oct 23 report
patsenojexpedition
patrick and susan jones
Mon 22 Oct 2007 10:39
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short report today. today is the last day of
game drives on the trip--i think we have been on around 28 game drives this
trip....and went on another 30 or so 4 years ago, so we have seen a lot of
african wildlife!
sightings the last day and a half include bat-eared
fox, pair of bataleur eagles, and lots of the standard zebras, sable antelopes,
giraffes,
warthogs, waterbocks, impala, elephant , kudu, tons
of assorted eagles, etc. at lunch today, along the banks of the zambesi at
camp, susan
spotted an africal hawk eagle in an island in the
middle of the river, so that became a major lunchtime research project. since
there are so many eagles in this part of the world. also saw a large
crocodile sitting on a rock in the middle of the river (crock on a
rock).
saw at a little pond 4 lions on one side and about
8 zebras on the other side, neither group particularly concerned about the
other. pond was only about 20 feet across, but the zebra knew exactly how
much margin of room they need to escape safely.
also saw a site full of vultures and african
painted dogs which were near an impala carcass killed the previous night,
probably by hyenas that had picked it over pretty well. the dogs work in
packs and must have had puppies not too far away, since they have been sighted
in the area several times. note that these are not your little cuddly fru
fru pet dogs----these
are more like wolves in behavior.
from the babboon hot line, a couple of incidents to
report. susan caught glimpse of a little baboon hand reaching into the
bathroom, so that became an interesting exchange with each of them hooting and
yelling at each other. then at lunch on our deck, susan went in to get her
book and came back out to find a babboon at the table ready to snitch something
so again there was a hooting and snarling and
one scared baboon running off into the jungle
because susan sounded worse than any other predator in the bush.
from 4:30-7:30 last night took a boat cruise down
the zambesi---little pontoon boat with 9 people. saw two monitor lizards
(one calmly eating a crayfish), and a honey badger (kind of like a regular
badger, but black). susan saw a large crocodile slip into the water just
ahead of us. susan's spotting skills have improved to the point where she
pointed out several eagles (eagles are her specialty) before anyone else in the
group , including the guide,did.
from the sports department, our guides and local
staff stayed up late and were happy to report the next morning that south africa
had beaten england in the semifinals of the world rugby competition (remember
that zimbabwe was formerly rhodesia, a british colony)
and from the police report, we spotted some human
footprints in the middle of the bush area. the guides were so good that
they could tell when the prints were made (one day ago) and the manufacturer of
each pair of boots these people were wearing, it was determined that since
they left a zigzagging trail, they were most likely poachers looking for
elephants. the guides said that most poachers in this area come from
zambia, just across the river, and that when they are armed, and found by the
national park service people, there is a shootout that usually leaves the
poachers going to a poacher graveyard.
this afternoon is the last game drive, then
we
pack up tomorrow morning and go for an hour drive
to victoria falls, where we are staying at the very old colonial victoria falls
hotel, about a 10 minutes walk from the victoria falls itself.
victoria falls report tomorrow---
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