Moremi Game Reserve - Day 8

Meandering bush tracks of Moremi. 

The lions were roaring just outside the campsite at around 4.30 am. After picking up our bucket that the hyena had grabbed and walked off with we quickly drove in the direction of the lions just after 6 am, but they were nowhere to be seen. In fact, the whole game drive was quiet, with even the tour guides struggling to find anything. 

Red Lechwe where they are most comfortable, reed beds. 

We meandered along the floodplain where we could drive without getting into water and had coffee with some lechwe and later stopped in front of a pod of hippos to get some pictures in good light. Wandering back, we were hoping to catch some elephants making their way down to drink in the mid-morning, but even they weren't obliging, and just before noon we got back to the campsite for lunch. 

Red Necked Spur fowl, a common resident. 

The campsite seemed busier than outside and we got some nice shots of the green wood hoopoes hunting for termites and then an exciting view of a snake slithering down the road while being mobbed by birds. Interestingly we found some scat near our site. We assumed hyena because the scat is going white but the spoor next to it is possibly leopard. We couldn't definitely say one way or the other - photos were taken and hopefully we can work it out later. 

Hyena scat and Leopard Spoor in the camp. 

Campsite chores needed to be done, including the refuel which was done quickly and with less drama than last time. The monkeys can be a real pest in this campsite and cue them arriving as lunchtime did. They're pretty bold and keep an eye out for any food left out or in the car if the doors are open. We watched them for a while before having lunch. Luckily our pasta salad didn't involve anything more than dishing it out on a plate so the monkeys soon lost interest in us and headed off to find another potential victim. 

Green Wood Hoopoe, usually noisy and in a flock. 

The afternoon game drive was just as unproductive and even more frustrating. Our neighbors told us that the 3 wild dogs had run through the camp "earlier" although we were not sure if that was in the morning or an hour previously, both times when we were out game driving. Despite our best efforts the lions were nowhere to be seen and although we did find some vultures on a tree the predator that was the reason didn't show itself and it was too far off the road for us to see. 

Grey Headed Heron, another common resident. 

We meandered around the floodplain for a while but eventually headed back to the campsite to have sunset in the camp. Even the hyena was scarce this night with hardly a call and no sighting of him. But we enjoyed our evening with a big fire to burn our extra wood and headed to bed full from our steak dinner.

Another magical bush sunset.