Ranger Diary

Surprise Flamingos

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It was just a few days before Christmas, and it was a busy day in the park. There must have been at least four different lion sightings, each sounding better then the previous sighting. Elephants were on every corner, plains game was plentiful and one station even called in a Leopard sighting. Now that is what you call a good morning, but what my guests and I saw was even more impressive a true Christmas gift.

We were driving on Letsha by Mankwe dam and one of my guests asked me 'are those Flamingo's' before I even looked at the birds I started saying that they might be African Spoonbills or Yellow storks, as I have never seen flamingos in the park. As I looked at the birds to my surprise it had bright pink/red legs, I looked through my binoculars and to my surprise there were a hand full of Flamingo just standing by the waters edge with their heads hidden. I turned to my guests speechless, as I just couldn't believe our luck. They come through the park for only a day or two in the whole year on their big migration to find suitable breeding grounds in either Namibia or Botswana.

I called in the sighting. Instead of rushing to the lion sighting we sat and watched the rare sighting of Flamingo's, even thought they did nothing but stand like statues. In the end though we got the lions anyway.

Guide: Monika Bydlinski