Monday, February 1st - Nata, Botswana

This morning we had an early game drive so we were up at 5 and on the road by 5:45.    We had 10-15 minutes on the main road, which was a bit chilly as we were moving quickly, before getting to the entrance of Chobe National Park.  We arrived back shortly after 9 so we were in the park for about 3 hours.

Chobe National Park is another huge park.  It includes the Chobe River and lots of wetlands and most of the park is very green and lush.  There are some areas that are a bit drier looking, but mainly it is amazingly green.  It is the rainy season so they have had rain, which certainly helps with the green and the water levels in the park, but it does mean that the animals can wander over a larger area and are harder to see.  There are some higher lands but a lot of the park is the grasslands along the river and at this time of the year it is a wide expanse of green grass with water running through it and animals all around it - very pretty.  The rain had even created a few problems on the road system, which was really just sand tracks.  Several times we had to go through some pretty deep water and lots of mud.

We were pretty lucky this morning though.  We saw three of the big five.  They don't have rhinos in the park so we weren't expecting to see them, and the lions did not come out to see us.  We did see the Cape buffalo, elephants and leopard.  The Buffalo were only in the distance as they were down by the water and we were up on higher ground, but they were quite recognizable.

The leopard we found sprawled on a branch near the top of a tree not far from the road I don't know how Chitra spotted it but she did.  - just laid there for a while and then put his head up - then suddenly moved very quickly part way down the tree trunk.  There was a warthog family below him so we assumed they were his target.  After a few moments he moved down the tree trunk to the ground as the chase was on.  Once he was on the ground it was harder for us to see him in the tall grass and shrubs but our driver did a good job of getting us to where he would appear next.  At one point the warthog family ran across the road in front of us.  We assume the leopard eventually gave up that particular hunt.  By then there were lots of impalas around so he had other choices.  But after a while we had to move on.  It was exciting just to finally see the leopard but really exciting to see the chase and particularly his stealth as he started down from his perch in the tree.  The leopard's colouring is such a great camouflage that he really is hard to see in a tree or on the ground.

We saw a couple of elephants on their own and a small group or two.  Some were near the road and some were not.  The one group had a baby who was still suckling and the little one was very cute closely following her mom around and leaning under her belly whenever she could.  Mom just seemed to keep walking and eating but the baby seemed used to that.

We only saw a few giraffes and they were as graceful as ever.  They always look so elegant as they strut along or stop to eat from the tops of the leaves.  And if you get a close look at them they have such pretty faces and long,  long eyelashes.  We saw lots of impalas too and they too are very graceful and elegant looking.  However, there are so many of them that no one even stops any more to talk about them or take pictures.  They just assume we have enough pictures of impalas.

We saw several families of warthogs and a couple of single ones.  The little guys are kind of cute but the big guys are rather ugly in my opinion.  We saw many birds - fish and tawny eagles, vultures, crossbills, ibis, herons, guinea fowl, Egyptian geese, and a whole lot more that I don't remember.  

We saw some banded mongoose (geese?) but they were hard to photograph as they kept running about and ducking behind things.  But every once in a while they would sit up and look like meerkats.

There were several groups of baboons on our journey.  Sometimes the area just seemed to be alive with them on the ground and in the trees and running back and forth.  One big guy just sat on a rock or a stump about six feet from the vehicle and looked bored with us.  He was quite ho-hum about our presence but we certainly enjoyed taking close ups of him.  The cutest ones were the little guys.  One little one was hiding under his mom and peering out at us from between her two back legs.  Then mom started to walk away so he quickly climbed up her back legs, sat on her back and held on to her tail.  He was really cute and really young. 

We saw hippos both in the water and on land but only from a distance.  The same for the bush bucks which were down closer to the water. 

We also saw some black-backed jackals having a feast on an elephant carcass.  It was good to see them more clearly this time but the smell from the carcass was a bit too much so we didn't stay there very long. 

When we left the park we quickly drove back to our hotel and had breakfast, finished packing, loaded our bags, paid our bills and were on the road by 10:30.  Well, that was the plan but TIA.  This Is Africa and of course the credit card machine wasn't working.  And our guide had told us it would be working and we didn't need to get much Botswana Pula out of the ATM so no one did and no one could pay cash.  The guide ended up paying for most of the people and now they all have to go back to an ATM and pay him back.  Luckily I got more out than he suggested so I could pay cash and still continue on.  It will be interesting to see who else doesn't take credit cards.

