Sunday, 7th August

CHARLIE -

I wake up to the pain of an rather horrific eye inflammation, a combination of cold symptoms and non-removal of contact lenses.  This causes me to go through the first part of the day looking and feeling like I've been stabbed in the eye by a rabid vampire.  I run into a hot Hungarian girl at breakfast, and she makes a polite enquiry regarding this situation, which makes me aware that in order to be attractive during our brief conversation I'm going to have to rely solely on things like wit and charm. This does not go too well as it is 7am, and both of these are still well and truly tucked up in their respective recesses of my brain. 

We set off.  It takes a while to see anything, but then largely thanks to the expertise and knowledge of an American dude with a huge beard called Donnie, we are privy to a pretty thrilling rhino sighting, and later are afforded the privelege of watching a lioness guzzle an impala by the side of the road.  This is quite a find, and there are about 10 vehicles jostling for a good position.  The lioness, although extremely close seems totally oblivious to her audience.  I suppose their brains don't do self consciousness like ours.

JAMIE -

Safari is an awesome activity. Getting up at 7am was - don't get me wrong - less than entirely pleasant, but once we were all vehicled up and in the park there began an enthralling day of animal spotting and, for the most part, animal looking-for-but-can't-find-oh-just-where-the-fuck-are-they?-ing. Yes: safari is a frustrating pursuit but all the more addictive because of it. We weren't helped by the morning's very English weather: cold wind and rain. These conditions rendered our sightings somewhat sparse before lunch but the climate improved as afternoon wore on and we saw a lot in the closing hours of the day. The main highlights were some close-up elephants, some superb rhinos and the piece-de-resistance: a lioness devouring an impala carcass right by the roadside! Amazing stuff.

Dinner, as yesterday, was delicious and a few drinks saw me safely towards bed. Tomorrow is an early 5:45 rise for our morning walk!