Out of Bateleur - sunset driveI've made sure we have enough
and
for the ride. So, sit back and enjoy the evening with us.
Once our driver had completed all the instructions, we set out for Silwervis Dam to see what this quiet little backwater had waiting for us.
The light wasn't too brilliant to get photos of a crocodile, spotted dikkops, blacksmith lapwing, but good enough to have, for the record, photos of an openbill which feeds on freshwater snails, using its peculiarly shaped bill to extract the snail from its shell.
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an african darter
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a great egret with egyptian geese for company
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One of the guests had very sharp eyes
to point out the black crake across the other side- a small black fleck amongst the grasses.
(a lifer for us, would you believe
)
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Heading out towards the Red Rocks road we bumped into these three ellies whom the driver knew well. They were two teenagers who had linked up with an older bull to learn their bush craft. Most of the time the teenagers were just noisy and full of bravado
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The remainder of the outing continued uneventfully. As darkness fell
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we saw impala, giraffe, three BBJs
,scrub hare
, spring hare
and steenbok
but not sufficient light for any decent pictures.
On the return leg, we found 'five legs' again, the three boys out for the night.
The driver was keen to show us some nightjars as they were on our wish list. Like most nightjars, they chose 'f-light' rather than be in the 'lime-light', with one exception.
This lady was very comfortable choosing fame over flight, sitting on the road just outside the camp gate. We were in admiration of this little beauty, especially as it was the first time any of us had been 'so close and personal.'
A female square tailed nightjar.
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What a way to finish an evening in the bush.
And so to
, dreaming of what we had seen and of what might be ahead.......
tbc.
I am no botanist or geologist - only more curious in my old age! 
The knob-thorn/marula veld was like scorched earth. Nothing would survive here surely? Indeed, all we saw was a lone ellie, a jackal, steenbok, a small warthog family and some ground hornbills. It was only when we got to Ngotso North that we saw any herds at all.
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was the only reasonable one.
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(They're supposed to stay still 
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we set off towards Shingwedzi where we planned to have a good, hearty breakfast to sustain us until we reached the Pafuri picnic site.
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Movement from the goliath heron........
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