After a Kodachrome sunrise, our drive started and ended with giraffes (see below), but we’re leading off with this fine family of elephants captured by Rowan. (Perhaps they’re on their own expedition somewhere?)

Charismatic megafauna aside, some of the most interesting stories of the day were the small ones. We were captivated for minutes by a squabbling trio of dung beetles fighting over their prize by the side of the road. (The drama was on such a small scale that we don’t have a photo for you, unfortunately.) There was also an incredible variety of birds. We’re far from experts but by the end of the day we could begin to identify many of the more common ones. Besides encountering four different types of eagle, we came across many other interesting and showy varieties including the goawy (pronounced “go away”) birds and the secretary bird.

Our primary destination today was a vast lowland swamp (10 square km) some distance from our camp. It took quite a bit of driving to get there, and we thought we would share some of the striking scenic features along the way. The acacia trees dominate the landscape, and the rich red termite mounds also catch the eye. Many of the animals from yesterday made repeat appearances but we also met some new characters including the waterbuck antelope (and the dikdik, its smaller and not-pictured cousin).

Our guide made a small detour from the planned route so we could we see a pride of lions napping around a water pan. Apparently, other guides had the same idea because there were nearly a dozen other safari vehicles jockeying for position. Fortunately the lions were supremely unimpressed by the human antics going on some 20 yards away from their napping site and they ignored us entirely. Thanks to Rowan for this excellent shot of the alpha female!

We eventually reached Silale swamp by lunchtime. The area feels vast and teeming with wildlife, much of which is hard to capture on film without a lens as big as one’s arm. You can get a bit of sense of it from the photo below – if you look very carefully you might see the Marabou stork, one of the “ugly five” (other esteemed members of this club include the hyena, vulture, warthog, and wildebeest).

Crossing the swamp was not possible due to risk of getting stuck in the mire, so our route home retraced the path from the morning. On the way, our guide told us the story of a time when he had rescued two tourists and their inexperienced driver who had become stuck and ended up stranded for two days without food or water and threatened by hyenas whenever they tried to leave their vehicle. Not for us, thank you – we’re in great hands with Isack and Sifuni on this trip!

We arrived back at camp about nine hours after setting off. Prior to this trip, the idea of spending so long in a vehicle driving on bumpy unpaved roads seemed potentially unappealing but in our actual experience, the time flew by and we’re looking forward to more!