April 19

I will start this one out with more of a story of last night.  It was quite a night.  Mother Nature put on a very impressive show.  We are on the most northern part of the Kalahari.  We saw signs of flooding as we were riding yesterday.  The campsite we are at is partially flooded.  But Mother Nature was not quite finished.  As we were setting up camp you could here distant rumbling of thunder.  It sounded very far off.  But she worked faster than we thought.  Less than an hour passed and the skies erupted.  The skies turned black and were accented by brilliant flashes of lightening and then the booming of thunder.  You could count between the the lightening and the thunder.  1-2-3-4-5 Boom!  Each time shorter and shorter until,  BRIGHT LIGHTENING and BOOM!  It was on top of us with the lightening almost in camp.  Then the storm would pass.  There would be an eary period of calm and silence and then she would send in another and then another.  It was very impressive how she presented her shows.  That lasted several hours well into dark.

Then shortly after dark we had a bit of a wildlife show or should I say heard it.  Couldn't quite tell what it was but it started as one animal.  You could hear a loan cry which first sounded like someone calling for help then more like a donkey braying.  Within a few minutes it was joined by another.  Then another minute and another voice and another and another.  Pretty so I it sounded like we were surrounded.  Several of the howls seemed particularly close to camp.  It was as if a pack of jackals or wild dogs was checking out this strange entourage that had invaded its territory.  It was a bit unnerving yet neat to hear wildlife truly in the wild.

Then about three thirty this morning I was awoken by another sound in the night.  At first it was one loud ROAR, then another and another and another.  Each one was a bit more subdued than the last til it sounded more like heavy breathing.  Yes, it was a lion!  This one was not close like the one of last week.  He or she was a distance off.  A short time later I could hear it again but only this time it was answered by another.  It seemed as if there were several voices answering the initial call.  I believe I was hearing a pride of lions calling out to each other.  Possibly coordinating their nocturnal adventure or commenting on the quality of the meal they had already subdued.  This went on for about an hour with minutes of silence broken by their call.  Again it was a reminder that I am not camping in a backyard but in the wilds of Africa!  :)

The rooster is crowing now, which means the start of a new day.  I'm not sure if I were him with the wild dogs and jackals and lions about that I would be giving my position away so readily.  Oh well time to get up and start riding 129 miles.  :)

More later....  :)