Giraffes, Impala, Zebra and Elephants

Just got back from a fabulous two days at Akagera national park. you wouldn't believe the amount of wildlife! I spent about £150 for the two days including private car, accommodation, park entry, food and drink! Awesome scenery, the animals and birds were amazing, as was our driver and tour guide Damascen. It rained for a lot of the time on both days but he wasn't phased. We slid around in the mud and at some points were at a 45 degree angle to the road as we went off it. Also, spun at about the same angle across the plain when we were heading for our picnic spot and  he reversed very quickly when it looked like the elephant was going to charge. Loved the way we got out of the vehicle at a picnic spot on the first day and he casually told us how two cars had been pushed into the lake there by elephants, and as I turned around to check there were none behind us, a herd of Impala came jumping and running by! The food was great and we all had a good night playing cards and chatting after a few hours safari in Friday. We were up early on Saturday to get a head start driving right up through the park and hoped to see elephants. We were in luck, we saw fresh dung and smelt them within the first hour but couldn't see any until Damascen spotted one on the road ahead. So we drove up and the elephants moved to the side of the road, but the big one wasn't too impressed by our presence and began flapping its ears and getting ready to charge, so we reversed very quickly! However, the ele calmed down and we got some good shots and a bit of film before we moved on. The most impressive part of the second day was when we got to the plains and there were giraffe, impala, zebra, buffalo and topi all grazing with each other. Apparently they are going to reintroduce lions next year -
don't think they will be so lazy when there are some
predators around - can't wait to go back and see that!

Before the safari I was in work all week training and having a blast getting to know the tutors better. I think we will all have a much better working relationship after these two weeks of working intensely together. After the safari we headed to Yvonne and Olwen's place to have some home-made curry and play a new card game called Yaniv?! from Israel - we renamed it Yego! - as we are in Rwanda and that means 'yes' and had a few drinks while we worked out how to play! Good times with great people.