I handle my morning routine, and head out of camp in my trusty Land Cruiser for an early start to make my last exploration through the Moremi Reserve. Rather taking my time to work my way in a loop by three bridges and then back out the South Gate again. After I leave the park, I get a glimpse of a beautiful Black Sable, technically it is an antelope. It was just beautiful! And I had no idea what it was, until I got home and looked it up, it turns out to be a very rare animal and rapidly declining in population.
I think today, was unusual animal day, as at the Okavango Delta, I find a Nile Water Monitor. At first, I had no idea what it was, other than a very freaking big lizard. Google came to the rescue once again, and identified the reptile.
Throughout Africa you’ll find community camps, where local community organizations set up a coop of sorts, where they run a camp, and share the proceeds with the local community. The Kaziikini Community Camp was set up very nicely, not fancy, but very well put together, and efficiently run by a very nice woman in traditional dress, there was a small area with handicrafts for sale, and I bought a couple of grass baskets, and a painted fabric wall hanging, with the most vibrant reds, gold and oranges. She also set me up with a local guide for 3 hours the next day; I think the cost was around $40 to ride with me in their reserve to see if we could find a lion!
This camp had some very rustic showers, and toilets, all outdoor and open to the sky, there was kind of privacy, and I loved the ambiance, so long as something didn’t “join” me.
I was becoming old hand at this bush camping thing, and met a guy nearby who apparently had a bit more money to spend than I did on his safari, finally though another lone safari person, but this guy well, not so much, he had a driver, a guide and another guy to set up and take care of camp…he didn’t even have to boil water. He’d done this about several times though, and yeah, if for sure removes a lot of the guesswork.
This camp wasn’t was out in the bush, but the same rules about wildlife still applied, the stars this night were stunning though, so I spent some time trying to shoot the night sky.
