The plan had been to go for a game drive, but by the time we'd waken up from the luxury of sleeping indoors (no early morning sun with a ceiling!), then had a full breakfast (bacon, potatoes, toast, poached eggs, and baked beans) it was after noon. After checking with the rangers office we ran into Keirin, Martha, Haley, and Rosie - three English travelers who were on our Zambezi rafting trip. We arranged to meet at our chalet later for a braii.
By this time it was starting to rain so we decided to go into Wankie (honestly! also used to be the name of Hwange) for supplies. By the time we returned from town with supplies (three cases of beer, two bottles of Amarula, lots of soda, even more meat, and misc. others) and put them away we only had an hour before the camp gates shut down.
We had to argue with the guard to let us leave - he didn't think we'd be back in time - but we eventually were on our way to Mandavu Dam to see what we could see. On our way we cam upon a pack of African Wild Dogs in the middle of the road. They're an endangered species and visitors to Hwange are all encouraged to take notes on them (the forms were handed out at the ranger's office). We sat there and watched them for the thirty minutes we had left - they didn't see afraid of us, cautious and curious, but not afraid.
We got back to camp with seven minutes to spare. Had a great BBQ with the English and sat around drinking and watching the fire until nearly three AM.
