We usually don’t think hyenas are very cute. But, the spotted hyena cubs we saw today were adorable.

But first, we had to take our daily route out of the lodge. This is the track we take going in and out every drive. Not sure why they added cement tracks for this portion of the drive. Maybe they had trouble with rain washing the bare road away?

Fairly quickly, we saw an elephant in the rosy morning sunlight.

Then, not much later, we also saw a zebra in the same warm morning light.

After a bit of driving, we pulled over at a nice spot with a view to have some morning coffee. Tips has the coffee cup and ST is towards the front.

Our nice view…

After that morning break, Tips took us to a spotted hyena den they knew about. We were lucky – the mom and two pups were nearby. They were so cute! Here’s one looking off at the other.

The other came right up to our truck to check us out. It was sniffing and looking up at us. That’s our truck in the bottom right corner of the photo.

After watching them play around for a while, they started walking off. Not far, just over to the dirt road right next to the area. Once there, the mom stretched out across the road right in front of us. Her stomach is so huge we all assumed she ate recently.

After a bit of a nap, she got up and they all moved off into the long grass. When we moved to see if we could find them in the grasses, we got to see their den. Wow, a big hole! There was another truck there, too.

We didn’t see the family, so we started to leave the area. But, then, as we drove over a raised road bed, we saw the two pups looking up at us. They were hanging out in the giant drain pipes that run under the road. We stopped to watch and one of them again got super curious and came over to check us out.

They were just so cute to watch. But eventually, they stayed in the long grass where we couldn’t see them. So, we left to look for other animals. As we were leaving, we saw this truck full of people arriving. WOW! This is stuffed with 9 guests, plus the guide and tracker in the front. I couldn’t imagine being with that many people on this type of safari. How does the middle person in each row get any kind of view?

Further away, we drove up this shallow riverbed. It may have been shallow, but it had a lot of green algae growing in it.

Up in the trees was an African fish eagle.

Up around the corner of a different dry riverbed, we saw a group of warthogs. I like this photo with the grass hanging out of her mouth.

Back to criss-crossing the area. It’s amazing the guides can know where they are with all the roads/tracks they have across the reserve.

We were lucky to see another Botswana bustard – the official bird of Botswana.

And, up in a nearby tree, we saw this beautiful lilac-breasted roller! Apparently, they are named for the rolling flight patterns they use. This bird was rather far away, so it’s a good thing I had the 600mm zoom lens.

So ended the morning drive. Time to head back for breakfast.

We have a few more pictures of the lodge during the day. This is where we arrive back from each drive. They greet us with a cold drink and a wet towel. Nice!

This is the garden area you can see in the above photo, on the left.

Down that sidewalk and out into the sun is the path to our room. Here is what it looks like as we walk to it.

That cement you see at the end of the dirt path is the spot I tripped on when I fell and smashed my face on the first day. Here is the offending ramp…

And, here is our entrance. This door is to the outside wrap-around porch you saw in the previous photos.

Back in the main lodge building, this is where we would have quick bite to eat the early morning before our drive. When we returned from our drive, we would have a full breakfast and they would set a table for us somewhere outside.

You’ve seen this area in a previous night photo, but here it is in the daytime. We usually had breakfast out under this cover.

That’s it for the morning. Time for a nap and then we’ll head out for the afternoon game drive.