We decided to opt for a full-days drive today. It essentially combines the time of the two half-day drives, starts a little later, gets back earlier, and can go farther afield.
Thulani, our guide, is very good at tracking animals. He hangs out the side of the car while driving and then tries to follow them until the tracks disappear from the road. Then, shuts off the car and uses his binoculars to scan. Sometimes, he's successful. Other times, not.
One of the unsuccessful times was again this morning as he tracked the elusive cheetah. When we stopped at one of the watering holes, the guides exchanged information. Apparently, the only successful sighting was a self-drive camper can who reported seeing it cross the road. We doubled back but the cheetah has disappeared.
The next tracking attempt was more successful. We were tracking a lion. Jackpot! We saw this beautiful male sitting under a tree. We knew it wasn't the one we'd seen mating since its mane was bigger and darker.
We continued to drive, sighting different groups of animals, stopping to watch them graze, bathe, or play. Again the Impala totally amazed us with their graceful leaps.
Thulani wanted to check to see if the three female and six lion cubs were still there. All but one female had left. We caught a glimpse of her as she sauntered away.
Our destination was a dam that is close to a sister camp. They have nine tented rooms that are raised on platforms. Those rooms have a great view of the reservoir.
On our way, Thulani spotted a large number of vultures in the trees. He told us, that only happens after a kill. The vultures hang out, waiting for the carcass to be left before they descend.
We followed a road that hadn't yet been traveled today and in the brush was a huge elephant carcass, and three females lions nearby.
Thulani time us the the females are the hunters. Males only hunt in desperation but if they are in the territory when a kill is made, they eat their fill before the female and cubs.
We couldn't see the elephant very well so we weren't sure how fresh the kill was but the females looked like they were resting. Since we weren't sure when they'd eat, we moved on to the reservoir and picnic spot.
There is a nice covered viewing area with benches. Other tour groups and individual travelers were there, eating lunch and watching the animals enjoying the fresh water.
We have really enjoyed our time at Robins Camp but one doesn't come here for the food. It's been adequate but really, there's nothing to recommend it. As we are our packed sandwich, the large tour group had a buffet table complete with a white tablecloth and a selection of hot and cold foods. I comforted myself knowing that they had 8-9 people in each vehicle, we had 2, a trade-off I'd gladly make again.
It was time to make it way back. Thulani wanted to check on the lions and carcass. We came upon three very satisfied looking sleeping lions and, as it was later in the day, while we could see the carcass, we could smell it.
Robins Camp has a landing strip. It's used by guests of many different lodges/camps that don't want to take the two hour drive in. The plane sits behind an electric fence protecting it from ardvarks that eat the tires!
This is our last night here. Before we came we wondered how many game drives we'd want to go on. The answer was, every chance we could get. As I write this, we are sitting near a campfire waiting for dinner. This is it view.
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