The 2025 Botswana Journals, Ch. 44: In the Company of Elephants

    This is the final chapter of the Botswana Journals, and I saved it for last.   This is the impression I want to leave with you.    

  I was thrilled beyond measure when I saw my first sable antelope in Chobe National Park.

    I was moved almost to tears when I saw elephants pausing to pay their respects to one that was dead.

    But this day?   This day will live in my memory forever.

***

    Once out of the riverbed, we begin to see several small elephant herds.   As we continue to drive in this area of the reserve, the number of elephant sightings increases.

    Mashatu Game Reserve bills itself as the Land of Giants, with an estimated 600 to 900 elephants roaming 104,000 acres of private land.   The reserve is not fenced, so the animals can come and go as they please.    Twenty-two giraffes were released into the reserve in 1984 after they had become locally extinct.   At the last game count, more than 700 were spotted.

    The elephants under a Mashatu tree in this video are consuming something small and yellowish.  Perhaps the berry-like fruit or dried fruit. 

    As the morning progresses, it seems that all the little family units have joined with others, and what happens next will touch my soul like nothing else has done.

    I have a lot to say about these videos that I made while in Mashatu Game Reserve in southeastern Botswana, but nowhere in these words will you find an accurate and all-encompassing description of how I felt sitting in an open Toyota Land Cruiser as dozens of wild and free-roaming elephants walked on either side of me.

    I am convinced there are no adequate words that can convey that feeling.   I have a pretty decent vocabulary, as well as a number of books that provide synonyms, antonyms, and rhyming words.

 

    But I can't find a single word to describe what I felt.

     Bellamy waits for his chance to cross to the other side of the mass of elephants.   He parks us a few feet beside their trail, close enough for us, but far enough that the elephants are not impeded.

 

 

    As you watch this last video, you will see an elephant cross directly in front of me and give a little head wag.  I’ve learned from my own experiences, and from talking with guides and camp staff, that this is elephant language for “Watch your manners.   Don’t come any closer.”

    I’ve seen that head wag several times.   One young bull in Chobe National Park threw a complete tantrum, trumpeting and thrashing the bushes, then trying to run after us when our driver spotted an opening and drove us away.

    Another time, I was gently rebuked by a camp staff member at

the Selinda Spillway for trying to get a little closer to an unobstructed view of elephants drinking and bathing in a small stream that ran past camp.   The elephant closest to me wagged its head and tossed its trunk and ears.  

    “You had your warning,” she said, as she urged me to back away.

    Sit back and immerse yourself in the wonder that is elephants.   See if you can feel some of the awe that I felt.

    Note how all the elephants tend to walk on the same path as those leading.   This is quite common.   Hippos, when they come out of the rivers at night to graze, also walk on the same path as before.

This one.   Be sure to watch this in the largest format your device offers.

    Those of us who live in countries where regulations and liability laws try to vouchsafe us from harm can easily forget—in the moment—that these are truly wild animals that don’t live by our rules.

    Back to how I felt: I can only offer my heartfelt gratitude to Marg Wood and Shelly Kurtz of Marshel Adventure Tours for the opportunity to experience this.   It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime gift.

"Got milk?"

    Unlike what you would expect from an enormous animal, elephants do not have hooves.   They have toes and toenails, though the entire sole is covered with tissue.   There are five toes on the front feet, and four on the rear.

X-Ray of an elephant's foot.

The 2025 Botswana Journals, Ch. 39: Hiding Again, sans Elephants

     I'm getting better at photographing the frogs in the "Elephant Hide."   Again, there are no elephants here to entertain us.   

    However, the days have been getting warmer as the perpetual overcast of the sky thins, so there's a good chance something will show up besides doves.

    While we wait, there are bugs to photograph, too.

These small white butterflies are called Pioneer White.

    Regarding the heat:  I was already quite warm when we arrived at the hide, but after I climbed through the top hatch and down the steep steps, sweat started running off my face.    

    Looking at the exterior of the hide, it appears to be a re-purposed shipping container--we call them connexes--so you might say I was in a steel oven and that's exactly what it felt like.

    The large panel on top is the hatch door.  On the left side near the ground are rectangular openings for the photographers.   Some have already been closed up with wood flaps to keep the large critters out.   The frogs were on the narrow strip of dirt between the hide and the water.

    Just when I was about roasted to medium-well done, a herd of impala approached, and I forgot all about the temperature.

    One brave doe made the first approach.   After that, it was free-for-all.   I had a hard time trying to decide where to aim my lens, so I began looking for opportunities to photograph individuals or a few individuals.

A nice stag in the center.

    Here's a stag with a broken horn.   Their horns are permanent and will not regrow, unlike deer, whose antlers are shed and regrown every year.

A cell phone video:

Love the water droplets.

Note how the impala has spread its front legs.   They re very vulnerable to predators at this point.   

    And then they were finished.   They disappeared into the brush.

    But wait!  Isn't there more?

