Watering Hole

Another early start to go on the game drive. This time felling a lot better as I hadn't exploded for 2 days now. On the lookout for leopards as this is the only animal we are left to see to complete the big 5.
On the drive around we saw, dik dik, elephants, red billed hornbill, long crested eagle, gas hawk eagle, magpie shrews, black bellied bustard, a whistling thorn bush so named as the thorns are large enough the make the wind whistle through them with it blows. This bush also has black pods on it containing cocktail ants. These ants help protect the bush from herbivores that might want to eat it.
We also saw bat eared foxes running alongside the road, hartebeest, fighting Impala that would have a bit of a fight and then stop to look at us to see if we had noticed before going back to fight again, water buck, long tailed go away bird, banded mongoose, giraffe, ostrich, a fish eagle, large herd of buffalo, horn bills and the same secretary bird in the same place near one of the sign posts.
Today breakfast was at one of the picnic sights that over looked one of the main plains. This had around 200 elephants on it while we were there. Around the picnic tables were buffalo birds and more superb starlings.
When we moved away from breakfast there was a line of zebra coming off the plain .As they approached the road they were taking it in turns to have a dust bath. We then saw giraffes and a load of vultures that were eating from the carcass of a young elephant that had died. Mohamed seemed to think that it would have died from disease and not poachers. The rangers had already been there and removed the tusks.
We also saw some more rock hyraxes and a pair of ostriches with lots of baby one running around the male's feet. There were also a lot of zebra that were drinking and bathing in a water hole close to the road on the way back.
Went for a walk in the bush this afternoon to get to the fly camping location with two guides with guns and a local Masi guide. Had to divert around 3 buffalo to be on the safe side. But saw some Impala, giraffe and an elephant on the way.
Had a nice meal around the camp fire after watching the sun set with a G&T. Spent the evening talking to Alex the guide, who is originally form Zimbabwe and one of the organisers who had come down from Arusha to check on the camp.
Went to bed earlyish in a tent instead of the normal camp.