Thursday, May 15, 2025
Coffee at 7 and in the Land Cruiser by 7:30 for a long game drive. Except for a coffee and biscuit break, we did not stop until returning to camp at 3.
We headed south to the only bridge over the Galana River and then north and deeper into the park. We were looking for anything of interest we might find and we ended up finding a lot.
First we stopped for some plants I was interested in identifying: caccia, small yellow flowers on a mid sized bush; triaspie niedenzuiana, which looks a bit like a snapdragon and comes in white, lilac or pink; and japvanica, a plant used for stuffing pillows.
After crossing the bridge we walked out to see Lagards Falls, which had been named in 1888 by Captain Lagard. Brown, but beautiful.
Soon we were seeing animals and identified: a gerenuk, a black headed lapwing, an Oryx, Grants Gazelle, a very dark giraffe, a bird and a shy female lion.
We stopped to have tea under a tree that we learned the tree was housing a monitor lizard in a hole five feet up the trunk.
In the far end of the pond were a maribou stork, a few wholly-necked storks, a couple of grey heron. Finally, we left that scene and passed by another watering hole filled with female elephants and their babies. By then it was getting late so we drove back to camp for lunch and a swim in the pool.
At 5:30 we were off again for our night drive. We were determined to repeat our path of two nights earlier where we had seen approximately 20 spotted eagle owls during our drive. Rollem drove really fast for a game drive and I wondered why until we reached a pretty sandy beach on the bank of the Galana River and saw an unusual sundowner set up with chairs, pillows, blankets and cushions next to a full bar with snacks as well as drinks.
We sat there until well after sunset thoroughly enjoying ourselves. Eventually we drove slowly back to camp watching for signs of life.
We spotted a flock of guinea foul and I managed a reasonable photo of this very elusive bird.
Unlike the other evening when we saw 20 owls, we only saw 7 spotted-eagle owls, all in the beam of our car lamp. The one on the left has a small animal in its claw.
One was eating a catch and another pair were getting on together. Then we saw another lioness on the hunt, 3 African wild cats (the size of house cats), and one elephant shrew (a small mouse). No photos.
All in all, a very good day. We were all satisfied at dinner and headed for bed by 9:30.
Adventures with Julia 