Yellow-Billed Hornbill

Or as everyone here calls them as soon as they’re seen, Zazu, from the character in The Lion King.

We saw him on our return from Ant’s Nest, the other lodge on the reserve, after dropping off a guest who was getting a lift the the airport.  Hannah, our guide, was our driver, who apologised for taking the shortest route and not stopping if we saw any of the wildlife. The only problem is she has only been here a short while and many of the tracks we drive along look very similar so what should have been a 15 minute drive took 25 minutes as she lost her way.

Hannah has completed her stage 1 qualification in guiding and is able to identify all of the common birds and animals, as well as their calls and hoof/foot prints.  If she continues in this work she can progress up to stage 5 and become a master guide.  She was on a 3 month probationary period, but her work ethic and enthusiasm meant she was offered permanent employment after just a month.  I’m sure she will be a real asset to the team.

In the afternoon we rode out to sundowners, finding Max, the dominant male rhino, in the deepest of thickets, where he was trying to excavate some food that must have smelt particularly enticing.  How Jen, our guide for the afternoon managed to get us all into the same location, horses and all, was some sort of miracle, though you do feel somewhat exposed so close to a large animal, with his horns.  I doubt we would have done it with some of the rhinos, but Max is quite chilled.