Sunrise was lovely.
We spotted a jackal, a nocturnal animal. Apparently, it is another elusive animal though not as highly prized as seeing a cheetah or leopard. 🙂
We saw zebras, impalas, elephants. Whenever Thulani asked if we wanted to stop a take a picture, we said no. We thought we had taken closer photos already so on we headed.
We spent some time tracking a lion. A ridgeback was sending out a distress call and the birds were flying about. Thulani was on it.
It took a while but finally, he spotted it. A pride of ten lions, two male (one older with a full name, and another younger, smaller maned lion) and eight females. With binoculars we could count all ten and saw that one of the females had blood on the side of her face. It seemed that they were all contently resting after eating their fill of a kill.
Thulani could tell by the tire tracks that we were the first ones there this morning. He contacted other guides and we just hung out admiring the lions. Just before the first other jeep showed up, the lions began moving. It almost looked they they were huddling, figuring out what was next.
And soon, they were gone. We were awed. Everyone we've told said how lucky and how special that was. Whatever else, it was certainly magical.
Time to leave and take the two hour unpaved road back to the main road where we'd transfer to an air-conditioned van for another hour. Along the way, we saw small communities that reminded me of teaching third graders about the Ohlone Native Americans. This one had brick buildings but check out the thatched roof structures.
We are at an AirBnB. It is about a 15 minute walk to Victoria Falls along dusty, unpaved roads. Our host has recommended The Rivers microbrewery for lunch. We missed our California/West Coast beers.
and a Sundowner drink at Victoria Falls Hotel. It is a throwback to British Colonial Rule. Very beautiful public spaces, High Tea, and very proper service.
We have a taxi driver we can call on so he returned us to our place. We were cautioned not to walk after dark since the elephants are hard to see and easy to spook at night.
