We awoke at 5:30 in the AM to do the morning brush walk, but had been raining so the safari was cancelled. So after packing a bit we drove around the park until 9:30 or so. Here's the first animals we saw, warthogs!
So we entered into Crocodile bridge, made a feast of a meal (chicken, roasted vegetables, rice). Malaria Zach slept, and Nick and David stayed up a bit. Missed the morning brush walk so we drove around and this is what we saw.
We awoke at 5:30 in the AM to do the morning brush walk, but had been raining so the safari was cancelled. So after packing a bit we drove around the park until 9:30 or so. Here's the first animals we saw, warthogs!
Zebra's, before they were on to us.
Doh, they spotted us!
They seem to always be in groups. Probably a guy brings his harem along.
Cheetahs!
The world's fastest land animals, marking a scraped tree.
Now the other guy gets to mark it. Both are male. The females are the solitary ones in this breed.
This Blue Wildebeast, here looking more brown. He's keeping his good eye on those Cheetahs
And here's a spotted hyena, also waiting to see what the cheetahs will do.
Here's some intersesting info about the spotten hyena:
Females are larger than and dominant to males and have male physical characteristics (i.e. the parts that make them male!) so they are almost indistinguishable. Clans number in the dozens and are led by females. They are very muscular and look like dogs but are more closely related to cats. A pack can take out zebras or wildebeasts easily, and it's predator is the lion.
Mr. Cheetah didn't seem to care that we drove along side it - wow.
But they did pick up the pace when we got closer. I think they were a bit alarmed, perhaps.
"What are you doing? Stop following me!"
This, my friend, is an impala. A unique antelope with no close relatives. It can jump over 10m in a single bound, and 3m into the air! This guy is hunted by pretty much every carnivore in the park. He's like the meat animal.
Lions!
They're on to us. Quick, run for your lives!
These are Springbok, one of the fastest antelopes
They have a very odd rear end, with colors that are hidden by their tail. They only raise their tail in flight.
This big giraffe has been attacked at the neck, or something.
Man, these big guys look strong!
A Brush Shrike. This guy has a long tail that I didn't get in the picture.
Hippos!
They can eat half my weight in plant material each evening. They're pretty agressive fellas, and tear each other up pretty regularly. Also, they're very dangerous to anything between itself and it's retreat to water, and many people die each year b/c they got in the way.
The Hamerkop. This odd bird sometimes is in groups. Sometimes they'll stack on top of each other to form a tower up to 5 high, and make a bunch of noise. Nobody knows why.
These zebras were being very silly/flirty. I just missed the wildest part.
Impala, run away!