We’re lucky to run night drives here – not many parks in Africa will allow vehicles to move around after dark. We use the chance to search for nocturnal creatures which are harder or impossible to see during daylight hours.
Large Spotted Genets are one of the nocturnal hunters which we regularly see. They search for insects and small rodents in their scrubby habitat.
Leopards are visible during the day, but are often more active at night. We watched this female walking down the road towards use before lying down in a bush to lick her paws.
Owls are another nice surprise for many on a night drive – this is a Scops Owl which is barely bigger than a man’s fist. They hunt for grasshoppers and small insects from their exposed perch.
And occasionally even a guide gets a surprise – in this case a Bushy-tailed Mongoose which sat still on a log for several minutes while we watched. Usually the only bit of a Bushy-tailed Mongoose that we see is the Bushy-tail!
