On a typical day at Elephant Rock lodge in Nambiti the alarm is set at 6am. The morning game drive leaves just before the sun rises and this is the best time of the day to see the big cats in action. Also the first and last hour of the day do bring the best light for photography, so you need to rise at dawn (luckily it is winter, in summer dawn starts before 5am). We let Emily sleep and Petra stays with her so it is just me and Lucas this time. The other guests gather as wel and we all climb in the vehicle, ready for a new day. The lions have been active last night so our ranger Stephanie suggests we drive to the centre of Nambiti and try to get a good look at them. A bright orange light is peering over the horizon as the sun steadily starts to climb higher.
We stop a few times to take pictures of the zebra’s grazing or the giraffes browsing from the acacia trees. When we arrive at the area where the lions had been heard we see one other vehicle parked, we drive-up to him and we are lucky. They have spotted the lions and we can get very close to them and see one lioness with her three cubs. The cubs are still active and they play a game of who can stalk the large white rhino the closest. An amazing sight and we are happy to witness this.
When we all start to get hungry and thirsty Stephanie decides to find a nice view-point where we can have our morning break. We stretch our legs and enjoy the fresh muffins with our morning tea and coffee. After the break we steadily make our way back to the lodge. We stop a few times to take pictures of sunbathing hippo’s and running wilde beasts. Close to our lodge we run into a large herd of elephants including a few little ones. The camera’s are clicking like crazy again and we feel blessed to witness this. What a great morning drive.
At half past nine we arrive back at the lodge where we find the ladies playing with another family who also skipped the morning drive. The staff have prepared an excellent breakfast, which we enjoy sitting on the outside deck while watching some waterbuck drinking from the dam in front of us. After breakfast it is time to take a refreshing outdoor shower, read a book, play some games or take a bit of rest. At half past one the staff calls us that lunch is being served, again outside on the deck. A healthy salad, chicken or vegetable wraps, toasted sandwiches for the kids and sorbets as desert. Before we know it is three o’clock and we need to be ready for the afternoon drive.
We always go with the whole family on the afternoon drive. The kids love to go and try to spot impala’s or warthogs. They are so funny when they run away from us with their tails high-up in the air. A cheetah was spotted in the south earlier today so we try to go find it. Unfortunately we are not lucky and we cannot locate it. But the scenery of the Nambiti game reserve is so stunning that we don’t mind and we enjoy the ride through the valleys and the plains. We have our sundowners at a stop near a waterhole, where the kids can run around and explore the animal tracks. When the sun starts to set we make our way home looking out for cats that start to become active. First we see a serval crossing the road. This is the first serval that we have ever seen as they are very rare and difficult to find. We manage to get a few good shots and are content. But there is more in store for us as 10 minutes later we hear on the radio that the two male lions are on the move just a few hundred meters away. We turn our car and drive towards them and can follow them for 10 minutes as they walk next and in front of us. I have Emily on my lap and hold her tight as the lions are coming very close to the vehicle. They are such beautiful, strong and majestic animals. Truly the king of the jungle.
When we arrive back at the lodge the staff is waiting with hot towels, hot chocolate and martini to warm-up. During the day it is nice and sunny, but as soon as the sun sets it is getting much colder. Luckily the fire is already burning and the lodge is warm and cosy. We drop our stuff in our room and make our way back to the main lodge where dinner is being served. The chef has done a great job again and made a delicious curry for us and mini pizza’s for the kids. After the malva pudding and ice-cream it is time to bring the kids to bed. We take one last look at the pitch-black sky filled with zillions of stars and head-back to our room. We drink one more tea, update our blog, quickly screen the photo’s we made today and then it is also time for us to rest, as tomorrow the alarm will again go off at 6 for another day in the bush.
More pictures here