were awakened at 5:30 this morning for the first of today's scheduled game drives. Yesterday afternoon we were comfortable in short sleeves, but this morning even a windbreaker didn't keep us warm. I will be wearing my fleece under it tomorrow morning!  We had a great drive, however. We saw a small herd of female kudu with only one young buck among them, impala, two awkwardly graceful giraffes, and finally the big catch--a male lion feasting on a little impala while his mate and cubs waited patiently for their turn, something that was unlikely to come because an impala is a mere snack for an adult male. Not quite fair since it was almost certain the female had made the kill.  Law of the jungle, however, since he needs to assert his privilege to keep the pride operating smoothly.  Next we took a morning tea/coffee break before finishing with sightings of a group of young male kudu, some impalas, a distant herd of buffalo I only identified after seeing my zoomed photos, and finally zebra. Back to the lodge by 9:30. Quite a morning!

The Tau Lodge at sunrise

kudu

impala

Hmmm. Mama found something to gnaw on!

I guess this is what is called "the lion's share,"

It's still plenty chilly at break time

kudu

impala

buffalo

After a post-drive breakfast, during which we saw an assortment of deer and birds and a big, lazy crocodile half buried in the muck, suddenly the wait staff paraded in with a birthday cake for one of our number, singing a wonderful African call-and-response birthday song, with the deep male voices calling back and forth with the high women's voices. I wanted to buy the CD! They were so professional sounding I was sure they would have one, but no. BooHoo. I would happily have bought a CD, and later told the lodge owner he was missing the boat by not producing one. Later, our South African passengers, Mdudu and Rae, told me all Africans sing like that. "You should hear us at weddings!" Sigh.

Egyptian geese

Lunch?

  

I headed to our little cottage for a most welcome shower outside in the sunshine and then an hour or so of equally welcome Internet access in the lobby.  Walking back to the room, I was surprised to see a herd of 28 elephants walking in the same direction.  I hurried inside, woke John from his nap, and we both went a little crazy watching and photographing their antics in the muddy pond just off our back deck. After some splashing around, they continued their march, and the water buck and deer returned to the pond. More photos. Went inside, thinking the show was over, but no, here came the elephants back again. More antics before they left for the larger pond at the lodge, then they returned to us one more time before finally wandering off for good. By now it was time to assemble for the afternoon drive. Imagine our surprise when a rhino was spotted from the lodge deck, heading right for our pond. About a dozen of us dashed down the path to our cottage to photograph him. So much excitement during what we had expected to be our rest time!

water buck

kudu

Is this baboon thinking about taking a shower?

rhino!

Soon we boarded our jeep, but we were sure nothing we saw on the drive would equal the excitement we had already had. Of course, we were wrong. In addition to the usual deer family animals, we soon spotted a mama rhino and her baby a mere fifteen or so feet from our jeep! That was an amazing experience, only to be topped by soon seeing seven more rhinos at a greater distance, and another large herd of elephants as well as a very large one, on his own, who entertained us from just a few yards away while stuffing wads of thorny, bare acacia branches into his mouth. Snap, crackle, and pop! We were amazed that anything could eat that stuff. Our guide told us it will go through the elephant's system almost whole, which is why they try never to drive over elephant droppings lest they end up with punctured tires. Iggie also told us how to differentiate between male and female elephants. The latter have a boxy looking forehead, where the skulls of the males are more rounded. Males have larger tusks, too, and they splay outward, unlike female tusks that are more parallel to their trunks.

Before our afternoon was over, we spotted a large group of wildebeest right next to an equal sized herd of buffalo. Both are members of the bovine family but the buffalo are much larger. Just as it was growing dark after our sundowner break, Iggie spotted a fairly rare brown hyena for us. Alas, my lone photo of him in the dark didn't turn out!  Just before that, we saw a large male lion standing in the road right in front of us. By a miracle, I think at least one of my photos of him is reasonably good. This afternoon's drive truly exceeded all expectations!