Out of Africa- Close Encounters of a Dumbo Kind (Cont'd)-8

Richard and Roger's first adventure with the elephants first occurred when they were walking from the savannah into a shady, wooded area and found themselves within 30 metres of a well-camouflaged ellie (I hate that name!). Roger grabbed Richard's shoulder, pushed him, and yelled, "Run!". Run they did, pulling back about 100 m until the elephant lost interest and moved on in search of a tastier tree.

The sun sets quickly here, so at 6 PM, it's time to head back to the mokoro to get back to camp before the hippos come out at dark, but heading back to the river at 5:45 PM, they found a father/son elephant team blocking their way to the river. Roger wasn't worried about the old guy but said that teenage males are very unpredictable (where have I heard that before?) and could easily kill them. They stood in the tall grass with the sun blazing down in 38 C temperatures for an hour. Then the ellies began to move down the hill towards them, reducing the distance between them and the men from about 100 m to a frightening 70 m. Richard and Roger then decided it was time for a strategic retreat back into the darkening bush and made an end run to the right to outflank the ellies and get back to the boat, but the ellies walked back up the hill and trapped them again.

Guides in the Okavango don't carry guns ( a policy Richard now takes STRONG exception to!). Roger had a walkie-talkie to connect him with the camp and carried a cigar-sized flair that creates a loud noise and a lot of smoke to scare off most animals. He armed the flare and contacted camp. One of the other guides went over to the island by motorboat and distracted the ellies to give Richard and Roger time to get to the mokoro.

The following afternoon, as a farewell gesture , I'm sure, an elephant was dining on the tree outside our platform tent when we returned from lunch. When he showed no sign of leaving, we had to get staff, who chased him a way after considerable effort and risk.

We left the camp shortly afterwards, and although I'd dreaded the tiny plane when we arrived, I welcomed the trip out of the bush and delta, away from the excitement of all those critters. Funny how a couple of days can change your outlook!

We've now arrived in Namibia. New blog to follow.