Day 8 - Morning Drive

So we loaded up the truck and we moved...at 6am!

It was a rude awakening at 0530 when the knock on the door came.

"Good morning"

They don't stop until you get out of bed and come to the door to get your biscuits. I can't remember what they are called, starts with an r, but they are hard as a rock until you dip them into your tea or coffee and they become edible.

Our first full day. I was very excited. I'm not sure I slept much. I remember being awake thinking of that Disney commercial "we can't sleep, we're too excited".
We had hardly even left the lodge grounds when we saw our first elephant.

Not just one either. There was a whole family.

Magnificent creatures. What they can do with their trunks is incredible.

We watched as they would use their trunks and tusks to break branches, or trees, and eat the soft limbs. Occasionally they would hold a tree while they kicked at the base to uproot it. It was amazing to watch an animal so massive be so exact and delicate in its motions.
Next, we went to the hyena den.

Abel knew exactly where they would be.

They were a lot of fun. The family interaction was intriguing.

Apparently one female has a litter at a time but all the females help raise the young. The pups were not the least bit afraid of us.

We watched as the older males returned to the den after a night of hunting. They had a ritual they performed when returning and greeting the "den mother".

While we were watching the hyena we got a call that the buffalo were on the move and were leaving the property. If we didn't hurry we might not get to see them.

On the way we got to see this little guy. He is a vervet monkey. Several of them hang out around the lodge and occasionally we would see them out in the bush.