Safari - Day 6

Before day 6 of our safari started, we were woken by the sound of four buzzers in our room at Treetops at about 11.30. Guides are on duty throughout the night watching for animals coming to the watering hole which was right outside our room window. They have a signalling system to alert visitors when key animals come to the watering hole, including the maximum four buzzers when a black rhino comes. Initially, there was a single rhino that made its way around the side of the watering hole and then went away. Not a great sighting. But a sighting nonetheless. However, a couple of minutes later, the rhino re-appeared, this time with another younger rhino, they walked back and forwards along then far side of the watering hole, stopping every now and again to face each other and bang heads - almost as if the mother rhino was telling the young one off for doing something behind her back when they walked along. The rhino were also bothered by three spotted hyena as they came round in front of the viewing gallery at Treetops, they stayed there for about quarter of an hour, and then left as quickly as they arrived. That was it for day 6 - we were not awoken anymore and before we knew it we were on our way to Thompson Falls (where I made use of the ND filter I had brought to get a nicer shot of the waterfall) and then onto Lake Nakuru for an afternoon game drive and the night.

We started our game drive about half an hour earlier than the other parties - I think our driver/guide Grephus, was feeling sorry for us after we had noted that the itinerary from Rhino Safaris that he was working to missed out three of the nine game drives included in the package that we had booked from Bales. He said that he would not be able to give us the additional game drives as these had not been paid for by Bales. The early start was good as it ensured that as well as the flamingos and other birds on the lake, the zebra. Thompson gazelle, buffalo (not water buffalo which are not found in Africa, but Cape Buffalo), we got very close to a group of 6 white rhino, different from the black rhino in thAt they have bigger heads and shaped lower jaws for grazing on grass rather than for browsing on shrubs like the black rhino.