First game ride

4/30/07 - afternoon

Alex picked us up for our afternoon game ride and off we went -- we went on a total of four different trips to different areas of the park and saw something different every time.

The Land Cruiser has a "pop top" which was great for standing up and looking out of. Alex had great eyes and could see an animal at several hundred yards. He was an excellent driver and guide. When he found out that I was also interested in the birds, he started stopping to point birds out. The others weren't prepared for all the bird life -- it had not really occurred to them that there would be so much -- we saw hornbills, bustards and vultures, Secretary birds, pintail Whydah, Lilac-breasted rollers, Snake Eagle, you name it we saw it...I was in heaven. By the end of the first ride, my friends were starting to understand the bird "wow" factor and why I enjoy them as much as the large animals.

We saw plenty of big animals too - elephants, giraffes topi, impala, Thompson's gazelles, Lions and a cheetah. Jackals. The cheetah was the best story. We were watching a big old bull elephant when Alex said '' look at the black spot" -- it was a cheetah's head, about 200 yards away. We casually drove away from the other group of vans and Land Rovers and drove up to within a few feet of him, he just chilled for a while then casually stood up and took off. After I saw the cheetah, I made some remark about the fact that I could "die happy" so of course everyone wanted to know when that was going to be...ha

The animals are not afraid of people, since they have a very strict code and rules for the vans and drivers. No one is allowed out of the vehicles except in a very few places. Any one found walking can be shot on the spot (discourages poachers) and no one is allowed to yell or throw anything at the animals. They basically didn't care if we were there or not.

We stayed out until it was almost dark, the moon came up as the sun was going down. It was gorgeous.

It just about killed me that Bill couldn't be there. He would have loved it.