Africa - August 24, 2012

Broke down camp and drove four hours to Elephant Sands. The main lodge is built around a watering hole where elephants drink literally 30 feet away from you. It's incredible.*

Hopped in an open-air jeep after setting up tents to explore the property for several hours. Wildlife spotted: elephants (including babies), steenbok, ostrich, spotted eagle-owl, and lots of other birds. Pulled off the road to watch a cloud-streaked, brilliant sunset over the desert.

Had a fabulous dinner of maize, tomato gravy, butternut squash, sauteed veggies, potato casserole, cole slaw, and peaches with pink butterscotch sauce (puzzling but tasty).** Since it was our tourmate Wendy's birthday, Gerrit had arranged for a homemade birthday cake.

Click photo to see the sign's sage advice.

After dinner, we all sat on the overlook by the watering hole where eight elephants were drinking. The water was almost gone and you could feel the tension as the dominant bull began asserting his authority to hoard the last of the water.*** We were so close, you could hear the whooshing sound as they sucked up the water with their trunks and blew it into their mouths. Any notion of elees being gentle giants faded as one of the bulls -- annoyed at being forced out of the watering hole -- turned, put his trunk in the air to catch our scent, and walked closer...and closer...and closer...We collectively held our breaths as he came within 15 feet of us, glaring and flapping ears, before finally turning away. Everyone exhaled at the same moment, and I was a bit saddened to think this was probably the last time I'd see big game on the trip. But what a way to end the safari.

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Brad's footnotes: 
* Incredible in terms of proximity, but the man-made, square, water pit did kill the vibe of authenticity of the surroundings. I mean, it was authentic wild game, and, to be fair, most of Botswana's wild game is in parks (albeit huge ones with hectares upon hectares of space), but this was a half step toward SeaWorld, to me.
** One of the best meals we had during the camping phase of the vacation.
*** Travelmate Kate made the very valid point that it's just not right that an animal should have to suck water up its nose in order to then deliver it to its own mouth. "That's nasty."

Africa - August 22, 2012

Our first zebra, followed shortly by 53 more...

One of the best days of my life. Slept until dawn since we didn't have to break down camp, then went for a morning hike. Not far from camp, we spotted a herd of zebra grazing on the dry grass. Then another herd joined them. Then another. Before it was over, Brad counted 54 zebra at that one spot.* Their call isn't what I expected -- it's a high-pitched whine somewhere between a wild horse and a hyena. While we were enjoying the view, a lone zebra raced over a nearby hill, maybe 10 meters from where we stood, and ran to join the group. Un-freaking-believable.**

As the herds began to move on, there was a heartbreaking moment when we realized one of the young zebra was sick and couldn't stand anymore. It tried a few times to lift its head but eventually gave up and lay down in the grass. Its mother darted nervously between the colt and the ever-moving herd. Our guide said she'll abandon the herd rather than leave her offspring. Judging by the leopard prints we've seen in the sand, there's no way the baby will survive for long,*** and I hope the mother can soon rejoin the others.

Enormous termite mounds dot the landscape, so large and strong that elephants lean against them for support at night while sleeping. And we spotted dozens of maribou storks, about the size of a child, walking upright along the edge of a pond. As we hiked back, a red lechwe lept across the field before us, lightning-fast.

We had a treat waiting when we returned to camp. Gerrit had toasted bread and bacon over the fire and heated a kettle of water for tea, so we had a lovely warm brunch.

After the meal, most of us marched back down to the swimming hole for the closest thing we would get to a bath for a while. Tormented one another with a game of Marco Polo, and Gerrit taught us how to make mud bombs. It was brilliant.

Kate teaches Matilda weaving with palm leaves.

Back to camp for a nap until the evening makoro ride. When I surfaced from the tent, our poler Kate (not to be confused with The Great Kate) was weaving bracelets from palm leaves. Several of us sat with her while she taught us how to boil and dye the leaves, and she let us each take a turn weaving one of the bracelets. It was great fun, but I'm pretty sure she won't be able to sell that sad, unevenly-spaced thing.

Sleepy, sleepy hippo.

Michael was our poler this evening, and he took us to a spot where two hippos were swimming about 50 meters away. We watched them yawn and splash for the longest time before poling to a nearby island to catch the sunset.**** Back to camp for a traditional dinner of samp (maize clumps liks hominy). Then the polers surprised us by singing and dancing around the fire for probably 45 minutes. Their voices were pure joy, and a few tears rolled down my face as they sang the last call-and-response in English so we could participate:

Beautiful Botswana (Botswana), Beautiful Botswana (Botswana), I shall never forget Beautiful Botswana (Botswana)*****

After the singing, we all played games and told riddles around the campfire. Endured more taunting from the Toilet Hippo, then went to sleep once again to the sound of treefrogs and braying zebra.

