We decided to treat ourselves to a slight lay in this morning and Ian
was able to enjoy a leisurely coffee on our deck overlooking the flood plain.
After breakfast we went to see the “village”. Not quite what we’d envisaged as there was no
centre to it, just a line of compounds (Lips’s word) stretching about 3 miles on
either side of the road. Its mostly
subsistence living; they keep goats for milk and meat and grow a few crops in
the wet season but no agriculture or industry to speak of. On the way we passed a huge flock of querea
birds who were feeding on the seeds on the ground.
We met Esther, at 72 years old she was still very beautiful,
she must have been a stunner in her younger days. She’d had 10 children and 25 grandchildren of
which we met three, Emmanuel, Chloe and the baby who was wearing the woolliest outfit
imaginable.
There are some amazing trees around; the flat top Acacias
and my favourite the Baobab Tree (known as the upside down tree)
Back at the Lodge we enjoyed a couple of hours “down time”
before lunch and made the most of the views from the viewing deck above the bar
area.
After lunch we had another drive, seeing mostly the same
animals as before but larger quantities of zebra and giraffe and also giraffe
feeding.
We’d only seen pelican from a distance until now but we’re
thrilled to see this flock making their way along one of the river channels.
I loved this little chap, stubbornly going against the flow!
