Lake Panic was a beehive of activity when we arrived this morning. Southern masked weavers and grey herons were busy nest building while the goliath heron stood sentry duty. A pied kingfisher repeatedly bashed his catch senseless on the branch before turning it to swallow it whole. An African fish eagle screamed from his perch as four species of sunbirds flitted among the early blossoms. At the far end of the pond hippos splashed and grunted while several crocs lounged near the bird hide.
The clouds cleared as we drove away, cheching here and there for new birds. Sometime before noon we zigged when we should have zagged and ended up going the wrong way on a particularly rough patch of one of the gravel tracks. After several kilometers, just before discovering our error, we noticed something large and grey moving in the bush. Two white rhinos walked slowly and steadily towards us, heads down, square jaws skimming the ground and sharp horns forward. Presumably they would turn away before reaching our car which seemed suddenly very fragile. This is only a presumption and we drove on. A few seconds earlier and we wouldn't have seen them. Two minutes later and they would have disappeared back into the bush. Sometimes a wrong turn can pay dividends.
