Transfer Day

Well transfer day started wonderfully!  A big breakfast with the incredible bacon.  They made us a lunch bag to take with us.  And we have a long drive to the air strip!  It started off with a close-up of an elephant.  Feast your eyes!

Elephant

 Then our first brown snake eagle.

Brown Snake Eagle

 Two yellow-billed hornbills were all over this termite mound.  I guess it was their breakfast.

Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill

 Going by the lake, ducks!

Hottentot Teal and Yellow-billed Duck

 And a plover!  There were several other birds there too, it was nice.

Kittlitz's Plover

 Then my favorite - giraffes!  First, an absent-minded parent looks around mid-bite.

Giraffe

 This baby wants a drink of water.

Giraffe

 The parents start to move off, nearly blocking our view of the fish eagle.

Giraffes

 The baby went for it!  Look at the cuteness there!

Giraffe

 Usually awkwardness wears off when an animal gains adulthood, but for giraffes it's lifelong.

Giraffe

Anyway, the rest of the day was spent in travel.  A tiny plane to Maun.  A medium plane to Johannesburg.  A long wait there.  A medium plane to Richard's Bay.  And a 2-hour drive in the dark to Phinda.  There were plusses.  The lunch bag they made us contained BLT's made with the incredible bacon!!!!!  That was so wonderful on the second plane!  And the Priority Pass got us into a nice lounge at the JNB airport.  Thanks AmEx!  And once we got to Phinda, everything was just lovely.  The accommodations are fantastic, they had a bubble-bath waiting for us, and a private dinner on our deck after that.  What a welcome!  :-)