It really was the shortest of lunch breaks and soon we were back out and heading to the Murchison River for an afternoon boat trip to see the Falls - let's hope it yields more than the last one did!
On the drive through the NP we couldn't resist stopping for some rather photogenic Elephant and Piapiacs.
I wonder if this is my ear roller from yesterday?
No red on the beak so both are adults.
Unfortunately we were on a largish boat once again and for a split second I hoped we might have the whole craft to ourselves but soon a minibus full of Americans arrived. As usual they were very loud and one friendly chap made the mistake of trying to engage Olly in conversation. I think they quickly realised we weren't keen on company and so made their way on to the top deck of the boat. We did have another couple join us but we still had plenty of room to move around.
We are actually on a section of the Victoria Nile and as we were going fairly slowly I was able to get some nice photos of nearby birds. The skipper was also very helpful in manoeuvring the boat to suit us (not the upstairs lot though). I've left these in the order I took them but as per usual I've repeated shots on the way back but with different lighting.
Giant Kingfisher with catch
I love the smile on this hippo's face.
These are Red-throated Bee-Eaters - just stunning.
Fortunately the water hyacinth doesn't seem to be choking the water as we've seen on other rivers.
Probably the most reliable bird the whole holiday - Pied Kingfisher
Grey Heron
Black-headed Weaver
I often get asked just how close I am to the animals I photograph, so I've deliberately left in the photographer on the side of the boat. Approx 10m in this instance I'd say.
Some splashing going on but no yawning.
If I was a "lucky" photographer there would have been a extremely rare bird perched on this tree stump - I took the picture anyway with the hope I might add one at a later date.
This is the sort of boat I'd hoped expected; we had one like this on the Chobe River in Botswana during our first trip to Africa in 2016 and it was a super experience.
A bloat of hippos riding the waves caused by a passing boat.
As we passed close to the river banks we noticed the holes and of course Ian and I knew immediately they were made by bee-eaters as we'd seen similar in Zambia. There aren't near quite the millions we saw (Carmine not Red-throated) but there were quite a few. Perhaps if we have time we can get closer on the way back.
A rather poor picture of a Malachite Kingfisher but in my defence it is rather small and was a long way away.
This is a Black-headed Gonolek, another first and a relative to the Papyrus Gonolek we tried in vain to see on several occasions.
There were a lot of African Darters aka Anhingas aka or Snake Birds on the river.
Hurrah, I got one in flight, albeit back view only!
Approaching the Falls we could hear their thunderous roar long before we saw them.
Our little boat wasn't able to get any closer than this, but to be honest I didn't fancy getting soaked anyway. Tomorrow we get to see the Falls close up and we WILL get wet.
A short video I made of the falls (maybe turn the sound down!)
Heading back I was pleased to note the glue on the Malachite Kingfisher had worked and it was still nearby on the way back.
One of a pair of Saddle-billed Storks on the river bank.
We then spotted this huge crocodile hiding in the bushes. He certainly spotted us too and was quickly out and into the water.
Some stills for when the video doesn't play.
Phew, glad I'm safe in a boat.
These Olive Baboons perched down by the water's edge look more blue than olive.
I'm guessing the boat skipper knew Gerald quite well because he was more than happy to take direction from our little group as to where the boat would go without any reference to those upstairs. We were interested in getting a little closer to the bee-eater nests and so he happily obliged.
Heading back to the boat station.
We'd had a lovely afternoon and the sun was already dropping when we got off the boat but I'm sure it'll still take several hours to get back to camp with all the photo stops we're bound to make.
We didn't even get away from the riverbed before stopping for a little family of Defassa Waterbuck.
Hartebeest
Oribi f.
Oribi m.
A good day but it's starting to get a little "samey" now.