August 14
Today was a day of Jeep drives, one from dawn to lunch and another from an hour before sunset to several hours afterwards. On the morning drive we saw many familiar species, including two male lions sleeping under an acacia tree. Their fat bellies told us that they’d had a successful hunt last night and that they would be unlikely to move much all day. We visited a watering hole and watched a mixed flock of small birds of several different species zipping to and from the the water’s edge to get a quick drink. We also watched impala, giraffe and warthogs cautiously drinking (water holes are a risky business if you are prey). This evening our drive produced a few new species, but after dark we got really lucky— we saw the lions again, but also jackals, African wild cats, springhares and a civet. Springhares are amazing little creatures. They are rodents, not really rabbits, and the locals call them Botswana kangaroos. They jump high, fast, and seldom in a straight line, on their large back legs, with a long tail that swings behind them. The black end of the tail is meant to confuse predators, and we watched a jackal fail to catch a springhare during our drive. Then we drove to a quiet spot and were able to take photographs of the stars; with a late moonrise and no ambient light, it was spectacular.
Pictured: wild cat, jackal, crimson-breasted shrike 
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