The reason I chose this On Track Safaris trip was because they had set it out so the experience builds and you get an understanding of the smaller animals, track signs and the bush environment before venturing into big 5 country and hopefully experiencing the larger animals.
After early coffee we made our way, on the safari truck, with other guests to a crossroads of tracks - called the morning newspaper, to see what animals had passed through overnight - kudu and a mellors mongoose were evident today.
On our way to the valley floor we spotted the rare narina trogon - amazing as some people look for this bird and never see it! When at the bottom we decamped and went with Becky to do our sensory awareness exercise. We sat on a rock with blindfold, ear defenders and gloves on for 10 minutes then slowly when we were touched on the shoulder we removed the gloves, then 10 minutes later the ear defenders and finally the blindfold. It was amazing what we smelt, then could feel when the other senses were blocked out - it was also incredible how many birds you could hear when your sight remained blocked out. Overall an illuminating experience. We then walked for a while until we met up with the others for a hot coffee and the ride back to camp.
The wildlife spotted included: rock hyrax, impala, jackal buzzard, white fronted bee-eater, giant millipede, cape glossy starling and cape turtle dove.
On our return we had brunch and just as we were settling down for a relax before returning for snacks at 2pm Becky called to see if we wanted to shoot at cans with air rifles as she and Justine, the other guide, were off to practice. Kim, Ionna and I thought it would be good fun so all went to try our luck. It was harder than you might think but we all hit the can at least once! (today's photo) This afternoons activity departed 2.30pm, an early departure, as we were going to the petroglyphs, with a local archeologist who had been part of finding and interpreting them. Unusually these were not just drawings some were carved into the rock - apparently the representations are similar to those seen when in a trance like state and were similar to those we had seen in Chile and Australia - raising questions about our development - notably the llamas of Chile where replaced by African animals. After sundowners we made our way back - spotting the giraffe high on one of the mountain slopes - there is much expectation as the pregnant mother has disappeared and a they expect her to emerge soon with a baby which everyone wants to name. On the trip we also saw wildebeest and the rare black eagle - a pair live in and patrol the high rock face above the camp.
The weather today remained dry albeit a bit dull and overcast - the warm fire in the lounge area was much needed for a pre dinner warm up.
The good thing is after their first full day the girls knowledge is expanding!