After several hours of driving and one comfort stop, we arrived at our hotel for the night about 2 pm.  Oh, we also had to go through the agricultural check point where we had to walk through and take our spare shoes through the disinfectant to prevent the spread of hoof and mouth disease.  

Our hotel, the Elephant Sands Resort, is in the middle of a lot of very sandy ground and it has a watering hole in the middle of a circle of chalets and tents.  There are always elephants at the watering hole and that is where we spent our afternoon and evening just enjoying the view.  As I write this there are about 25 elephants - big and small - standing around the watering hole.  Some are drinking and some are splashing mud on themselves and some are play fighting, or at least I think it's just play.  They are amazing to watch this close up.  When we got to our rooms we had to beware of elephant traffic and remember, although I can't imagine how we'd forget, that they have the right of way.   Some of them are huge.  And they don't look like the nice clean elephants as you normally see them at the zoo.  Having splashed mud and water all over themselves they are actually quite dirty looking.  And of course that is intentional on their part.  The mud and sand keeps the flies off them and the water cools them down.  It is really amazing that we so many humans can sit for so long watching them but they are fascinating and beautiful to watch.  The elephants just kept coming and going all day long and they were so calm with us just a few feet away from them. 

Some of the folks went off on a bush walk about 4:30 but it was still too hot for me so I stayed in the shade and watched the elephants.  Only five or six went and I'm sure they had a good time and saw lots of animals and plants and other things, but it was just too hot for me to even consider.  I am hot and sweating just sitting here in the shade watching the elephant show.  I also learned that baby elephants cannot control their trunk until they are about 3 years old.  That would explain why they were just getting in the water for a drink the other day instead of using their trunk.  

I also didn't know that elephants rest their trunks on their tusks at times and that they often stand on just three legs while they rest the fourth.  For the front legs they just sort of bend their one foot and hold it just off the ground.  For the back legs, they often cross one over the other and then they look pretty cool from the back.  Most of the elephants at this waterhole are males so we saw a lot of posturing and some threatening but no real fights.  We did get quite a few trumpet calls, especially as it got darker.  They are definitely loud when you are standing right beside them.  One group of females and babies did come down at one point but they didn't stay long, unlike the males who seemed to hang around for quite a while.

One of the elephants is pretty special to the resort as they rescued it from a human trap at one point and the elephant has been part of their group ever since and may have been one of the first.  He gets preferential treatment and comes right up to the restaurant where the owner / wildlife manager has a hose to spray the elephant to cool him down and to fill his trunk many times so he can drink.  Ah, that was a new revelation to me too.  I thought the elephant gathered water in its trunk and then put it to its mouth where he sucked it out.  In fact he sucks the water up the trunk and then blows it into the mouth.   Anyway, It was fun watching the two of them react.  The owner was stroking the elephant's trunk and the elephant was sidling up to the owner.  Other elephants tried to get in on the action but they were turned away with an arm gesture, a yell or a spray of water in the face.  One of the big guys was pretty persistent though and we wondered if he was going to cause problems as he just wouldn't go away.  Eventually the favoured elephant made a quick charge at him and trumpeted and the other guy retreated.  The owner didn't seem to look frightened or even concerned by the episode but he sure looked tiny compared to the two elephants and all he had was a hose in his hands.. 

We had dinner at 7:30 as a group at the restaurant overlooking the waterhole and spent some more time watching the elephants.  Because it had been such an early morning, it was also an early night but we all had our flashlights with us as we made our way back to our tents and chalets, and we were all on the lookout for elephants.  I was one of the last ones to leave the restaurant area as I was watching all the elephants, and my chalet was the closest to the restaurant.  Before last call the barman came down to ask if I wanted anything.  I said no but before he moved on to check with some others he mentioned that a kudu had walked through the lounge area one night a while back.  I asked if many other animals came to the watering hole and he said yes, including leopards and lions who generally came in the middle of the night.  Between that news, the elephants and the poisonous snake that had been in the lounge earlier in the evening, the walk to my nearby chalet seemed a mile long and really spooky even with my headlamp on high beam.  However, I made it just fine.

Before I fell asleep last night I was jumping out of bed and looking out of the window as every elephant went by.  They were quiet but you could still hear them and when you opened your eyes this bulk filled your window.. I had an old tree stump about 6 feet high outside my window and the elephants liked to stop there and scratch themselves which was a rather loud abrasive sound.  Luckily the first of those occurred just as I was getting into bed so I had already investigated that before getting into bed.  Eventually I grew tired of getting. up every time I heard an elephant going past and I fell asleep.  The night had cooled down nicely and there was a lovely breeze blowing through the chalet so I slept very well.