Last night’s cold front is still passing through the southern Kalahari at Tswalu – the wind chill factor has taken the temperature to what feels below freezing. It is so cold and windy, the majority of the wildlife is in hiding, waiting for the wind to drop.
It does make for some interesting fashion statements. Jonas, the tracker, is modeling the latest in Kalahari fashion – fleece blankets knotted over a windbreaker. From the catwalks of the Kalahari….it’s all in the strut…looking good Jonas!
It’s a good morning for antelope though, who seem impervious to the biting wind. A spindly springbok lamb and a roan.
The wind has dropped a little by the afternoon, and we go to visit the stables to check on Adelon, who was suffering from colic yesterday. He has fully recovered, and happily eats a proffered apple. Patrick and Ben have kept all of the horses in their stalls until we arrive, so that we can see them released into the paddock for the night.
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A couple of cheeky warthogs are in on this routine, and appear at the electric fence when the horses are released. They have dug a hole under the fence, and respectfully wait their turn at the trough for a drink of water. The horses seem unfazed, and the warthogs look hilarious kneeling at the trough drinking with one of the horses.
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The stables are also home to an orphaned zebra, who has grown up to be a bit confused…he thinks he’s a horse, and responds to the whistle and calls of the stables’ grooms.
After visiting the stables, we head to the scene of a lion kill, near where we found the two adult males a couple of days ago. These sub-adult cubs are the offspring of those two males. They have managed to kill an oryx, and have been feasting on it to the point where the young male resembles a pregnant hippo, and the two young lionesses are snacking lying down.
On the way back, a clever jackal is checking under the trees for chicks that have fallen out of the nests of weavers, and an impossible to photograph aardvark going about it’s business.
Tonight’s overnight temperature is forecast to be 2 degrees Celsius, with a balmy 3 degrees forecast for tomorrow night’s sleepout at The Malori. At least the wind chill direct from the Antarctic is lessening.
