Deserts and daisies day 6

[ali-s]

Deserts and daisies Day 6

A later start today. I visit reception first thing to book another sunset drive and enquire about buying a wi fi voucher I've heard mentioned. I need to contact Air France, tomorrow night we will be in Upington and I want to get our suitcase delivered to our accommodation . Unfortunately the wi fi voucher is only useful for WhatsApp type calls but for a few rands per minute I can use the office landline. For once I get through to Air France without being put in a queue, but there my luck runs out. I'm told my suitcase is in Johannesburg. ' But you promised to fly it to Upington ' I say , he replies ' we did, but you weren't there, so we flew it back to Johannesburg ' I don't know whether to laugh or cry, this is turning into such a farce. He promises they will fly it back to Upington today and I can collect it from the airport on our way to our b&b tomorrow.
It's mid morning by the time we finally head out on our drive, we head south this time. Still very little to see. We stop frequently to scan with binoculars, but nothing apart from a few springbok , wildebeest and a honey badger who keeps pace beside us for a way .

We stop for lunch at the Dikbaardskolk picnic site again , the jackal is still hanging around, as are the birds. The starlings amuse themselves underneath the car jumping and pecking at something, I can't see what. They're probably sabotaging the wiring in retaliation for us not feeding them

A slow drive back to camp stopping at all the waterholes . We see a few birds of prey ,including a bateleur eagle and pair of vultures fussing over something in a nest, I can't see if it's a chick or an egg .

Back at camp I pack away a few things as we're leaving early tomorrow, then sit down with coffee and rusks, waiting for our sunset drive.
This , our last sunset drive, was the most rewarding. We see another wild cat, bat eared foxes , an eland ( one of the largest antelope) and a couple of geckos, including one of the tiny barking geckos responsible for the clicking noises heard in the evening. He was no bigger than a matchstick, Incredible that something so small can be so loud. And finally , my wishlist is checked when we find 2 cheetahs sitting at the roadside surveying the riverbed for likely dinner candidates. A perfect last sighting on our last sunset drive.

Back at camp we are just finishing our beans on toast when the lights go out. It's only 10pm, I thought the power was supposed to stay on until 11pm. Oh well, bed with no shower and the washing up can wait until morning.