Last weekend we (Matt & kids) joined Becki's flight which was taking a team of pastors to the South then picking up a group of doctors from America, who had been working at a hospital in Bere, and taking them to the East. It was more cost-effective for the aircraft to stay for the weekend rather than make two flights so we grasped the opportunity to come along too and spent 2 nights at Zakouma National Park. MAF do not often fly there and when they do, it is to drop off supplies or bring staff in/out so it was the first time Becki had ever been able to go out and see any wildlife there too.
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| Heading out to the Caravan |
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| Landing at Bere |
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| Crowds gathered to watch the MAF plane come and go |
Bethan and Luke both had turns in the right-hand seat. We kept our final destination a secret for as long as possible so they thought we were just going to Bere and back. Bethan's expression on the right was just after she discovered where we were heading! Below are some photos from the game drives we got to go on:
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| An Olive Baboon |
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| Another baboon with a baby on its back |
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| Luke amused our fellow game drive passengers by describing this scene as "loads of puffins" |
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| Luke using his camera to photograph a giraffe |
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| We spent a lot of time sat in the vehicle by the water watching the abundant bird life |
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| Becki called on the driver to stop driving and reverse so she could take a photo of this pretty blue bird... |
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| ...and while we were stopped, the driver spotted three lions recovering from a meal of waterbuck |
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| Two lions panting heavily after their big meal |
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To Luke's great concern, the driver parked very close to the lions. When this one stood up he decided it was time to go! |
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| The giraffes were very interested in us |
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| Becki's favourite bird, an Abyssinian Roller |
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Hyena hiding amongst the trees
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| The water buffalo were very shy and kept their distance from us. |
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| Central African Savannah Buffalo |
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At the end of our second drive, we came across these elephants enjoying a splash in a lake.
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| A fourth elephant joined the group and greeted it's friend with affection |
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A red-throated bee-eater landed right in front of us
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Two West African Nile Crocodiles lazing by the water. Luke was concerned!
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| On our final drive we saw Hartebeest |
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An ostrich who got up as we approached to reveal 8 large eggs
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Our driver, Ramadan, went off the beaten track after a call came through on the radio. After much driving around we spotted a cheetah. Sadly he/she didn't hang around long enough for a decent photo.
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