On my first night I wandered along the fence. I suddenly heard a noise. I had no idea what it was, but in my imagination it was either a lion sitting in the dark and growling at me, or the rumbling of an elephant’s tummy. Even though I did not know what it was, it was a rather chilling moment, and I walked back to the center of the camp fairly quickly. It was a couple of nights before I could walk next to the fence again!
I found a wonderful lifer spider in a tree right next to my tent. It was a gorgeous Long Spinneret Bark Spider. I saw it again a couple of nights later. It was a stunning creature.
I found lots of sleeping butterflies. There were lots of African Veined Whites, more butterflies from the Zebra Blue Group and some Pea Blues.
Other flying creatures included a couple of moths – a Ophiusa mejanesi and a Dark Elfin.
A caterpillar was having a nice long stretch.
I heard a rustling in the grass and saw a pretty Dragonfly in the shape of an African Piedspot (another lifer).
On another occasion I was startled by another rustling sound in the leaf litter. I looked down and discovered an Olive Toad.
But it was the arachnids that provided some rally wonderful sightings.
I only found two scorpions, but they were both lifers. First up was an Uroplectes vittatus.
The next night I found a Parabuthus transvaalicus.
There were hundreds of Wolf Spiders around. When I walked and shone my torch, their little eyes shone like diamonds strewn on the ground.
It was the first time I’d seen a Community Nest Spider really close. They are really cute and Fluffy!
I Found three spider species on one dry bush. First was a Rock Huntsman.
On a next branch was a Feather-legged Spider and close by one of the many Cucumber Spiders I found in the camp.
This Juvenile Golden Orb Web Spider was just adorable.
The creature that did freak me out just a little (mostly due to their proximity to my tent), were the many Solifuges that I found. They were moving fast as always, and it was not easy to get photos. Then this one (the largest of them all), stopped and gave me a look.
These guys are very cool, but also one of the few creatures that freaks me out just a little.
Despite getting lost in the dark one or two times, I really enjoyed my night time walks.