Safari #7

The more typical Africa weather finally came out today. It was the only time we went out on safari in the heat. We were all decked out in our floppy hats and zip-off safari pants. (Except for Dick. He one-upped us all and bought a new, chic safari hat at the Londolozi store.)
The heat only lasted about an hour, and really wasn't bad at all. While the range rover was moving, we got a nice breeze, and when we stopped, Lucian tried to park us in the shade.


Tuesday afternoon temps

Dick's cool, new, fashionable hat

We spotted several rhino early on. We've seen a lot of them on this trip so far, which is amazing considering how few rhinos are still in existence.


Rhino

Our main goal for this safari: Water Buffalo! Lucian had heard (and started to track) a large herd for us to find. We were not disappointed! We found a herd of water buffalo, at least 500-strong! We sat for at least half an hour watching them all roam. Pretty amazing!


Buffalo!

Here's another favorite photo from our trip so far: Lucian used the panorama feature on my iPhone, and captured this AMAZING shot of all if us in the Range Rover (including a smiling James!) with the huge herd if buffalo around us.


one of my favorite photos of the trip so far




By the time we left the water buffalo, the sun was beginning to set. It was a race against time to try to make it to an open clearing where Lucian wanted to take us to watch the sunset.
Along the way, we spotted more rhino, eagles, zebra, and mongoose! (Hang Loose, Mongoose!) The sun was setting quickly, but I managed to get a couple of shots as we were on our way.
We made it to the gorgeous clearing just after the sun set. No worries- the sky and clouds were still so vibrant and beautiful, and made for some really nice photos. :)




















Richard, Trina, Dick, Lucian, James, Pete


Dick, capturing one last sunset sky

As we left the clearing, it became increasingly dark. We heard there was a sighting of a pride if lions, so we went to check it out. It turned out to be the same pride that we had seen on our first safari earlier this week. They were all tired from the hot weather.
On that note, it turns out that we were super lucky with the cooler weather we had had for our first three days. Not only was it more comfortable for us, but for the animals, too. Because it was cooler, the animals were much more active during daylight than they would usually be in the heat.




When we returned, Nadia informed us that we were to have dinner again in the BOMA (British Officers Mess Area). It was National Day, which is celebrated in South Africa with a Braai (barbecue to us!).
Dinner was wonderful! Nadia and Lucian joined us for a traditional African Braii, and bottles of wine by Lucian's family!!
What a wonderful last evening.