Ellies and lions

Today started with breakfast around the camp fire at 6.00 and the excitement of what might be seen again on the game drives. As ever the day delivered new and interesting things. Our guide Alex and tracker Goms are so good and pass on their vast knowledge on wildlife. Picking highlights each day gets increasingly difficult but the cute baby elephant, less than a week old and keeping up with the herd was definitely one.  We watched them for some way as they made their way to the water where the little one had his head under water waving his trunk around as if not knowing what to do. He also needed a little shove to get out up the muddy bank.
However the meeting up again with the Splash pride was also a highlight 2 lionesses and 6 cubs all fathered by an old and apparently very dominant lion. We didn’t see the father whilst we were there he was off patrolling their territory within the concession. As you can see they had all cleaned themselves up after leaving the 2 day feeding frenzy we had witnessed earlier. Other sightings that I have included in extras include a tawny eagle nest building for the approaching summer. A striped kingfisher (a first for me) who feeds on insects and lizards. A leopard in a tree who just wanted to be left to sleep and then finally as the sunset a pair of lionesses feeding on a kudu kill, They apparently have 3 small cubs who will have been hidden whilst they were away hunting. These lionesses are not part of the Splash pride we saw earlier in the day, their territory is far away but still within the same huge Kwara concession.

On arriving back in camp there was again an elephant near our lodge and so we skipped the quick freshen up and stayed in the communal area for another delicious meal.