HK Disneyland TR - inc. Vietnam & Africa

[zanzibar138]

The next morning we were up at 5am for the morning game drive

We set out before sunrise, with the hope of finding some lions. Alas, the lions did not want to be found by us.

We did come across this massive herd of buffalo.

And then this hippo with a very new baby - our guide said it would have been less than a week old.

Vultures were a fairly common sight. We saw many trees that looked like this.

And we saw many, many impalas.

I knew we were in the wrong area for meerkats (one of my favourites), but we did see some mongooses (mongeese?) which are remarkably similar looking.

And plenty of baboons. They were so funny, we could have just sat and watched their antics all day!

After breakfast (which we had when we got back to the lodge), our guide took us to visit the local school. We went into 2 classrooms and had all the kids introduce themselves. Then they sang us a song at the end. It was such a great experience, even for me (I'm not really 'kid-friendly')!

 

[zanzibar138]

The afternoon drive left at a much more civilised time of 3:30pm. I took this photo as we were leaving the lodge. It overlooked the flood plains (which were filling up while we were there!).

We saw this elephant by the side of the main road on the way into the park.

And I took a photo of this sign because it was such a novelty being so close to so many different countries!

Our first animal spotting inside the park was a waterbuck.

Then we came across a big 'journey' of giraffes.

We pressed on, still in search of lions. This stubborn elephant stood right in the middle of the road blocking our way!

Towards sunset the baboons are very active, going to get their last drink for the day before heading to their tree for the night.

We came across this group of eagles having a bit of a tiff over a kill.

Then we stopped for our 'sundowners'. On each of the afternoon drives we had drinks and snacks packed to enjoy overlooking the flood plains at sunset.

After the sundowners we hightailed it back to the lodge (they are required to be out of the park by 7pm - some nights we only just made it!).

 

[zanzibar138]

With the hope of seeing a lion firmly in my sights, I unwillingly set my alarm for 5am again and we were off for another morning drive.

It was just about worth it just for the beautiful sunrises.

We saw another massive herd of buffalo.

Apparently this is the largest flying bird in the world. It's hard to get an idea here, but it was pretty big!

We saw some more kudus (there had been plenty of these in the first couple of drives).

In our quest to find lions we ended up back over the other side of the park, near to where the boat dock was. We noticed the animals over that side were a lot less worried about us and we could get some closer photos. There were more lodges, and more vehicles over that side.

I was pleased to see another jackal (even more so when I realised I'd lost the photo of the previous one). This particular one looked so tame it was almost tempting to give him a pat lol!

And some more mongooses/mongeese.

We spent a long time tracking a lion, but after having to admit defeat once again, we were then running late for brekky, and were over the other side of the park. It was possibly one of the scariest experiences of my life doing 120kmph in an open safari vehicle with no seatbelts, down the main road of a national park where it was very likely that an elephant would suddenly run out in front of us

But we did eventually make it back to the lodge in one piece (although we were still late for breakfast)

 

[ehsmum]

Wow! What an amazing experience. An African safari has always been on my bucket list, but even more so after seeing your amazing photos!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Absolutely gorgeous animal pictures and how fantastic to be on real safari for it!

Sorry you lost pictures on this trip.

 

[zanzibar138]

On our final drive we gave up on finding lions, so that we could just enjoy the animals that we did see.

When we reached the flood plains we went the other way to we'd been before, which was nice for a change of scenery, and we even saw some hyenas!

And another waterbuck.

Looking out over the floodplains, there is a bridge in the background that leads to Namibia.

We turned around after a while and saw a buffalo and some kudus on the way back to where we started from.

We turned then and went back into the bush. We found this buffalo having a rest in the shade.

And came across some more giraffes.

On our way to the sundowners we saw heaps of baboons and watched them for a while. They were crossing the road in front of us and going to the big dead tree. It was hilarious watching them jump on it using it like a trampoline

We also saw a couple of reptiles, a water monitor, and a crocodile.

And kept watching the baboons and elephants while the sun set over the flood plains.

Which pretty much brings me to the end of my TR. We spent the next 2 days travelling, with 2 overnight flights in a row. I won't bore anyone with the details. When we got home, I crashed and slept for most of the next 4 days

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks for sharing your holiday and honeymoon with us. I certainly enjoyed it very much.

You have some great pictures of your trip and I really loved the animals. Them are some wonderful memories to have for the rest of your lives together.

Thanks again.

 

[zanzibar138]

Glad you enjoyed it PIO

 

[petals]

love your trip report. All your pictures are amazing.. That castle in Disney looks tiny though.