We arrived from Cape Town to Kasane, Botswana yesterday afternoon. Another beautiful hotel, but not quite as ‘luxurious’ as the previous accomdations. What??...no outside bathtub? No ‘high tea’ (really an excuse to drink wine before we leave for the evening game drive)? No smiling, young and beautiful Africa women to greet us with fragrant, cool, damp towels when we get back??? And what about the cocktail ‘bar’ set up in the bush??? OK...we have been royally spoiled! But this lodge has it’s own special allure, especially the setting along the Chobe River and the National Game Reserve which has it’s own unique magic. Last evening on the game drive we saw giraffes, baboons, impalas, lions, hippos and many, many herds (or families) of elephants. Perhaps the highlight was seeing 2 very large male hippos ‘fighting’ in the water about 25 yards away. They were fighting for ‘territory’ which actually meant.....who would get the ‘girls’, who watched from nearby with great interest. It was quite spectacular....so of course we thought ‘how can it get better?’ Then, as the red sun was setting we quietly watched a small herd of elephants, including some older ‘babies’ cross the road right in front of us.....perhaps 10 feet away. Soon many other herds began to head to the river from the marsh to return to the ‘forest’ at night. Included were 2 babies who disappeared under the water as it got deeper. You could only see their trunks poking out of the river to get air. Needless to say we were quite concerned about the babies and if they would/could make the crossing safely. We watched as the females in the herd carefully attended to the little ones. Our guide explained that the babies would grab the tails of their mothers to help guide them to safety. Once on shore we saw one baby quickly lay down on the sand. Again, our concerned heightened. At once, several of the females surrounded the baby, pushing it gently with their trunks and standing by, as if to support the mother and baby. We were all convinced it ‘had not made it’. Erin was especially despondent. 😢 But as we drove away, I saw the baby lift it’s head....and hopefully, shortly thereafter was able to stand and move on. I think the little guy just needed a break. The guide later told me that elephants are very good swimmers and they seldom, if ever, drown. So hopefully a happy ending.
Today we went on 2 river trips that would us get even closer to the animals in the marshland on ‘islands’ in the river. We got great shots of crocodiles (huge ones), hippos (finally one out of the water), baboons (with many babies), more elephants and beautiful, exotic birds. One of the best parts of the ‘cruise’ was the peacefulness and simple beauty of our surroundings, the lull of the water (vs. the very bumpy drives in the ‘jeeps’!) and the warm and gentle breeze that blew off the water and alleviated the heat of the land. But perhaps more importantly was the natural and easy camaraderie of our group, that has become like family. Prior to the boat trip we have been separated by dinner tables and safari vehicles. But this time was different. We were all together in an open, single level boat and were able to move our chairs, if desired, and communicate one to one, as small groups or as a whole....or simply sit alone. We could each have our our own ‘experience’, however we chose to define it. I believe we have all settled into relationships with each other that truly feel ‘comfortable’ After all, everyone who came on this trip had done so due to personal referrals regarding our amazing guide Leslie Udwin. I think we all wanted this experience, which was not just about seeing animals in Africa. I think also that we all had high expectations due to the excellent ‘references we were given. I cannot imagine that any of us has been disappointed in any way.....but instead our expectations have been exceeded beyond measure. lcm
 |
| Yellow billed stork |
 |
| Elephants swimming across river |
 |
| Impressive display-vying for territory and females |
I love the baby elephants--so cute! 💕🐘
ReplyDelete