October 23, Thursday. We started our last day here with another early morning drive and a small group of zebra. When they were just standing and grazing, each was turned in a different direction from the rest so each could keep watch for predators the others might not see. They prefer grazing in open savannas for this reason because they can often outrun danger. After that, we bumped and swayed at high speed for a very long time without seeing anything very exciting until at last Iggie took us to a spot where an adult lioness was devouring her share of a large zebra that had made the mistake of wandering into a grove of acacia trees that provided excellent cover for the lions. There were two adult females and three youngish cubs all sated and sleeping while mama finished her meal. Iggie said the male of the pride spends little time with the others, being busy patrolling his territory to keep out other lions. Looks like mama waited until papa went off to work and then bagged some groceries for the rest of the family. Clever lady. She finished feeding while we were admiring her ability to toss around the huge zebra carcass while neatly cleaning meat off the skin and bones. It was not all gone when she finished, so if dad shows up in time, he will get some, too. If not, the scavengers--hyenas and buzzards, will finish the job. Nature is remarkably efficient.

 We saw more zebras, a few elephants, and even a few rhinos trotting along off in the distance about the time we stopped for our tea break. Our best sighting after the lions was totally unexpected--a big ostrich standing right in the middle of the road and politely posing for a few photos before moving off into the bush. Lots of downtime this morning, but some very nice rewards anyway. I was happy to have both my fleece and my windbreaker today. 

  

We had a little visitor during our tea break.

Of the Big Five (lion, elephant, buffalo, hyena, and leopard) we missed only the leopard during our visit here, and they are so elusive that a leopard sighting is truly rare in this reserve. I really don't understand why the Big Five is made up the way it is, actually. I'd much rather see giraffes, zebras, kudu, and water buck than hyenas or even buffalo, but I guess they are not rare enough to make the list. 

A last breakfast on the terrace, just enough time for another open air shower, and back onto the jeeps for a ride to the gate and a rendezvous with our busses. A couple hours on the bus, and we are back on the train. Too bad the train drivers didn't come on the bus with us as we had a three hour wait before they showed up. It is 4:30pm and we are at last moving. Of course we have already been plied with food and wine, and now a nap is sounding like an excellent idea. Then we will have more food and wine, and bed before our morning arrival in Pretoria. We have calculated that we are drinking between 1½ and 2 bottles of wine a day EACH! We have just three more nights on the train and then we will be waddling around Cape Town. I see a diet and wine fast in our future, but not this week!

The Tau Lodge guides say goodbye to us