Day 4: June 27 - Pafuri adventures...

1:00pm:
Well, yesterday evening's journal entry was cut off abruptly because we lost power to the tents for a bit. The place runs on generators, and sometimes... well... they decide that they're tired and shut down. So we just took that as a sign that we should get some sleep.

In any case, last night for dinner, we had ostrich (a surprisingly dark meat - like a tough beef) with cranberry sauce. So far I haven't seen any live ostrich, so it seems quite unfair that I should be eating it. Unfortunately, I have to say that personally, viewing them will be more rewarding than tasting them.... the ostriches of the world are officially safe from my culinary experimentations.

This morning was another 5:30am wake up, followed closely by another stunning sunrise. I don't think it was quite as cold this morning as it was yesterday, but it may have just been wishful thinking on my part. Still, the mornings are gorgeous and the sunrises are just as colorful as the sunsets every day. The morning drive was filled with hopes of spotting the elusive lion that had left tracks for us once again. But alas he was nowhere to be found today, much to Godfrey's frustration. The drive was far from being a bust, however, as we had a very close encounter with a bachelor group of elephants - the leader of which got within about 20 feet of the vehicle. It was quite intimidating, and Godfrey told us no talking and no movement, lest it spur the elephant to charge us. Needless to say, most of us simply froze and held our breath... Gack!
We also added wildebeests to our list of sightings today - very exciting since they were just recently reintroduced to the park and they're quite shy around vehicles. We also caught our first glimpse of zebra, but they were disappointingly far away. We saw many more baboons, warthogs, kudu, nyala, impala and a plethora of birds. Me and Godfrey:
Upon our return to the lodge, we spotted a huge, 20-foot long crocodile heading up river, and a buffalo on the far shore. The buffalo is still enjoying a riverside siesta as I write this.

The tents at the lodge are all connected with raised wooden walkways, so that they animals can move freely underneath and the lodge doesn't block their access to the riverside. The paths are beautiful, and each room's walkway has a spear at the turnoff point. When placed across the path, it signals "do not disturb", and if it's left upright (like the one here), it means that we would like a wake up knock. Of course, it's also helpful as a weapon in case an animal attacks... but thankfully we haven't had to test that theory... 8:30pm:
This afternoon was quite fun. A family of about 30 baboons spent about an hour by the river outside the tent, drinking, playing and fighting ... and making quite a lot of noise! They were absolutely hysterical and I had a fabulous time taking way too many photos of them...

We also visited one of the largest - and oldest - baobab trees today, which I climbed into the middle of! I hope the photos turn out... quite an adventure! (Note: Later, I realized that I lost my little camera along the way, so I don't have any photos of the baobab tree adventures... hopefully one of my travel mates will send a photo to me and I will post it!)

We went for a third drive this evening. Godfrey is frustrated at missing the lion, especially since he's been following the tracks for three days! But alas no luck again lion-wise. We did manage to catch a glimpse of a civet, which was absolutely gorgeous. Here's a highly mediocre photo that doesn't even come close to capturing reality:
Also spotted tonight was the double-fisted, green-backed Mary Anne, whose photo came out much better than the civet's. A most generous creature, the Mary Anne, who shared her spirits with everyone...

Tomorrow we're off to start the main portion of our trip and transferring to Chobe National Park in Botswana. We'll spend the main part of the day in transit, so I'm not anticipating anything exciting until Friday.