From the Akagera Lodge to Ruzizi Lodge!

Up at 6 the next morning….to have breakfast and 

an early start on the day to see the animals! 

The sun isn't even fully up yet.

 This guy was up and waiting for us in the parking lot.
 He was actually on top of our car when we came out…
but I didn't have the camera ready.
Adam was carrying a big bag of food that
we had taken into the lodge…and the baboon
actually went after him… and tried to
take it from him.  THAT woke us
all up and we even had trouble getting
into the car without him coming too
close.

Then he just sat down and studied us
and acted like he didn't know why we
were so trying to shooo him away!
These little rascals can be quite annoying. 

But once in the car we hadn't traveled very far and there was a cape buffalo.  The kids got real excited to see their first BIG animal…

Love this picture of the kids and Adam seeing the Cape Buffalo.

Bruce pulled up a little and there was a whole herd!

He seemed as interested in us and we in him.  These guys can get upset and charge but he seemed calm and rather regal.  His horns indicate he is a little older one.

These look like youngun's!

What a great first sighting.

Then we saw this little parade of warthogs.

f

Regal eagle posing in the tree..   Actually,  a  Fish Eagle. 

Scenes from the car across the park. 

Zebra on one side and a Topi on the other.
Can you see him on the right?

A typical road in the park and although it looks smooth
it is very bumpy!

Mama and baby! This young baby looks like she's
 been in a water hole.

This is like the creation picture…. with all the different kinds of animals in one area.
 

 Then a couple of oldercape buffalo off by themselves

Some little and big warthogs! 

Here are the rest…. of the single guys! 

Beautiful spot!

Hippo lake didn't disappoint….

Lots of little faces sticking out of the water…. but none of the hippos hopped onto the shore--so sad not to see them out of the water.  

THESE warthogs were very unusual… They were friendly! 

and then we entered the land of the giraffe.

Beautiful baby!

I wonder what she is saying?

We got out of the car to take some cute family shots!  

The Versaws on the plain in Akagera!

So cool with all those giraffe in the background.

As we drove on to head to our picnic spot this guy
just posed for us. 

Bruce got this picture with the zoom….but then drove closer.

See how he walks moving the 2 legs on same side of his
body at the same time?  Fascinating!

 Literally, a gorgeous parade of zebras!

Arriving at the lake where we'll eat lunch… 

Driving near the shore we were actually shocked as thiscape buffalo….charged the car.  We didn't stick around to
see what would happen.  Bruce took off!

Tons of hippos…but still they won't come out of the water. 

Joined at the hip!! 

The zebra sandwich!

We scared these baby warthogs and their Mom
as they were in a mud hole --chillin'.

We laughed at the black, muddy trails they left as they ran.

 Coming back around the lake we found this herd of impala just walking down the road toward this stunning view.

Iris loved the Impala.

I always love the zebra! 

This guy or girl gave me quite a shot!

 Then suddenly we were leaving the park and finding our way back to the entrance.  These guys
were being herded right outside the park's boundaries.

But these guys were probably going to market! 

Remember the soccer game we saw?
Guess it's over now. 

Just an empty stadium and field… except for some guys training. 

Since we were staying 2 nights in the park… we found ourselves driving through the same area as yesterday. 

and back to the entrance that is just being built/ designed.
This entrance takes you into the park.. but we weren't going to the Akagera lodge this time.   We were headed to the 
Ruzizi Tent lodge. 

And here we are… Sitting outside on the porch
of the tent looking at the lake!

This was the view from our tent.

Grampa and Isaac arm wrestling.

This was the Versaw tent…  

 And two of the Versaw's! 

and the view from their front porch! 

Iris had already claimed the cot that was big enough for an adult!

Haha!

And Isaac was crashing on their "twin" beds pushed together.

Evening was setting in…

The fire was burning… out on the deck overlooking the lake.. but it started to sprinkle before dinner so we didn't get to enjoy it much.  By the way, Bruce isn't really crippled.
i just caught him as he was sitting down!  

Waiting to be called for dinner.

Still awake and happy… even though we had just finished a
9 hour drive in the park.
Crashed after dinner!

All night long the hippos came in from the lake and up on the shore…. We couldn't see them but the noises they made were
amazing… snorting, talking to each other, and sloshing through the water holes.   Hard to sleep, a bit really. 

The break of dawn looked like this… with no signs of the hippos.

Down our little sidewalk to have breakfast. 

Is this ant really made of gold?

This guy was waiting to great us…

Yes, this breed has bright blue balls!
Pretty cool, don't you think?   Golden ants and…

The walk-way back to the main lodge.

All the "sidewalks"  look like this
built about 2 feet off the ground.

The way they built this lodge is so cool…
with the trees running right through it. 

 Yes, it was Christmas so this was their tree.

Paintings around the dining room… This just reminded us
that we didn't see any elephants yesterday..  We hope we see them today.

The walkway to the deck. 

And this is what awaited us….  

Weaver nests. 

Isaac got there first… ready to eat…and happy as could be. 

Iris was almost tall enough to reach her plate. 

The lake was still.

Check out that fruit dish! 

Great spot for breakfast…
Great picture of Adam and Michelle.

 Just taking it all in. 

We forgot to tell Iris to look… Omelets, homemade rolls, fresh fruit juice and fruit cup!  yum

The waiter asked us if we had seen the crocodile in the water. 

We hadn't until he pointed it out.  It was very small and therefore
very young… but it isn't everyday that you have a crocodile
near the breakfast table, is it now? 

 Our last picture from the lodge… Looks like she is ready for the
next adventure of the day!

What will the rest of this day hold?

Finding out soon….

love,
margie