Day 154: Gonarezhou NP: Chivilila – Tondo

We decide not to cross the Rundu via the ford at Fishans, as we already drove there and back on the main track yesterday. Instead, we take the nearby bridge (Nkawangulatilo Causeway) and make a detour south of the river.

The Benji Weir viewpoint is a disappointment; the platform is occupied by campers, visibility is otherwise minimal, and the lake is nothing more than a mud pan.

And so we spend lunch at our next campsite, Tondo, a so-called transit camp on the way south. We like the spot. A large tree provides plenty of shade, and there is plenty of bird song. And the Benji River, although dry, is full of animal tracks.

Our afternoon excursion from here to the ford at Fishans is pleasant, but without any animal sightings, except for two nyala and a few impala.

So, back to our spot for today; we're a bit tired of driving.

And, miraculously, a nyala visits us in the shade of the bushes, and an elephant slowly feeds its way through the undergrowth on the opposite side.

As we drift off to sleep, we hear hyenas and, in the distance, a lion. At night, an elephant is apparently out and about – but it's too dark to see anything.