Day 5: June 28 - So long Pafuri

Geez, it was cold again this morning - no more than 40 degrees, is my guess. I'm going to try sleeping with my clothing tucked under the sheets and see if they are warmer in the morning!! Fortunately, I think I've finally figured out how to dress so that I am not completely frozen on the morning drives. If it was just the 40 degrees, it would be bearable... but with the wind while we're driving, it can get brutally cold on the safaris! Even the monkeys were trying to catch some of the morning sun's warmth this morning: This is our last drive in Pafuri, and we saw more lion tracks, and even saw where they spent the night (Godfrey pointed out the marks in the sand). Another truck radioed us when they spotted four lions on a riverbank, and we rushed to get there (over bumpy bumpy roads!) they had left before we could arrive and we never laid eyes on them. I did get a good shot of a print, though:

We also caught a quick glimpse of a hyena this morning as we were leaving camp - cool! They're much bigger than I had thought, but he ran off before my freezing fingers could manage to get out my camera. In any case, it would have been another "butt running away" shot, which I have a feeling I'll have a lot of by the end of the trip.

The morning drive was still gorgeous, with lovely flowers (I forget what this one is called):

Amazing scenery: And of course, tons of birds. Here is a Goliath Heron, which is - apparently - quite a rare bird to see. He was - true to his name - HUGE, and stood at least 5 feet tall on the riverbank. When he flew away, he had a wingspan of at least 10 feet... it was so majestic.

The abundance of wildlife is stunning, and many times you'll see animals hanging around each other. Mostly they do this for protection - more eyes to see predators coming - and they can use each other to watch for warning signs. Here is an Nyala and a Vervet monkey:

It does seem that every time we go out on a drive we see something new (although now that I've said this, I'll probably jinx us.) This morning, we saw a bunch of Rock Hyrax (also called Dassies) hanging out on the rocky outcrops. They are like huge rats with no tails... but apparently are most closely related to elephants. Shy creatures, they didn't let us get very close, but I did manage to snag a pretty good photo of one while he was sunning himself and trying to get warm:We are overnighting in Johannesburg tonight, and tomorrow, we're flying to Victoria Falls en route to Botswana's Chobe National Park. Thus begins the main portion of our trip, so hopefully we'll start experiencing some culture soon too. I'm looking forward to meeting more of the local people, trying the local foods, and learning about the culture...