Kazinga Channel

Bushbuck

Piglets!

Giant Forest Hog

Our Elephant friend who wanted to go the way we were going!

The Yawning Hippo snap

Part of our safari was a boat trip on the Kazinga channel, where we would see lots of animals and birds. Before boarding the boat we came across some Mongoose who were playing inside a small old boat. They were excellent posers for our photos and didn't seem at all bothered by the numerous tourists snapping away.

Queuing for the boat we unfortunately ran into our rude acquaintances from the lodge. They didn't notice us, but that was probably because they were too busy pushing people out of the way to get on the boat first.

Our guide didn't accompany us on the boat, but the boat had it's own wildlife expert to talk us through the sightings.

Steph was excited to have snapped a baby hippo, unfortunately the excitement quickly turned to horror when she was told the poor baby hippo was actually dead!

There were herds of Elephants, Buffalo and Waterbuck all around the channel. We spotted a few crocodiles, which were really well camouflaged. There were just hundreds of birds all chattering at the same time. Photo's can't capture the many sounds of the channel, so we took some videos as well.

Everyone was out to get a 'yawning Hippo' photo and we all kept missing the very few chances. Steph was finally lucky enough to get one, it's not the best picture, a little out of focus, but we got one!

We headed back just in time before the rain.

There was a sprint from everyone to get back in their vehicles before they got soaked. As we left, we were very lucky to find ourselves in a prime spot when a lone male Elephant was in the middle of the road. Hamid our guide stopped the van so we could get some close up shots without zoom. The Elephant decided we were in the way and tried a mini charge at us! Hamid being experienced as he is knew exactly how to keep us safe from any danger, we managed to record a video of the charge.

On our way back to the lodge we were again very lucky as we came across a Giant Forest Hog right by the roadside staring at us and when it turned away, there was another one and some little piglets! Again, the photos are a little out of focus, but there was very little time to snap them. Hamid told us that they don't come out until it's dark, but he thought they may have been confused by the weather which had made the sky gloomy.

Another shy creature we managed to see on our return was a Bushbuck who wasn't so much in a rush to get away.