Tuesday, April 10 (Day 25). Our last game drive, and more Falls pictures.
Our first morning in a new country - Zimbabwe! We opened the Sprayview Hotel dining room for breakfast at about 6:30, because Sam was supposed to pick us up at 7:00. We needn't have worried about him, because he appeared with a typical game drive vehicle (open in the back with a canvas cover over steel pipe supports forming a roof or sun shade over the two bench seats). It was quite cool this soon after sunrise with the air moving past us at 35 to 40 miles per hour as we drove out of town to Charabungo Park. This park was quite close to the town, however, so it didn't take long to get there.
We were a bit concerned about that. In the past we had traveled many miles from any population center to find the animals we had viewed. What chance did we have of finding wild animals so close to the city?
After Sam paid our entrance fee and drove us through the gate, we soon realized that this was a long, narrow park. The road went almost straight West for miles before finally ending, forcing us to turn around and retrace our tracks. We had to stay on the road; no excursions off into the weeds or brush were permitted. This made viewing difficult, because once again this area had seen plenty of rain over the past few months and the grass was very high. You'll see from some of the pictures. Nevertheless we were excited to be back out in the wilds looking for new wildlife.
Our first sighting came just after 7:30. The bird pictured below is a red-necked spurfowl. We had seen them before, but always on the ground. This one was perched in a tree. Maybe it was confused.
Red-necked spurfowl. (Doesn't look like a redneck.)
We next came across the bird below, which Sam identified as a mousebird.
Of course, this doesn't look like a mouse, either.
As we moved on along the track, we were soon caught by another vehicle that seemed to be in more of a hurry than we were. There was no way they could pass us without swerving off into the tall grass, so they stayed about a hundred yards back for a few minutes. Then Sam suddenly stopped and pointed to a little terrapin he had noticed right beside the road on our left side. As we looked at it, the car behind approached and eased to its left, obviously planning to go around us while we were stopped. I was afraid it would squash the terrapin (which was not easy to see!), so I jumped out of the back of our vehicle and picked up the little creature to keep it safe. I'm sure that act violated the rules, but I couldn't stand to see the little guy get run over. Carol snapped the following shot.
"Boy, it's a LONG way down from here!"
I put him down in the weeds and told him sternly to stay out of the road!
Just a few minutes later we saw some large, dark animals off to our right and several hundred yards away. Les and Linda knew almost immediately that these were sable antelope, but it was the first time Carol or I had ever seen any. They are black and very shiny with dramatic white rears and bellies, with some white markings on their heads. Some of the small herd had impressive horns, and all had a bushy, short mane on the top of their necks. The two pictures below were the best we could get at the distance. We thought that would be our only sighting of these animals, so we took what shots we could.
Their dark color made the bright white markings more dramatic.
About ten minutes later we saw dozens and dozens of vultures circling over an area off in the deep grass. Obviously something was dead there, but even with our binoculars we couldn't see any sign through the tall weeds. Was it a lion kill? We'll never know. Off to the right side of the road, several dozen more vultures were resting in a tree. I guess they were waiting for the others to start the feast, then they would join in.
LOTS of vultures.
We continued West along the track we were following. The sun was shining brightly and the air had warmed considerably, but it was not oppressive. Most of the time we were following a long, shallow valley between two ridges. The land in the lower area was grassy, with the tops of the weeds sometimes literally six feet tall, making sightings of animals almost impossible. As the land sloped up on the sides, the grass gave way to brush and small trees. Occasionally one of the ridges would drop off enough that we could see off into the distance, and on one of those occasions we saw some giraffes among the trees. Unfortunately they were over a quarter mile away and no pictures were possible.
Sam drove us on until the road ended. At that point there was a small wooden structure with stairs to an elevated platform surrounded by railings and topped with a thatched roof. It was obviously designed for game viewing, and there was a toilet in the enclosed area under the platform. Sam told us that it overlooked a water hole, and was an excellent spot to see all kinds of animals when water was scarce elsewhere. Unfortunately that was not the case this Spring, so no animals were in evidence (and I don't think Sam had expected to find any). He also told us that occasionally people would spend the night on the platform, especially at full moon, and were often treated to excellent night viewing. But it was a convenient spot to eat the food we had brought along and "stretch our legs."
After our break we climbed back into Sam's vehicle and headed East along the same road we had followed in (it was the only road). We soon saw a Kori Bustard crossing the road in front of us, and snapped his portrait just before he disappeared into the high grass.
Now you see him, soon you don't.
A few minutes later we saw what was probably the same herd of sable antelope we had seen earlier. This time they were closer to the road, and generally moving in the same direction we were. In fact, they crossed the road in front of us at one point, then later crossed it again, so we had a number of chances for good photos.
The white facial stripes are neat! These were really pretty, shiny animals.
The white parts were REALLY white. The mane was almost brown.
Our guide book says the mature male's horns can reach 66" in length.
Ouch!
On our way out of the park we noticed a lilac-breasted roller in a tree right beside the road, and were rewarded with the shot below; one of the best pictures of this pretty bird that we have.
It was now almost 11:30, but Sam said he was willing to take us to another area right beside the Zambezi River above the falls where we might get some sightings. We felt that morning had already been a success from the close views we had of the sable antelope, but we were willing to keep looking for a while longer. We had only paid Sam for a half-day game drive, but if he was willing, we were! (In fact, Les and Linda told us that they had seen sable antelope on at least one previous trip to Africa, but had never been that close to them for that long!)
To get to the next area we had to drive through the town of Victoria Falls and right past the Sprayview, so we made a brief bathroom stop at our rooms before proceeding. The picture below was taken right in the town. It showed us that we needn't have worried about finding wild animals close to civilization!
Pedestrians in downtown Victoria Falls. (Well, close to downtown.)
(More game pictures, and shots of the Falls with rainbows!)