Firelight dancing and singing at the end of a lovely day.

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Brad's footnotes:
* I had time to count because my camera battery went from fully charged to dead in like 10 shots. I only got one zebra photo. Started carrying one of the spare batteries after this.
** This zebra turned out to have a broken leg. Curiously, it seemed to gallop fine, but when it walked, it wobbled badly.
*** Unless it could muster the strength to run faster than the one with the broken leg, I reckon.
**** We watched them from what I thought was an overly cautious distance, until the hippos got curious about us and our polers poled like hell. By the time we were 50 meters from our stop, the pair of hippos had made it to where we'd been.
***** It's a very pretty song and I was hoping it was a traditional piece that they rewrote in English to share. But Gerrit thinks it was simply written for tourists. In any case, it was funny and sweet. They would interchange the nouns with each verse to express what they were thankful for. Beautiful "fire." Beautiful "Africa." Our favorite verse?: "Oh Beautiful ourselves (ourselves)..."

Africa - August 21, 2012

Began the day with a brilliant but freezing ride in an open-air truck to the headwaters of the delta. Then loaded up our makoros for a 3-hour boat ride across the clear but tanin-rich water. Thick, hollow reeds slapped our faces,* and frogs and birds called constantly from the banks. Our poler's name is Beauty, and we later discovered that she weaves gorgeous baskets.**

Yes, this close.

Shortly after we arrived, three elephants wandered up so close to our campsite that our polers had to shoo them away.*** Minutes later, our trip leader Gerrit flailed excitedly for us to join him -- a large herd of elephants was less than 1/4 mile from where we stood. Unbelievable.

Set up camp, lunched on sandwiches, then took a nap during the hottest part of the day. Woke up drenched in sweat, so I joined the group for a trek to the swimming hole. A week ago, if you had told me that I'd be swimming neck-high in reeds where crocs, hippos, and snakes live, I would have laughed. But my dirty feet have become far scarier than the threat of crocs.

Fish eagle near camp.

At 5:00, we broke into three groups for an evening hike. Animals sighted: lots of elephants, fish eagle, open-billed storks, red lechwe.**** Hyenas, hippos, and zebra could be heard in the distance.

So the bathroom situation is, let's just say, rustic. Gerrit dug a large hole in the sand down a nearby path, and the shovel was left at the trailhead as a sort of door. If the shovel is gone, you know the loo is occupied. Everyone must have a Bathroom Buddy, and we've been warned to take our headlamps with us after dark to look for eyes in the trees. Oh dear.

Our first hike in the Okavango Delta.

The most exciting part of the bathroom experience is, without a doubt, the Toilet Hippo. By the sound of him, he lives about 50m behind the hole. Clearly the greatest joy in this creature's life is roaring while I'm squatting on the ground with pants around my ankles. The aggravating thing is that I try to outsmart him and wait for him to grunt before pulling down my pants. So I'll wait...and wait...and wait...nothing but silence. As soon as I give up and pull down my pants....ROAR! Evil bugger.

The stars in the delta are spectacular, and I finally saw the Southern Cross for the first time. Went to sleep to the sound of zebra calling nearby.

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Brad's footnotes:
* I kind of think they steer us into the reeds on purpose. Like outsider hazing or something.
** Beauty was a great poler and strong, into her 50s. But unlike most of the polers, she spoke no English. It was a quiet ride, which made the experience even more surreal.
*** Like 40 feet away, for reals.
**** Lechwes are antelopes. Funny thing about the lechwe: When I asked how to spell it, our guide said, "L-E-C-H-double-E." So I wrote "lechee." Figured out what happened there later...

Africa - August 20, 2012

Another early start as we began the drive to Maun. The landscape didn't change much except for the beautiful crossings over the Boteti and Thamalaker Rivers.* Ostrich and elephant were spotted along the way. Stopped in Mokopipi for snacks; otherwise, it was an uneventful trip spent napping on the truck. Once in Maun**, we exchanged dollars for Botswana pula, grabbed a quick bite, then off to the grocery to buy supplies for the Okavango Delta.

Our guide, Gerrit, as we tank up near a huge salt flat.

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Brad's footnotes: 
* One downside to a trip like this is it covers a lot of ground in a short time. So there were some 4:30 a.m. wake-up knocks on the tent, followed by a lot of Kalahari Desert views from a jostly bus. On the plus side, we got to see a ton of southern Africa in just a week. We also saw the country's largest platinum mine and a cool salt flat.
** Proud to call itself Donkey Capitol of the World!