National Park in Zimbabwe

Finally to see our home for the next three days in the daylight totally cool Glamping. Tented camp. We heard lots of Animals in the night.

I heard a very close low growl at one point. When we walked out of our tent we discovered

Fresh leopard prints right outside our door.

After tea this morning we head d out on another game drive. Our Guides name was Férai. He is from a local tribe. I would guess in his late 20s. He has a 6 year old. His wife is a teacher. They live in Victoria Falls. He works 56 days and then goes home for two weeks.

He is a driving wealth of knowledge.

The terrain is quite different here in Hwange Park then it was at the other reserve.

They have solar panels to run pumps to fill watering holes. So there are allot larger groups of Animals. It’s great watching the heards at the watering holes.

We stopped to look at a Kudu carcass.

The giraffes eat the bones for calcium

The weevil moth eats the horns for carotene from the horns of dead animals. Then they poop and great these long brown worm like things.

We saw lots of Hornbills.

Ground field hornbill and Bradfield hornbills

I learned that when the female is ready to lay eggs they build a next in a tree. The females go into the next and the male hornbill encloses the next with mud. Like a cocoon. With only a tiny hole. The male brings food to the female and pokes it in the hole. The female pulls all the feathers off her wings and lays them down to make a soft place to lay her eggs. She stays in there until the eggs hatch. During that time her feathers grow back. When the chicks hatch the male pecks open the nest so the female and chicks can come out.

I loved this story!

More Lilac breasted Rollers- Tory’s favorite bird. We learned that the lilac feathers were the gift the king Multizazi would give to the female when he wanted her to be his next wife because they are so beautiful.

Tawny Eagle- so big they can eat Ginny foul

Egyptian geese and Grey herons, kori bustard bird,

White pelican with broken wing was Preening. Which is when they scratch the Oil gland and then spread the oil on their wings to water proof their feathers.

Jakel berry tree in termite mound with eagle on top.

We saw a heard of Zebras and learned that When Zeebras are born their legs are the same height as the mother. So they can stand behind the Mother’s and hide. They can run fast within ten minutes of birth.

The males have canine teeth to bite with when they fight and their hooves are so strong they can kill a lion with one kick.

Buffalos with Red Bill ox pecker birds that feed on ticks and bugs from their coat. They also screech when danger is near. Alarming them of oncoming lions or other predictors.

The older males bust between their horns has no space down the center. The younger males do.

More birds…

Mara bo stork. Black and white. The Secretary Bird -Black leggings and their crest that looks like a pencil. Was walking across the Bush.

We saw Ostrich for the first time. Just three of them.

We stopped for tea then headed back to camp for brunch. There’s a little shop full of things the staff made. I bought some carved salad tongs and animals.

We meet again at 3:30 for a lecture about the girl child in the families.

Then off to another game drive.

The most exciting stop to watch three lions stalking a heard of buffalos. Then they attached. It was crazy to watch. They did not get the buffalo….this time!

We had our sundowner watching the sunset.

Then back to camp for dinner.

The dinners are family style cooking served buffet style. Chicken rice and vegetables

With cheesecake for dessert. The food is good. I’m still trying to sort out the African

Food. The only dish we had that is different was the polenta style dish.

Tomarrow is another day. Long beautiful day.