NIGHT DRIVE
We met Glen for an afternoon bird walk around the camp at 5:00 when the temperature had cooled off a bit but it wasn't as productive as we thought it would be. Around 6:00, we met Rogers and headed out on our night drive for 2.5 hours.
We were amazed at what we saw. The first sighting was of a Pearl-spotted Owlet who sat still and so close I could photograph it - both front and back views. This tiny owlet has fake eyes on the back of its head. I purchased a carving of a small one in Etosha which will grace my kitchen window. We added two new species of nightjar to our list. Just as we were approaching the camp on our return, we had wonderful looks at Verreaux's Eagle Owl, Africa's largest owl. He was perched on a bare tree limb right beside the road. A wonderful sighting.
We were looking for aardvark as well but no luck. We did see three more honey badgers bringing the total to five seen during the day. According to the camp manager's wife, that is one of the target animals for guests and most go away disappointed. We saw scrub hare and wild cats again but the best was a new sighting of Spring Hare. These little guys have very short front legs and hop like kangaroos. They use their front legs for digging and their back ones for shovelling the dirt out of the way. They could really move when they wanted to. Hop, Hop, Hop. The other sight we saw was a herd of giraffe lying down. Their bodies are on the ground but their necks stay erect as they chew their cuds. They never sleep with their heads on the ground. It was quite a sight to see all these heads sticking up from the ground. Didn't take them long to get to their feet and move away from our lights.
We arrived back at 8:30 where once again we were seated on the fire pit deck - our favourite spot for dinner. The main course here is served buffet style and we were a bit worried that all the food would have been picked over by the large tour group. No worries here. We were given our own private buffet.
Rogers had had the kitchen prepare his lemon-ginger drink in a thermos for us. Norma had it instead of wine at dinner. I enjoyed a glass at bedtime and one the next morning. Delicious and wonderful for my sore throat.
We met Glen for an afternoon bird walk around the camp at 5:00 when the temperature had cooled off a bit but it wasn't as productive as we thought it would be. Around 6:00, we met Rogers and headed out on our night drive for 2.5 hours.
We were amazed at what we saw. The first sighting was of a Pearl-spotted Owlet who sat still and so close I could photograph it - both front and back views. This tiny owlet has fake eyes on the back of its head. I purchased a carving of a small one in Etosha which will grace my kitchen window. We added two new species of nightjar to our list. Just as we were approaching the camp on our return, we had wonderful looks at Verreaux's Eagle Owl, Africa's largest owl. He was perched on a bare tree limb right beside the road. A wonderful sighting.
We were looking for aardvark as well but no luck. We did see three more honey badgers bringing the total to five seen during the day. According to the camp manager's wife, that is one of the target animals for guests and most go away disappointed. We saw scrub hare and wild cats again but the best was a new sighting of Spring Hare. These little guys have very short front legs and hop like kangaroos. They use their front legs for digging and their back ones for shovelling the dirt out of the way. They could really move when they wanted to. Hop, Hop, Hop. The other sight we saw was a herd of giraffe lying down. Their bodies are on the ground but their necks stay erect as they chew their cuds. They never sleep with their heads on the ground. It was quite a sight to see all these heads sticking up from the ground. Didn't take them long to get to their feet and move away from our lights.
We arrived back at 8:30 where once again we were seated on the fire pit deck - our favourite spot for dinner. The main course here is served buffet style and we were a bit worried that all the food would have been picked over by the large tour group. No worries here. We were given our own private buffet.
Rogers had had the kitchen prepare his lemon-ginger drink in a thermos for us. Norma had it instead of wine at dinner. I enjoyed a glass at bedtime and one the next morning. Delicious and wonderful for my sore throat.
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