Paradise itself

Paradise itself

Day 8: 24 December

If the previous lodge was on the edge of paradise. Then this one might as well be in paradise or  @ least very close.

Boat on the river

The program for today said: some coffee to start the day and a boat trip thereafter, followed by breakfast once returning from the boat trip.

View of the bungalows

Going downstream we admired the waterlilies and water birds and then around the bend, hidden behind the bamboo, on a little island, were shade umbrellas and a fully laden breakfast table, fresh juices, coffee & tea, bread, cereals, yogurt, and the lodge staff offering scrambled or fried eggs.

Breakfast table in nature

What a lovely lovely surprise and how very fitting to start the day of Christmas-eve.

Surprise under shade umbrellas

We enjoyed it so much and 
were peaceful and content and
very very grateful for this.
The beautiful nature, the
kind thought, the generous people,
the ample food.

The rest of our day we were left to spend at our own leisure: reading, relaxing in the pool, bird watching, hiking, resting. Whilst cooling down in the pool, I saw a little Kingfisher which had caught a fish, and settled right in front of me on the railing. There was enough time to fetch the camera and take many shots of this fascinating bird whilst it smashed the fish and ate it. Wow, what a sight!

Kingfisher with his prey

Young African fish-eagle

We met at 15:00 for muffins and coffee/tea. And then left for a game drive in the Bwabwata National Park. The scenery is lush and green.
Next to the lagoon were plenty of black nosed impala, and we saw some Giraffe, a leopard-tortoise, Hornbills, African fish eagle, Grey go-away bird, Egrets, Hamerkop to name a few and then to our delight (and surprise) a huge male lion, relaxing under some trees.

We stopped under huge trees for drinks and could watch the baboons climbing and feeding themselves, playing with their youngsters. All of a sudden, the guides packed up and mentioned that elephants had been spotted. I hoped, that we would still see them in time.

As the lagoon stretches in the shape of a horseshoe, we had to drive around to the other side and there was a herd of elephants of all sizes, standing & drinking in the water.

Herd of elephants

Elephant up close

How amazing, as they moved back from the riverside into the thicket, grazing leisurely and breaking branches as they went along, another group appeared and came down to the water.

I stopped counting at 60, but I guess there were close to 100 elephants. Superb photography opportunities. On our way back we saw a Hippo and its young one grazing on the riverside, and as it was sunset we left completely happy as to the days events and sightings to drive back to our island lodge.

African Christmas decorations

Christmas-eve dinner table

To top this amazing day, we were served with a wonderful Christmas-eve dinner starting with squash soup, continuing with pork crackling and roast accompanied with vegetables and ending with a rich Christmas pudding and custard sauce.

As I ran out of adjectives to describe this day, I must say, that this Christmas will be hard to top and I was completely content and grateful for this experience.

Note to remember: always take extra memory cards and batteries for the cameras.

A hearty thank you to all involved and a blessed Christmas.