Sundowner and Bush Dinner

Hello everybody,

For people who read my blog last summer, the idea of a sundowner is familiar.  Basically, you drive out shortly before sunset to a place where you can see the sunset.  Last summer, that often meant some large rock formation or overlook point.  For my first sundowner at Gorongosa, it meant the floodplain.  We drove out around 4 and hung out until the sun set.  This was my first time on the floodplain.  It's so flat and open and very different from the surrounding areas.  And there were a ton of waterbuck around, which is the species I'll likely be looking at for my research.

Sunset over the floodplain

Waterbuck on the left, a group of wildebeest on the right

The colors were amazing

Shortly after we returned to camp, we went out again for a bush dinner.  This involved driving out to a spot in the bush that had been set up for dinner.  There were two campfires with chairs and tables set up around them, a bar on one side, and a buffet dinner on the other.  The night was chilly, but the fires kept you warm.  The food was delicious.  When you looked up, you had a perfect view of the stars.  It was kind of surreal.  

The set-up for the bush dinner

Lanterns on each table

This morning I didn't have to set an alarm, so I slept until 11.  Which was glorious.  Today I think the plan is to make a schedule for field work in the coming week.    

I hope everyone at home is having a good weekend!