MAY 24, 2019 - TENA TENA LODGE

May 24, 2019

Wake up call comes early at 5AM with a pot of steaming hot coffee delivered to our room - thank the Lord because I have been up much of the night listening to the sounds of the jungle. The hippos talk most of the night and their loud honking and snorting echos off the walls of the river bank in front of our room. There is a fight on the water, lots of squealing and splashing so somebody is getting a butt kickin’. The baboons are screeching and all upset, there must be a leopard close by upsetting them. Then there were lions roaring to one another across the river, and I wasn’t about to go to sleep then....I wanted to savor that sound and sear it into my brain, what a wonderful experience to hear the call of the wild for real. Anyway, breakfast was out at the edge of the river bed with grilled toast, eggs to order, and a fruit, cereal and yogurt bar. Beth and Marc wanted to do another walking safari and John and I opted for the drive, so each of us went our separate directions and met up mid morning for coffee. Everyone was out this morning, a big herd of impalas basking in the morning sun, a water monitor lizard sunning himself, playful baboons, and many birds. A special treat this morning we ran across a flock of Lillian’s Lovebirds, which are a member of the parrot family but they fly with the deft maneuvers of a barn swallow. These bright green birds with striking red markings fly in unison in swarms and when they land they bury themselves in the branches of a tree or in the grass making it nearly impossible to get a good photo! We managed a couple shots but they don’t reflect nearly what we saw which was a flock of at least 100 thick. On the afternoon game drive we had the pleasure of spending time with a tower of giraffes (when the group is still it is a “tower” but when moving they are a “journey” of giraffes). One in particular had his body concealed by a bush with only his head extending above. He watched us without moving for the longest time, like a laser focused periscope - made us laugh. Our lodge surprised everyone all set up at the rivers edge with sundowners complete with appetizers and champagne on ice. The hippos were gathering at the base of the river bank all queued up to come up their path for their nighttime grazing, but they are afraid of humans so they just hung out waiting for us to finish being silly humans so they could reclaim their grazing land. Our night drive back to the lodge didn’t produce anything remarkable. Another wonderful dinner then escorted off to our room by “Constantino” the night watchman who patrols the areas around our tents at night to keep the wildlife away.