Friday, September 15, 2023
Today was our first full day of safariing. We followed the following hectic schedule which was roughly continued for the next several days:
- 05:00 Wake-up call
- 05:15 Coffee
- 05:30 Morning Safari drive (3 hours)
- 09:00 Breakfast
- 10:00 Optional Bush Walk (1 hour)
- 14:00 Lunch
- 16:00 Evening Safari Drive (3 hours)
- 20:00 Dinner
It was rough getting up so early but once aboard the safari vehicle and moving, the blowing cool morning air was invigorating. African & sunrises sunsets always are inspiring. This morning we passed a large tree full of vultures hanging out. We saw a group of giraffes on the move and intercepted the path of some of them. Two young males were competing for the attention of a young female (spring is in the air here). One male was following and sniffing the rear of the female who seemed disinterested. We weren’t privy to witness how the necessarily awkward giraffean sexual act is implemented. Traveling on, we had more sightings, had a coffee break, and before returning to the lodge for breakfast saw more giraffes, elephants and other animals.
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| African Sunrise |
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| Lurking Vultures |
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| Giraffes on the Move |
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| Elephants |
Back at the lodge, we were served a hot breakfast and ate at a table with an unobstructed view of the river and landscape. Then, we set out for our hour-long bush walk. We met with two armed guides, Brandon and Marcel, who instructed us on the proper etiquette: single file line, no talking, no running, and how to interpret a few hand signals. Then, off we marched. Soon, our guides found tracks, a lion following a honey badger, and stopped to explain. We continued following the tracks which were along the designated path anyway. We eventually came to the river and explored more tracks there, much larger ones from an elephant. Brandon showed us a small pool of water dug out by the elephant. They don’t drink directly from the river, but dig a mini-pond and allow the water to filter through the sand before drinking it. At this point we turned around and safely returned to the lodge.
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| Outdoor Breakfast at the Lodge |
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| Preparing for the Morning Bush Walk |
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| Following Animal Tracks |
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| Brandon explains the Legend about a Local Tree Species |
Back at the lodge, Jane and I decided to walk around to get a better idea of the Lukimbi facilities. We were very impressed and thought that this would be a great place to relax even without the extraordinary wildlife. We had our lunch, rested up in our room and then headed our for our evening safari drive.
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| Jane outside of our Cottage, E5 |
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| The Lodge Bar |
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| The Lodge Den and Viewing Area |
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| The Library |
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| The Lodge Pool |
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| On the Front Porch |
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| A Warthog grazing in the Lodge’s Front Lawn |
The afternoon temperature was usually hot (96 F) so the breeze in the covered and open safari vehicle was helpful. After a while, reports of a sighting began coming over Marcel’s radio and off we went to the designated area. Upon arrival, we saw a lioness lying about shielding a recent kill. She had already eaten her fill and was just wallowing around digesting it now. We had a poor view of her because she was hunkered down in bushes. However, another lioness with her was a distance away when we arrived. Eventually, the second lioness move back toward her companion and plopped down nearer us and in full view. We observed for quite awhile but the lionesses were content to lie about and occaisonally roll over. Meanwhile, a vulture had arrived and warily hopped closer to some leftovers away from the lionesses but he was under a steady watch and never made a move to eat. Eventually, we moved on to find a place for our safari drinks and to search for other animals.
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| Out on Safari – The African Queen |
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| A Satiated Lioness |
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| I See You |
After our Happy Hour stop, we continued on. As the sun began setting the air temperature began to rapidly cool down. At dusk, while making a right turn, Marcel discovered a leopard in a tree. He pulled the vehicle up as close as possible on the road for viewing. Monday used his spot light so we could better see the leopard which had a few bloody gashes on its side. The guides speculated that it had escaped a fight with a lion or pack of hyenas. We watched for awhile and as we turned around to head back to the lodge several other safari vehicle were arriving to observe what Marcel had broadcast over the radio.
Our return leg was in complete darkness with Monday scanning for wildlife with his spotlight. Suddenly, something flew under the canopy and hit Jane in the face, bounced off of me and ducked under my seat. We continued our journey for almost half an hour with the creature hiding but suddenly Jane felt something rubbing on her leg and soon a brown bat was perched with wings open on the back of the seat in front of us. It quickly flew off. What an exciting end to a spectacular day!
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| Sunset on the Evening Safari |
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| Leopard on a Tree Branch |
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| The Wounded Leopard |
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| Returning at Night |