Day 7 - Selous with Friends

Today we have arranged to do a full day game drive with Olaf and Christine. We all meet up at 6.15am for a quick cup of coffee before we leave. At 6.30 we head out to the car where Ally and Kalisti are waiting. Kalisti introduces himself and tells us he will be our guide for the rest of our stay. He is a very pleasant young man who came to lake Manze as a trainee guide a couple of years ago and is now a "full" safari guide.

This morning we set off towards the lake. On the way we see plenty of baby impala feeding and also some baby warthogs. At the lake there are a large number of birds fishing incuding a lot of fish eagles.

Baby Warthogs feeding

Warthog family

Baby Impala feeding

Early morning at the lake

Fish Eagle

Pink Backed Pelican

Yellow Billed Storks

Leaving the lake we see wildebeest for the first time this trip, a male giraffe trying to "attract" a female, a large number of vultures in a tree and nearby, an impala carcass that a few vultures are picking at.

Our first wildebeest this trip

"Courting" Giraffe

Selous is so green compared to Ruaha

Supposedly the oldest tree in Selous!

Lots of vultures in the tree

Lappet Faced Vultures

We soon stop for a leisurely breakfast which gives us time to get to know Kalisti a bit better. Moving on again we drive out to the grave of Frederick Selous. Just as we approach it a hippo runs straight across the track in front of us. We are all quite surprised and far to slow with our cameras to get a photo. Usually you are allowed to get out of the car at the grave but lions have been spotted in the area over the last few days so we stay in the car.

We now head towards Lake Tagalala for lunch. On the way we see a giraffe sitting down, a warthog in a ditch, a female impala with horns and some beautiful carmine bee-eaters who fly along beside the car.

Having a rest

Sat in a ditch

Not the best photo - but if you look closely you will see this female impala has horns

Carmine Bee-Eater - One of my favourite birds

As we drive down to the lake we see quite a few fish eagles, all trying to catch fish. We pick a place on the shore in the shade for lunch, where we can watch the birds and the hippos and elephants across the other side of the lake.

Fish Eagle in flight

Lake Tagalala

Hippo

Lunch - Kalisti is checking up on some bird ID's

The view from our lunch table

More hippos

Fish Eagle on its nest

After lunch we drive up to the Hot Springs - Maji Moto. Here we can get out of the car and walk up to the first 2 springs. The water lives up to its name and is really very hot, especially in the higher spring. There is a third spring, even higher, but the path was blocked so we couldn't visit it. It was nice to have a walk and stretch our legs. At the second Spring we ask Kalistsi to take a photo of our group as this will be our last day altogether. We position ourselves just in front of the spring and then, just as Kalisti takes the photo, Olaf some how knocks his glasses into the water. Luckily he has long arms and manages to reach the glasses without scalding himself!

Maji Moto - 1st Spring

Walking on to the second spring

Olaf losing his glasses

The "proper" photo

Luckily we manage to return to the car without further incident.

Back at the lake we see several crocodiles and also some palm nut vultures before we come across a wildebeest that the guides recognise. They tell us that this wildebeest never runs away when the cars approach unlike all the others....... and sure enough he doesn't. Next we see some more baby warthogs followed by a close encounter with an elephant who just appears out of the bush. 

Different scenery to Ruaha

Crocodile

Palm Nut Vulture

Immature Palm Nut Vulture

"Friendly " Wildebeest

More baby warthogs - Selous is definitely the place to see these

Elephant appears out of the bush

Then just as we are thinking that we are finished for the day we come across a pride of lions resting under a bush. Kalisti says there are 9 in the pride but there only appear to be 8 in the group at present. We watch for a while as they move around a bit and the sit down again, and then after about 15 minutes the grandmother decides to walk off. The others follow, some quicker than others and it appears they are probably off  in search of food. We follow for a while but they don't attempt anything while we are there, so we eventually leave them.

Resting

Having an itch

It is time to move

And off he goes

Now the whole pride is on the move in search of food

So now it is time to return to camp. We stop briefly on the way for a couple of photographs and then we see a male lion all on his own. This is the final member of the pride we had seen earlier. 

Buffalo

European Roller

The missing member of the pride

After this we head straight back to camp only arriving just before it gets dark. Tonight the Spanish Ambassador is staying at the camp and so we are a bigger group at dinner. We quickly shower and then join Olaf and Christine for pre dinner drinks. Dinner is again served under the stars. During the meal Millie hears something and shines her torch on the ground to reveal a genet cat, very cute and the first time we have seen one in the wild. A great end to a lovely day.

View from our tent as we arrive back this evening

Genet Cat seen during dinner - just shows you should always keep your camera with you