Ngala Reserve - Night 9

The African Wild Dogs continued to elude us, despite our best efforts. We did see one new species tonight: a pair of jackals off in the brush who paused to look at us while we drove past. A number of giraffe, zebra, kudu, impala, elephant, waterbuck and mongoose were also out tonight. We enjoyed our last sundowner with LeeAnn and Richard, during which I may have found a new drink of choice: Amarula on the rocks. (In the morning drive we had "Ranger Specials," which are coffee, chocolate and Amarula).

                               Waterbuck (male)
 

                               Tree Squirrel 

                               Jackal

                                                Giraffe

                                         Snake Eagle

We definitely missed our Rochester friends tonight, though. The bush animals seemed to miss them too, since it was a very quiet night.

The highlight of the evening was dinner. We had a traditional South African "bri," which is the local word for BBQ. Venison, chicken, boerworst, steamed vegetables (there you go, Turk) and peas in a steamed squash cup were all served to us from a fire pit grill in a lantern-lit dinner that took place in the middle of the sandy river bed at the foot of the lodge. It was amazing. We also had adish called a "pop tart" that was a porridge and cheese based dish with tomato and other stuffing. Very good. I also enjoyed a teadiontal South African cocktail called "duaah," which is whiskey on the rocks with a dollup of honey and a muddle to work in the honey flavor. Delicious.

Tomorrow morning is our last game drive with LeeAnn and Richard and the official end of this amazing trip. We are going to have breakfast out in the bush and sit for a while at a good lookout point to see what we can see. Then it's back to reality and a long trip home to 718 and Kemble.