Deserts and daisies day 3

[ali-s]

Deserts and daisies Day 3

I'm awake and up at 7.30am . I was actually awake at 4am, I was freezing and had to fetch another blanket . Then the hyenas started up again. It really is an extraordinary experience to lie in the dark in a tent listening to a wild animal on the other side of the canvas ! I went back to sleep only to be woken by them again at 7.30, so I bundled up in a blanket and went outside to see if I could see them. No luck, but there were ostrich, jackal and wildebeest at the waterhole, so I made a cup of tea, with bottled water, the water in the park ranges from salty to very salty, so bottled water is used for drinking, and settled down to watch. The blanket I'm wrapped in and the clothes I'm wearing are all synthetic and every time I touch something metal I get a static shock. Not fun.

I do a cooked breakfast when David gets up. I can't get the gas to stay alight, I have to hold the lighter button down which means I'm trying to cook one handed, in the end I balance a tin of baked beans on the button which does the trick. I'm quite pleased with my improvisation, it feels in keeping with our 'rustic accommodation '
We sit and watch the comings and goings at the waterhole until mid morning , when we make the short trip up to Mata Mata to confirm and pay for our sunset drive. While there we visit the shop, I'm in need of coffee, as my coffee is in the suitcase and I didn't buy any in Upington because it wasn't on my list, because I'd packed my favourite brand. The only coffee they have are single cup sachets of cappuccino , the shops do a good job of stocking the essentials, pity coffee obviously isn't classed as such. Anyway, I buy a few sachets of cappuccino and hot chocolate, and a bar of soap to replace our shower gel. Luckily we have travel sized bottles of other toiletries.
Back at camp I open the rusks , now I have something to dunk them in. South Africans serve rusks with coffee like we serve biscuits with tea. My favourite are the condensed milk flavour.
The rest of the day is spent sitting watching the waterhole and soaking up the peace and quiet. It's hard to explain the 'silence' because it's not silent, there are birds chirping and the occasional ostrich or jackal calling. But all the usual day to day sounds are absent. No cars or machines or tvs or radios. I jump when someone in a neighbouring tent speaks!

Lunch is a more successful braai, the hours until our sunset drive are passed with a glass of wine in one hand and guide book in the other as I try to identify the many birds around us. One large eagle ( a Martial eagle I think) is making a big performance of getting a drink without getting wet.

Our mongoose neighbours have been playing nearby all morning. A jackal trots past within feet of us on his way to the waterhole. It's just perfect.

Our vehicle arrives to take us for our sunset drive. It's just the two of us. First stop is under a weaver birds nest. Dozens of these birds build and live in these thatched creations. This was a modest sized nest, some get so big and heavy they bring the branch down.

We see another wild cat, they look just like chubby tabby cats. Jackals,giraffe, springbok, a tiny white faced owl and our first Cape fox, but he was too quick for me to get a photo. A much more productive drive than yesterday's and as it's early evening it's not so cold.

Back at camp by 8pm, soup and sarnies for tea, then shower and bed just as the hyenas start up again. I think about nipping out to try and see them, but I'm warm in bed and it's chilly out there, so I just lie and listen.