The 2025 Botswana Journals, Ch. 4,: The Elephants

         Most evenings when we gather for supper in the camps, Marg Wood, a long-time friend and co-leader on this safari, asks:   “What was your favorite sighting or photo of the day?” 

I love these moments when, sans cameras, we reflect on the things we witnessed during the game drives.   No thoughts of the best camera settings, the proper angle, the backgrounds, the direction of the light.  Just immersed in the wonder of the wild animals and birds and scenery we came to see.

On one particular night early in the trip, my answer is immediate and without a doubt:  “The elephants paying their respects.”

That event occurred on a day when we took a game drive in Chobe National Park, rather than a boat ride on the river.   We alternate these game drives.

The gate at Chobe National Park, 4500 square miles of unfenced refuges and several ecosystems.   

One of the first things our guide pointed out was a lion guarding the carcass of a deceased elephant.   It was quite far away, but our powerful telescopic lenses were able to pick out the scene.

 

 

No way to determine the cause of the elephant’s demise, so it might well have been “natural causes.”   Lions, no matter how many of them, cannot take down a full-grown elephant, but they do prey on the babies.

Later in the day, on our way back out of the park, we see a dead tree with a lot of vultures and Marabou storks perched on its limbs, with more arriving as we watched.

Incoming Marabou stork

Finished photographing the vultures, our guide moves the vehicle a bit farther down the dirt trail,  and then we can see living elephants passing by the carcass of their dead kin, each pausing to pay respects to the dead animal.   The dead tree is almost immediately above that site.

I don’t take any photos, not only because the creatures were almost impossible to see through the dense vegetation, but I am so caught up in the emotions of witnessing something I'd only read about, that photographs are beyond my realm of thought, and soon, my eyes so clouded with tears and with my heart in my throat, I couldn’t see them anymore.

We drive a very short distance and watch as numerous elephants cross in front of and behind us, all heading to the Chobe River for water.   I wondered if they, too, would pause by the dead elephant.

Suddenly, I realize we are directly above a place on the river called Elephant Bay, a spot with a natural salt lick and with easy access to the river for all animals.   I even recognize the dead tree with its committee of vultures.  Fine collective noun, isn’t it?

 

From Bird Facts:  The term or name for a group of vultures varies depending on where they are, although the generic term is a flock. When they are flying in formation, they are referred to as a kettle. When they are resting in a tree or on the ground, vultures are called a committee, and whilst feeding, they are known as a wake.

 

 

It is so easy to anthropomorphize these animals, to look at them and think they have the same characteristics, behaviors, and emotions that we humans do, but what chutzpah it is for us to think we humans are the only living creatures to feel emotions, especially when anyone who has spent time observing animal behaviors can swear otherwise.   I am not suggesting that they have the vast range or depth of human feelings, but just that they do to some extent.

If you take issue with my thoughts on this subject, I urge you to read of Lawrence Anthony’s experiences in the book The Elephant Whisperer:  My Life with the Herd in the African Wild.   And be prepared to be awed.

Some more photos of elephants along the river:

 

        Who knows why this elephant is creating such a splash?   I can guess.   Elephants love to play in the water.   They bathe themselves—then get on shore and cover themselves with mud and dirt!   They submerge until only the tip of their truck is visible.

        When drinking, the babies—so susceptible to attacks from crocodiles—are safely in the middle of a forest of huge elephant legs.

        So, it could be any number of reasons, including scaring away any lurking crocs before it drinks so one doesn't grab its trunk.

 

The overall scene.

        

        Then, through the miracle of 500mm telescopic lenses:

Elephants crossing the Chobe River:

The river is too deep for the baby so it's snorkeling as it swims.

Safely protected by adult elephants' legs.

High water mark.

So much for a bath!

Elephants have delicate hides, believe it or not, so they coat themselves with mud and dirt.   They act as sunscreen and provide protection from insects.

That we should see so many elephants along the Chobe is not unusual.   Botswana boasts the largest population of free-roaming elephants in Africa.

And, I end with a short video of elephants drinking at Elephant Bay.   Note how the littles are well-protected.