    Why, yes, indeed.   What's a hide without a dove?

Then, a treat.   A red-billed oxpecker or two.   These birds are usually seen on mammals, checking them for parasites, etc., in a symbiotic relationship.

Then, we top it off with the beautiful Lilac-breasted rollers.

    As we leave the hide for the last time on this safari, I spot a male ostrich in the shade of the tree.   The bird is hot and has its mouth open in an effort to cool off.   Those luxurious black feathers don't help much in this kind of heat.

The 2025 Botswana Journals, Ch. 23: Goofy Zebra, Eye-Level Giraffes, and a Braai

(Remember:  You can see the photos full screen by clicking on one.  It will bring up a filmstrip.)

        Late afternoon, and we are off on our game drive, with Bashi as our guide and driver.   The other half of our group is going to the Lala Limpopo overnight hide, and I hope they have more luck than we did.

        

        Almost first thing out of camp, I find myself looking straight into the eyes of a giraffe.   Not looking up, just straight and horizontal.   Not often that happens.

        Bashi drives around some bushes and into the dry stream bed.   The giraffes are nibbling from the top and from the bottom.

        A peanut gallery of chacma baboons watches from on high.   

        And then!!   Today's drama.   These zebra are playing, Bashi says, but it could get serious if it goes on much longer.

 

Note the little impala, completely serene, in the left foreground.

        Okay, I don't think kicking another zebra in the teeth counts as play.!

        A final lookback and the zebra wander off, apparently still friends.

        Suddenly, we are on a Ferrari Safari!   When something great is spotted, we rush cross-country to it.   Hang onto your hats and cameras!

The leopard known as Mohoyo

        We spend a lot of time with Mohoyo, and evening draws nigh,   I look around and like the cloud formations.   The leopard is at lower right.

        Mohoyo moves to a different location.   We follow.

    It's getting very late, and night is fast approaching.   I wonder why we are still out and not heading back to camp, but I'm enjoying the sunset.

The wonderfully enchanting baobab tree.

        Now it is dark, and our spotter shines a spotlight on the surroundings, in search of the night critters.   

Video :

        I have no photos, but we see springhare, a genet, and BEST OF ALL, an African wild cat.   A LIFER FOR ME!

        Seeing an African wildcat is considered insanely rare.   They are nocturnal, elusive, and their numbers are scarce.   In size, they are somewhat larger than a domestic cat.

        This is a photo I borrowed from the Internet.

        I don't know what I was trying to capture here, but this gives you an idea of what it's like.

        I don't know how to explain what happened next, except to say that everyone else seemed to know something I didn't.   Remember, I came late to this trip after a lady had to cancel, so I guess it was discussed before I joined the pre-trip conversations.

        On the other hand, sometimes they will throw in surprises.

        The vehicle stops, and the others start getting out.   Assuming we were back at the camp, though things looked a bit different, I hand my heavy camera down to someone.

        "You can leave it.   You don't need it,"  that someone said.    I'm confused.   What?   I wasn't going to leave my expensive camera in the safari vehicle overnight!!!

        I get out, holding onto my camera bag.   "No, you don't need it.   Leave it all in the truck."

        Then I look around.    Oh, my.   An outdoor dinner.   It's called a braai in the southern part of Africa, and it was spectacular.   What we call a barbecue, they call a braii.

 

The beverage bar.

Getting the fire ready.

There are kettles sitting on four-legged stands over some hot coals.   Kettles like Dutch Ovens.

Sausage, chicken, steak, corn on the cob!

Our table.

Shelly, left, Virginia, and Bashi.   The tea candles in paper bags are a nice touch.

                        Cory, Shelly, Virginia, Bashi, and Randy.

        And would you look at this!!!   We are dining next to a baobab tree, and it is in bloom!  It blooms only once a year, and always at night. By morning, the flowers have faded and turned brown.

From the Internet:    Baobab trees bloom, producing large, white, crinkled flowers that typically open at night and last for only about 15 to 24 hours. These flowers bloom annually, usually at the end of the dry season, and are primarily pollinated by fruit bats, moths, and sometimes mouse lemurs. 

What a special occasion Tuli Lodge arranged for us.

My plate:

My plate.   The largest piece in upper right is a chicken thigh.    That was enough for me, but the servers couldn't believe I didn't want sausage (2 inch piece) and a piece of steak to the left of the chicken.   (Uh, steak is very tough in Botswana.).  Then, a wee bit of salad, lovely creamed spinach, a bit of pap*, and 2 baked potato slices.   I would have been content with just the chicken and more spinach!

*Pap:   A staple food in African countries, pap is made from ground maize with water and salt.   It resembles porridge or polenta, but stiffer.   Africans often take a couple of fingerfuls of pap and use it to scoop up any stew-like food.

THE OBLIGATORY BIRDS!

Here are two very, very bad photos.  I did what I could with them, but they are hopeless.   They are also LIFERS, so here's the proof.

Green-backed hoopoe.

Marisco flycatcher