A Day of Drama

Next morning I present myself slightly early so we can go to the Tamboti hide and collect a justifiably-smug Colin and John, ready for our morning session in the Lagoon Hide. I’m keen to practice my new skill with the pre-capture facility, but there’s relatively little activity and we’re also shooting straight into the rising sun, so it’s somewhat less rewarding than the afternoon session.

Nonetheless I manage to get a good sequence of a kingfisher diving and then re-emerging from the lagoon. 20 frames per second isn’t actually fast enough to get all the detail of the dive – in one frame the kingfisher is well above the water, the next under it, but my timing is perfect for a key point on the rising part of its arc.

Jealous of Colin and John’s success, several of the group, having previously demurred from a final overnight session, are vying for the Tamboti hide for the last night. We avert a "free and frank exchange of views"*, but it does become slightly heated before a consensus emerges.

*[British Civil Service euphemisms for the vigour of a meeting:
"Candid dialogue" = We talked but we don’t agree on anything and we were unable to communicate.
"Beneficial dialogue" = At least we’re sitting down and talking. That’s an improvement.
"Free exchange of views" = There was shouting.
"Frank exchange of views” = There was a lot of shouting and punches were thrown.
"Direct exchange of views" = I hope the cleaners can get the blood out of the carpet.]

Early in the afternoon a Giraffe visits the contested hide, but not much else happens. I’m glad I didn’t feel inclined to fight for the slots.

I spend the morning catching up with images, but also manage to get some nice shots of the Zimanga lodge.

Lunch is calmer, up to the point where those members of the group scheduled on Thursday’s British Airways flight receive notice of its cancellation, and the various arcane and lengthy alternative routes being proposed to get them back to Blighty. I recall my own frustration dealing with a cancelled BA flight a few years ago, and sympathise, but there’s not much else I can do.

Our afternoon game drive is a chance to try and find a few subjects we haven’t get tracked down. First, we find a female cheetah who seems perfectly happy for us to approach on foot to within a few metres, although she’s essentially having an afternoon nap, and not putting on a show.

We then drive along the river, and get treated to a relaxed rhino family including a cute youngster, and some majestic impalas, plus we finally get pictures of a zebra facing the camera, visually separated from the pack, and not covered in mud.

As we’re headed back to the lodge Ty takes an unexpected turn, and we’re delivered to a table set up in the middle of the reserve, and treated to a sundowner of drinks and copious quantities of rather wonderful ostrich kebabs. The only challenge is that we’re then taken back to the lodge and presented with a T-bone steak for dinner!