We had an early breakfast and were to set off on our game drive at 7am. When we went back to our room to clean our teeth I opened the curtains and there was a buffalo just beyond the fence. Of course that required a photo and then I noticed the family of white rhino just further down the hill. 

We were 10 minutes late to the vehicles but were forgiven when Erellah saw the photos. I described where they were and we set off in the 2 Land Rovers around the road/track. It was actually 2 mothers with babies and they crossed right in front of our vehicles. So cool and so close to the lodge. 

We spent a lot of the time standing and peering out of the roof. The driver would stop whenever we wanted or whenever Erellah spotted some new bird or animal. 

At first we stopped to see these Rothschild giraffes over by some trees and we took heaps of photos. Of course half an hour later we were literally driving between them. 

There were lodges dotted around the park and we stopped once at very clean toilets beside an airstrip. One of our group quipped that it was a zebra crossing in the truest sense. 

We saw ostriches, eagles, and a whole multitude of brightly coloured birds. We also saw black and white rhinos – the white ones have big heads and wide mouths for grazing and their babies follow behind. The black ones have smaller heads so they can browse on bushes and their babies go in front so they can’t keep an eye on them. 

We saw waterbuck, Elan, Thompson’s gazelle, Grant’s gazelle, buffalo, warthogs, giraffes and zebras. 

The zebras are cool. They are really just wild donkeys and sound like that. They get quite feisty and we saw quite a few fighting, especially at the waterholes. Mainly they bite but can kick also. 

The rhinos are very graceful. Despite their size they just glide along. All great. 

We headed back to the lodge at 11.30 by which time it was getting hot and we had sun hats on. When we first started out we had jerseys, scarves and beanies on. Lunch was another yummy buffet. I’m learning to pace myself. 

We set out again at 3.30, this time in a different vehicle.

The group dynamics are interesting. The smoker also apparently suffers from motion sickness so her and her husband always get to sit in the front. Why you would choose to do an overland trip across Africa if you get travel sick is beyond me and beyond most of the rest of the group. It will be interesting to see how Erellah manages it as we have a couple of long days in the truck. We were in the back of the Land Rover both times but I like that as I can lean against the back. 

In the afternoon we saw (in addition), jackals, crown crested cranes, flamingos and many waterfowl. We drove over to Lake Nakuru to see the flamingos but there were not many on the lake – maybe a few hundred. Evidently the lake used to be completely covered in them. Erellah says researchers have shown there is pollution from the local town sewage works when monitoring has fallen down. He says that due to corruption the government does nothing and any action is down to environmental groups. 

We got back at 6pm and had dinner at 7.30pm. Packed up afterwards ready for a 7am departure.