That’s why we packed the waterproofs!

When I looked outside at 4.25am on Monday morning, as I made my wakeup coffee, I realised that it was raining and  that visibility was down to about 20 feet. Linda decided that she didn’t need to experience another soggy game drive – we’ve had a couple in the past – and went back to bed.

Having already started on the coffee I reasoned that I wouldn’t sleep anyway, that the mist was probably only on the hill top and that it was only water after all. Apparently some others had followed Linda’s example since there only three of us by the time our guide was ready to leave. I offered the Dutch couple the front row seats, and settled into the middle seat in the middle row which I hoped would  be the driest.

As expected the mist cleared as we descended to the valley and the rain became intermittent light showers. However it seemed that most of the animals had decided to have a lie in as well, although we did find a good selection of birds – notably the Trumpeter Hornbill and the African Fish Eagle.

Eventually we found a single male Elephant and then a group of Rhino and then the Buffalo herd and a variety of antelope before finishing up with a male and Female Rhino with a young calf. 

Unfortunately the rain came on again as we headed home and Hilltop was still bathed in mist but all in all another good drive and it wasn’t as wet as it could have been.

By the time we’d had breakfast it was still misty but the rain had passed over so we headed off to the Centenary Park to learn about their animal conservation and capture programmes. It took a bit longer than expected with all stops along the way – including a herd of Buffalo who completely blocked the road for about 15 minutes – with one, complete with Red Oxpecker on nose, who appeared to be in the driving seat of the Landrover ahead.

We also saw more White Rhinos - including this big guy who came closer than any so far, another lone male Elephant, a troop of Baboons with a very young baby, Bush Pigs, Bushbuck, and Giraffe and Zebra. 

By the time we had completed our afternoon tour, the Rhino count for the day had reached 15 but still no Black Rhino – will have to try harder on Tuesday on our way through the park en route for Durban.