I wake at 5.00 and am collected from the room at 5:30 for a light breakfast which is cereal, fruit and a cup of tea. We set off at 6.00 and it is only just getting light. The air is cool and thick with the scent of wild sage. We drive along the river. There are lots of red lechwe and it is wonderful to watch them leaping through the water.

I try out the new camera and realise just how much better it is then the bridge camera. The new zoom lens is incredible! I capture great photos of various bee-eaters, lilac breasted rollers and even a brown snake eagle. We spot lion tracks but are unable to find the lions.

We then find a grumpy lone hippo in a small pool. He is less than happy to be disturbed and he charges at us through the water. He was close and it was pretty intimidating! I have some truly awesome photos of the entire episode, including close ups of his back molars!

We stop for morning coffee and a snack by a pool occupied by 3 more hippos. I am pleased to say that they were much milder mannered and just grunted noisily from the water. After yesterday’s rather eventful bush toilet experience, I thought I would try out my ‘She-wee’. What a brilliant device. No more exposing my bottom to the African wildlife!

There was lots of plains game around and we had some lovely giraffe and elephant encounters.

We set off an our drive again and the tracker heard the cry of wild dogs. Of course, we set off in hot pursuit. In places the bush was very dense and it was tricky for us to follow. All went quiet for a while, but then we heard calls again and finally spotted a lone wild dog. An element of success but we did not manage to find the rest of the pack. It was now close to midday so time to head back to camp for brunch. I then went back to my room and started to select my best photographs from the morning to put on the iPad. I am absolutely delighted with the quality of photos I have taken. The new camera is just incredible. Almost every shot I have taken is a keeper and it turns out I’ve taken 1200!

Lebala Camp is run by Kwando Safaris and based in the Linyanti area of Botswana. The camp is one of their older ones with a slightly tired feel and a heavier dark wood build. That being said the room was absolutely great, very large with polished wood floor, spotlessly clean with stand alone bath and two outdoor showers. The staff, food and guiding are really quite exceptional.

I have a shower and then head off for tea at 4 o’clock for a 4.30 game drive. We check the water holes to see if there’s any sign of the wild dog pack but sadly no luck. We do, however, see wildebeest, zebras, impala, lechwe and much more. We then set off to find the brown hyena den. There are three dens and we place ourselves between them and sit and wait. After an hour it starts to get dark and a head appears. Hard to see but definitely a young brown hyena which is shortly joined by its sibling. We watch as the new moon rises and the stars come out. No sundowner tonight but what a treat and then a third head appears from a fourth den. It has a more open position so should be easier to view. We shall return tomorrow morning.

We head off back to Camp and spot a genet and two bush babies. We thought that was pretty good but this was shortly followed by a springhare, an aardwolf, four jackals,  a lioness chasing them and another springhare. What an incredible evening! 

We return to Camp at 9 o’clock so I grab a beer and eat dinner straight away. Beef casserole tonight and very delicious. I then return to my room to write my diary. The frogs are once again being very noisy.