I am changing the title of these posts because I am having a hard time keeping my own dates straight! As you have seen, I have been way behind on posting to the blog mainly because we have no free time! Not complaining, we are certainly making the most out of every day.. Today (May 11) is the day I catch up as I sit in our adorable room in very remote Hwange National Park, at the Camelthorn Lodge which is actually on a private “concession” (basically leased lands). The Camelthorn Tree is said to be a member of the Acacia tree family but they told us today that the Australians have instructed them that they cannot call it a true Acacia tree anymore so there is controversy about what its true name will be going forward. Anyway, it is indeed a Camelthorn tree and comes with enormous thorns inches long. This area is home to several shrubs and trees that have thorns, like serious thorns that will rip your clothing if they brush against you while out roaming around on your safari drives! This area is very different from where we’ve been in the Okavango Delta (which was very wet) and they actually pump in most of the water here to support the game life. It is arid with vast fields of grass dotted with shrubs and trees but nothing like the dense forests of the Okavango. But as we’ve learned, every place has its own unique appeal and so far we are enjoying this location as well. Marc and Beth however didn’t have a great start to their morning as a rat apparently found its way inside their room! The staff was horrified and said it had never happened before and were very apologetic. As I said we are in a dry remote area here (hence the commute yesterday), surrounded by wildlife. In camp here as I sit writing this very moment a family of Vervent Monkeys are curiously watching us from outside our room, and every once in awhile they venture up to the windows to peek inside! If we move at all they skitter away, but they are so cute! OK, so we’ve had our morning drive today and what a great start to our first day here at Camelthorn. First up we visited a watering hole upon which an enormous herd of Cape Buffalo had descended to get their drinks for the day before wandering off in the other direction to graze. Our guide then got word of a lion kill by the female pride, so we were able to find the lionesses lounging after their fill of Wildebeest. They do their hunting late at night or early in the cool morning hours then sleep it off in the shade during the hottest part of the day. As if that wasn’t enough, we then found a beautiful full grown male lion that had also just feasted on something because his belly was protruding and he was having trouble breathing just because he was so overstuffed. We didn’t see what he killed but we got to watch him for quite some time. So here we are back in our rooms for siesta before our next game drive at 3:30.
Our afternoon took a very interesting turn and we were witness to something not many ever get to see, but we’ve been asked to keep it off of social media so please remind us when we get home and we can tell you the story. We arrived back in camp to get a shower before dinner which was a truly rare event, so that and a delicious dinner was a great way to end our evening.
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