Zulu Nyala - Day 1 AM drive

Day one in Zulu Nyala. An alternate definition for O'dark thirty. We were up at 5AM drinking Nescafe made from nasty tasting well water. I paid for this? In the Rover by 6AM with our new best friend Manie who claims to be an exile from from Zimbabwe. Later we found out it was for drunk and disorderly and getting naked. I knew I liked the guy... But, as we parked on this ridge and watched the sun come up over the savanna, okay, maybe its worth it.

This place is teeming with wildlife. Not a lot of descriptions here, this is a male Wildebeest. Yes the one that goes very nicely with Pinotage.

Every once in a while you stumble over the perfect example of natural camouflage. We stalked this Cheetah into the bush so I knew exactly where he laid down. You could walk right past and never see him.

 

He finally noticed us. Sitting up, he is very visible. And, no, we did not pet this one.

Zebras are everywhere here. They are the oldest horse breed on earth. Can't ride them though, their backs are too weak. The stripes are their cooling system. White is cool, black is warm, the paring generates airflow over their bodies to cool them. The stripes also serve to confuse their predators when they run in a herd; disruptive patterning.

 Female Wildebeests. Notice the stripes to help them blend into the grass.

Poaching is a huge problem here. This Rhino was poached less than a month ago, on a preserve with full time rangers, fences and everything you could throw at protecting them. Just possessing a Rhino horn can get you 10 years in prison. Doesn't matter, the almighty Buck/Rand/Kwacha speaks.

I love this photo, half the time I look at it, I can't see the giraffe. Nature is hoping the lions won't see him either. Maybe you can see him.

Yes more Hippos laying in wait.

I tried so hard to get a picture of these Rhinos with their heads up. But to no avail. This is the best shot I got, you can kind of sort of see them. Manie (our guide) assured us that because the African Rhino has such a short neck they can't flip our Rover over. Only kind of lift in the air. Very reassuring...

Those are the highlights from our morning drive. I will continue to fed the internet pictures (already have several hundred more to sort through). Very slow going. 

Cheers for now.