We were up early to watch the sunrise and decided to take our breakfast goodies and gas cooker to the viewing deck. We watched the day begin and the animals awaken. The bird sightings were incredible – the hornbills in particular were active, I have never seen so many running around. Andre stopped by on his rounds and shared his local knowledge and encouraged us to stay around the viewing deck until midday and then head down the river Kwai to a spot where we were likely to see a hippo pod sunning themselves. We followed his guidance and were not disappointed.

Notable sightings for the day:

• Single bull elephant drinking at the river
• Heard of elephant coming down the bank, drinking and then crossing the river to head off for the day
• Constant flow of Impala
• Bird species – Hornbills galore, swarms of red-billed quelea, fish eagles, jacana, African open bill, red billed spur fowl, pied kingfisher, little bee eater, cardinal wood pecked (right at our campsite), arrow marked babbler plus a few others…
• Our resident elephant (will describe more)
• Pod of hippos sunning themselves, 15+ with 2 maybe 3 babies, incredible to watch as they woke up and waded into the water again

It was very relaxing and wonderful to see so many animals in their natural habitat. We headed out for a sunset drive along the channel and watched the sunset form the safety of our cars. Okay some of us did – Glenn was bar tender and served Windhoek draft, bubbly and appletizer to the group – feeling safe outside the 4×4!! When we returned to camp we had a resident bull elephant, he liked the vegetation around our campsite and was there until the morning. Andre stopped by for a pre dinner drink and to check in on how our day was, he recognized the elephant but was not concerned. Andre was impressed by our wine – a 2011 Allesverloren. Andy made a “skaapnek” (lamb’s neck) potjie and we ate dinner close to the fire, seemed safer. With our meal we enjoyed a Kanonkop Kadette and when the girls went to bed, we sat around listening to the sounds of the wild and sharing stories and solving the problems of the world…. Yet again we were not disappointed, our bull elephant was right next to our tent while we slept, the hyenas visited again, hippos were active and we heard a lion. This is Africa!!!