Solo Self-Drive Safari: Day Six

In the dark, once again, loud lion growls a couple of hours before dawn, I’m getting pretty used to it by now, kind of like the third small trembler you experience in California, you just roll over and go back to sleep. The baboons were the first thing on the move in the morning and they were making their presence known by throwing things on your vehicle. I get up, and they scurry, I think they were testing to see if anyone was home. As I made breakfast, I noticed two smaller monkeys in a tree right above my camp table, they were literally keeping an eye on everything I brought out, so I quickly decided to leave nothing out that was small enough for them to steal. Sure enough the second I went back to the truck to put something away, they ran down to the table to see what they could get. Sneaky litter buggers.

These innocent looking guys will steal anything they can carry!
These innocent looking guys will steal anything they can carry!

I enjoyed them thoroughly, can’t say I spend much time camping typically where I’m hiding things from baboons and monkeys. Since I was moving to another campsite tonight, and this camp suffered from curious baboons, I packed everything up, and headed out into the bush, my destination was the hippo pool in Moremi, and then on to the North Gate and the Western edge of the Okavango Delta and on to a place called Xakanaxa, sounded exotic me so why not? I saw many elephants, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, impalas, and gazelles, especially all around the water, it would be hard to leave and head back to camp. I ran into other people in groups and as couples, but in my entire time, I never ran into another solo tourist, I think it’s true I must be mad to be out here on my own.

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Grey Go-Away Bird. Yes, that is what it is called.

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Is it still a selfie when you set the timer and place the camera on a post?
Is it still a selfie when you set the timer and place the camera on a post?

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My new campsite is on the farthest end of the camp area, somewhat all alone by itself (inside joke with a friend of mine). It did make me more nervous with nothing blocking access to my camp site, just wide open grassy prairie, all the other campsites I’d been in had wonder trees and brush around so I could hear something approaching. Let’s just say my concerns turned out not to be without merit.

Camp site out in the open, feeling a bit exposed.
Camp site out in the open, feeling a bit exposed.

 

Just after dark, I’d had my steak, and cleaned up, was enjoying a glass of wine, watching the fire. As had become my routine, I’d do a sweep of the perimeter every 10 or so minutes, with my very bright LED flashlight. I had also positioned my truck behind me, so it was kind of blocking access to the open prairie. In this moment, I think I had become a little hypnotized by the fire, suddenly I felt a bump on my elbow and amazingly managed to not jump out of my chair, I turn on the flash light, and look to my right, and find a spotted hyena standing right next to me! Since it was dark, I couldn’t get a picture, but he looked exactly like this one:

Full credit to wiki for this picture. No way I could take a picture of the one who came sniffing around me at night.
Full credit to wiki for this picture. No way I could take a picture of the one who came sniffing around me at night.

Somehow I didn’t totally freak out, and jump and scream like a little girl, and he just snorted and walked away. About five minutes later, I heard a scream from a woman, and surmised the hyena was now over there visiting their camp. Then I thought oops maybe I should have said something about there being a hyena in camp. Alarm people, when they may not even see it or, just count on them to know there might always be something coming around? The campers closest to me, had invited me over for a beer this evening, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to walk over to their camp alone in the dark, especially after the hyena. They must have sensed this and came over to get me, and walk me over to their camp showing me amazing hospitality, and even gifting me a bottle of Sloe Gin. The family was from South Africa, with an older mom and dad, and their adult son and daughter with their spouses. They treated me to a taste of Pap which is a corn-based porridge with whole kernels of corn in it, and topped with ground meat in a tomato sauce base with some savory spices. As we eat, two elephants make their way through camp, one not even 10 feet (3 meters) away from us. Everyone just gets quite and watches the giant mammal closely. He eventually, turns and heads back toward my camp. These four nights in the national parks of Botswana have been surreal.

What do you think?

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