THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE NIGHT DRIVE REVEALED

It's the most magical time of day in the African bush... The sun slowly begins its descent below the horizon as dusk takes hold. Birds fly to their overnight roosts, baboons seek shelter in the branches of tall trees and bats emerge from their daytime hideaways, taking to the wing as the last light fades to begin their nightly quest to find food. 

As darkness falls the air is filled with the sounds of the night - the calls of distant owls, the constant pips of the bats negotiating their way using echo location, crickets calling and the haunting cry of a lone hyena contacting its clan. In late spring and summer the air is filled with insects and the almost electronic sound of millions of frogs.

Night in the bush is simply mesmerising and the great thing about your stay with us at Baobab Ridge is that you get to explore after dark every day, thanks to our afternoon/evening game drives which head out in the late afternoon (after a lovely tea), taking in the glorious last light of the day before stopping for sundowners to toast another wonderful day in the African bush.

The last half of the game drive takes place in the dark, with the guides using a spotlight to illuminate the bush, stopping occasionally to listen for signs of activitiy - the far-off call of a lion or leopard, alarm calls of prey animals and the like. On clear evenings it's also nice to stop and just look at the incredible canopy of stars above, marvelling at the clarity of the Milky Way and the constellations.

It's the creatures of the night that are the stars of the show, though, and what we're hoping to see every time we venture out into the wilderness after dark. Besides the obvious night hunters like leopard and lion, there's also other predators that aren't often seen, from caracal and serval to the small spotted genet. You stand a greater chance of seeing the magnificent southern African python at night too, and in the summer months there are many snake species that hunt at night, from cobras to egg eaters and the aptly named night adder. 

Night is the preferred time of day for other fascinating mammals like the civet and irrascible but hugely entertaining honey badger, as well as the shy aardvark and, if you're enormously lucky, the rarely seen pangolin. It's also the realm of owls, which in Africa come in all shapes and sizes from the tiny pearl spotted owlet to the giant eagle owl. 

The sights, sounds and smells of the bush at night heighten the senses and leave you completely amazed by the complexity of the way the wilderness operates. It's incredible to see how animals navigate so successfully where we poor humans can't see our own hands in front of our faces! 

When you return to the lodge, you'll spend time in our wonderful boma, sitting around a wonderful crackling fire, stars twinkling brightly above, sharing your stories of the evening's adventures and the interesting things you've seen before turning in, snuggling down under your fluffy duvet and listening some more to the sound of Africa at night, looking forward to the dawn and another fantastic day in the wild. 

Sweet dreams!