Rest day - 26-06-14

We were all feeling a little worn out today, so our fearless leader suggested a rest day. It was gratefully received, so we set about relaxing with a vengeance, as only NPAC can: with a four hour jeep safari. While there was lots of elephant poop, there were no actual elephants but we were not disappointed. The whole day was great fun, and we got to see zebra, sable deer, impala, kudu, baboons, wart hogs, and birds which Hilary told us the names of, but the only one I remember is a lilac-breasted roller.

Credit to Rahul Bhatnagar. Our Roller moved too fast for my camera!

The afternoon consisted of reading and monkey watching by the river. When staying in the Zambian bush one has to be wary of monkeys. Not only will they steal anything not nailed down, they will also break into your accommodation and steal your pants, as was discovered on a previous trip. We had no way of securing our door, so I cobbled together an anti-monkey device, otherwise known as a useful piece of string. Thank goodness for my father's propensity to overprepare.

Hello? May I have that? I am curious as to how it tastes.

Dinner that evening was impala and chips. Notes for the glutton club: breaded impala is delicious. Meaty and highly flavoured. We went fishing, but didn't catch anything worth eating. The view was more than worth it though.

All those dots in the water are hippos. Right there.

Campfire songs before bed. The Patel family were due to leave the next morning, but Gulam told us the probable reason we didn't see any elephants was that there are poachers in the area. He worked with the other game camps in the area to find them, but that story continues tomorrow.