If I could remember half the crazy songs we came up with, we’d have one heck of a playlist. On this particular day, Dwight Yoakam came to mind.

Sometime just after 6:30am we were ready to roll again. The camp Topi herd seemed to give us a send off: “Have a great day”, “See y’all tonight”, “Have fun, but be safe.” And within a few minutes, we were again surrounded by new and strange wildlife.

Where’s Waldo?

I like to use this photo (click for larger image) as a shining example of what happens when you combine my photographic skills and Mother Nature’s gift of camouflage. If you can find the monkey in this picture….turns out, most of my photos from the first week are about like this. It became comical. I think I’m going to publish a children’s Seek and Find book.

Here’s another one for you:

Can you see me now?

Okay, now do you see him?

There’s Waldo!

And then, things got interesting. Far far far in the distance… Let me repeat, Far far far in the distance, Johnny and the trackers caught sight of a herd of Cape Buffalo. Someone on Team Worley and the Replacements jokingly asked if we would just stalk them from here. Johnny had them stop the Land Cruiser and we had our answer. At least from this distance they couldn’t hear use clamoring out of the truck. So, we saladed up (yes, it’s now a verb), the boys got their GoPros ready and the great 1000 mile stalk began.

To say we were shocked that no one broke a leg or an ankle during this stalk is an understatement. The terrain was ridiculous. At first sight, it looked like miles of open, flat plains with tall grass (about 7 feet high) just behind the herd.  But those open plains were broken, hardened land with 8 inch drops and 10 inch hills. To be honest, I never looked up at the herd, just down at my feet and the feet in front of me. I think Johnny said we stalked almost a mile. And he wasn’t kidding (Amy and I found out he never did). Donnie had told us the day before that the Cape were very smart and if we stalked in a straight line, they would figure us out. We were given a demo on how to stalk as a tight group. I just the Cape are less scared of a mound of salad moving at them than a salad caterpillar. So, Amy and I did as we were told, put our heads down, squeezed like Ol’ Army and moved slowly en mass.

I don’t know how long we were out there, but we seemed forever and we got pretty close and then, in an instant, they were gone. I looked up and asked what happened. The herd had spooked and they disappeared into the tall grass as if they were figments of our imagination. It was almost eery.

And with that, Johnny’s tummy rumbled, because we were way past his 11sies – meaning his mid-morning snack, so we hiked back to the Land Cruiser and found the first big shady tree to have our brunch.

Loved this guy too, he’s called a Lilac Breasted Roller.  They are gorgeous in flight.

Lilac Breasted Roller

For the next bit we saw Water Buck, their hides look more like coats and they are magnificent, although apparently very oily and therefore not much will eat them. Yea Water Buck! Amy got great at spotting things – Monkeys, Reed Buck, Duiker. Still in search of our Cape Buffalo, we drove past some watering holes to see who might have been through there the last few days.

Searching for Cape Buffalo tracks

We didn’t see much and instead turned our interests to lunch. And if we thought dinner was impressive, lunch equally phenomenal. No vienna sausages here folks but coffee and tea afterwards, because, well, it’s proper.

Lunch a natural

Amy and I were starting to get the program – and this whole sleep when the animals sleep – we could get used to this…

Nap time

On the Road Again, where we saw Batala Eagle, Zebra, Yellow Baboons and Horn Bills. We were told about how the Beaucarneas palm tree seeds germinate – only after they’ve passed through an Elephant – if you know what I mean…

An elephant was here

We went to another watering hole where we came across a couple of Warthogs “hamming” it up in a mud bath.

What’s not to love about a face like that?

And again, Mother Nature’s camouflage – do you see the Roan Antelope?

Over Here!

We stalked another Zebra herd, but goodness, they are tough to sneak up on. Mostly, all I recall from the Zebra stalks are Zebra butts. I have quite a few pictures of those.

And least you think riding around all day in the Land Cruiser is posh, I will remind you of the terrain and I also use the term “road” loosely. However, the ride home made us very thankful for those “roads” as on this evening, we took a new route – as in one that had just been created and never driven on. We were all hoping that at least we may be burning some calories while we got to know each other very well – we’re quite a close group now.

As as reward for all of our efforts, tonight’s dinner was none other than….Jim’s Topi. And Topi steaks are Wowza! Delicious! We were all sending props to the chef as we patted our once again full tummies at the firepit and remarked “Wow….what a day.”