Monday 2 December 2013

Day 4-6: birthdays and big cats

Day 4 to 6: Jess’s b-day & big cats

Loooong drive which meant an early start (in truck by 6am) which we were rewarded with our first day of lots of animal spotting. I don’t think the other campers were to thrilled with us since we sang happy birthday to Jessie at 4:30am and then again before we got on the truck at 6am. 

Animals seen: 
-baboons
-springbok
-kudu
-zebras

I’m partly glad we didn’t see the baboons until we were leaving the campsite since they are known for being pest at this one. It had Jessie freaked out enough to actually lock her tent shut! But considering what stories Mike ( Table Mt guide) had been telling me about them breaking into his house I can understand being a bit freaked out. 

On the truck, I ended up sitting at the table facing backwards which has it’s benefits since that is how I spotted the little herd of Zebras. And when sitting at the table, it also means you are responsible for charging everyones things (cameras, ipods,computers) and organizing all the different types of adapters from around the world. Sometimes a lot more tricky then you would think. Roy and I were pretty good at it and did resort to using tape and a cookie box at one point to hold everything up. Also not aided by the very bouncy road. 



We had our 2nd mechanical issue with a leaking disel fuel line. So more waiting around but Herms can fix everything :D 



For Jessie’s birthday Belinda and Herms made a slight detour around to show us some big cats: a leopard (Lisa), 2 cheetahs (Oscar & Wild) and 2 caracals (Romeo & Juilliet) . It’s not a zoo or touristy attraction per say but it is at a hotel. The owner of hotel acquired a baby leopard (Lisa) a few years ago when the mother leopard was a problem one. He took on Lisa to safe her from being killed. Leopards in general are very shy and solitary animals. Lisa only trusts the owner. 


The cheetahs were bottle raised so we could go into the enclosure with them which was pretty cool. They were pretty lazy in the hot afternoon sun. The caracals ( looks similar to a lynx) were hiding. The only issue I had was that with the caracals hiding, we ended up playing hide and seek while we looked for them. Not exactly the safest thing to do but I know Herms wouldn’t put us in harms way. 




A cool picture of a communal weaver nest. Herms had us thinking it was giraffes actually putting grass up high in the trees to save it for later! 
(nest pic)

Just before arriving at the campsite for the night, we stopped at Sesriem Canyon. Not sure if it would be considered a slot canyon or not. From the top you can barely tell there is a canyon there. Some cool caves to climb into and canyons to walk down. Nothing growing in it except one tree. 


One of Herms many talents also include baking cakes- in a pot over the campfire at that. Super yummy chocolate cake to top off the day. And doing some star gazing- Venus is really bright. 







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