Rhino River Camp is situated close to Meru's Rhino Sanctuary, which contains both white and black rhino. Thus we took our route through the Sanctuary on our way into the Park itself, obtaining a great close-up shot of a white rhino with her young along the way ().

Bird sightings then took over for a while, with a new one - the vulturine guinea fowl (), below - and a pied kingfisher (), below, dominating, together with a number of hippo enjoying some deep water (), opposite, before we stopped for 'breakfast in the bush', (), opposite.

     

After breakfast, which was situated close to a small stream, we took the opportunity to look around, observing creatures as diverse as a sacred ibis (), below, and a dung beetle (), below, before the presence of a medium-sized herd of buffalo (), opposite, fairly up close, reminded us that we were still in open bush country.

     

Setting off again we got a fine view of the caldera that we had visited the day before (did I really cycle right up there?) (), and then spotted a couple of giraffe, in close contact with a number of zebra () Bird sightings then dominated again, including an example of the more common helmeted guinea fowl, a lilac breasted roller, some green parrots (), below (on a whistling thorn tree) , and a grey-headed kingfisher (), below.

     

We then headed for our night's resting place, Elsa's Kopje, named, of course, after Elsa The Lioness, and one of the most elegant lodges in Africa (), which just seems to blend into the rocky crags of the ‘kopje’ (small hill) on which it is set (). Beautifully furnished (), below, the camp also possesses a superb infinity swimming pool (), below.

     

As so often seems to be the case (maybe because I'm the boss), I ended up with the honeymoon suite, situated on the very edge of the hillside, and entered via quite a steep rock staircase (). In addition to numerous very comfortably furnished rooms, the suite enjoyed a spacious viewing deck (), below. For company, a family of rock hyrax (), below, seemed to permanently inhabit the area of the steps.

     

A late game drive then yielded views of a lesser kudu (), zebra plus an oryx (), and the new sightings of both a white headed buffalo weaver bird (), below, together with a Coke's Hartebeest (), below.

     

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