The next morn I got up early af for the morning game drive. We hopped in the Jeep, and he guide drove us in the freezing cold through almost darkness. We came upon a huge troop of baboons playing in the trees. They were going nuts, jumping from branch to branch, swinging around, and play fighting.
We drove some more, seeing most of the usual suspects, antelope, giraffe, etc. It was kind of a mellow game drive, and I thought to myself that maybe this would finally be the one uneventful drive. I mean, driving around looking at antelope, giraffes, etc is still pretty awesome, but it looked like we weren’t going to see anything more rare.
As usual, I was wrong. After a bit, we came upon some wild dogs. Yes!! I can’t believe I got to see wild dogs for a second time this trip! They were mostly laying around, and then, all of a sudden, the whole pack jumped up and was on high alert. They raced off into the bush, yipping. Watching them all race off was thrilling. And then, we didn’t see it, but they made a kill somewhere. Soon we saw them racing back and forth, again and again, by our car. Our guide explained that they had a den on pups somewhere, and after they hunt, they eat their food, race back to the den to regurgitate the food for the babies to eat, and then back for more food, again and again so the pups are fed.
Later, we stopped for a breakfast in the middle of the bush. It’s always magical to eat out in nature, just listening to the animal sounds and taking in the scenery. Afterwards, we drove some more and found a big group of hippos by the river. Some of the really big ones were mostly submerged in the water, with just their eyes and snout poking out. There was one baby hippo playing near the edge of the water which was really adorable.
After driving some more, we found the den of the wild dogs and watched the little pups running around and then drinking from their mother. It’s crazy how amazing the animal sightings here have been.
After coming back to the lodge, I went for a swim at the small pool. After some time, an elephant and her baby came by, crashing though the trees and eating everything in sight as they do. As they continued eating, they got closer and closer to the pool until they were just around 20 feet away. It was definitely one of those moments on this trip that totally blew my mind. Here I am, in Africa, in a pool, drinking a beer, and watching wild elephants just several yards away from me. Insane.
That night we went for our last evening game drive, and came back to the lodge for another delicious meal by the fire. This lode had been by far the most amazing place we had stayed. I’m gonna be sad to leave this place. So special.
