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.

Out of Africa-Close Encounters of the Elephant Kind- 7

They say that if you want to stay young, it's important to step outside your comfort zone once in a while. If that's true, then after the past 3 days, Eleanor's age really is the 39 she's been claiming for the last 20 years.

From the time we began planning this trip, the idea of flying in an aircraft smaller than a Smart Car has made her nervous, so when we arrived at Kasane Airport for our flight to Gunn's Antelope Camp in the Okavanga Delta, Botswana, she was relieved to learn that instead of taking the 6-seater we had been expecting, we'd be flying in a larger, 12-seater plane instead.

The relief was short-lived. Our plane landed on a tiny airstrip in the middle of nowhere. There were no buildings; 3 Landrovers and a Smart Plane were there to greet us. You guessed it: the Landrovers were for the other passengers. We climbed into the 6-seater plane and met the pilot, who looked to be about 16. Co-pilot Rick volunteered to sit beside him and spent the 20-minute flight with a huge grin on his face, asking about all the dials and screens while Eleanor sat at the back with fingers and eyes crossed, praying that such a small plane would be able to stay in the air long enough to get us over the croc and hippo-infested water just a few metres below.

By some miracle, we made it to Gunn's tiny airstrip, where we were met by our guides/polers who were to take us to the camp. Surprise! Our new mode of transportation was a mokoro, a flat-bottomed dugout canoe-type boat that holds two passengers and a poler, who stands at the back and uses a long pole to push the boat through narrow channels cut into the 2-3 foot high hippo grass growing in those same dangerous waters we had seen from the air.

Definitely out of her comfort zone at this point, Eleanor was a little reassured to learn that our poler, Roger, had been doing this job for 15 years, and since he still seemed to have all his limbs he obviously had acquired the knack of avoiding the dangerous creatures lurking just beneath the surface as he poled. He pointed out the varieties of birds and water lilies as we passed and even created a water-lily necklace especially for her. Although she finally relaxed a little and now acknowledges that the 20-minute mokoro ride to the camp was beautiful and certainly cooled us off nicely, it was definitely not her most relaxing experience on this trip.

When she had nearly stopped shaking, she asked Roger about the risk level of water travel on the river. He assured us that the narrower channels we were using were too shallow for the big crocs and hippos. At that point, we crossed a much wider channel. He pointed down the channel with his pole. "That's the hippo highway," he said. As we crossed safely to the narrow channel again, we couldn't help wondering if the the hippos and crocs understood the lines of demarkation as clearly as Roger did. One nugget of information we had collected as we planned our trip: hippos kill more people in Africa each year than all the Big 5 combined. We wondered how many of these people were polers who made a mistake.

When we landed, Eleanor was tempted to kiss the ground. It's a good thing she didn't! As we learned during the briefing session we receieved before they showed us to our tent, the area has poisonous spiders, poisonous snakes, and scorpions. We were told to stick to the dirt paths that are raked regularly and to look down while walking. Oh! And look up, too, since the black mamba snake can drop from trees. Meanwhile, be sure to look straight ahead, too, to watch for the elephants who hang around the camp. They don't appreciate guests bumping into them while watching for snakes. Then we had to sign a liability form acknowledging that we were aware of the deadly wildlife but were crazy enough to stay anyhow...or something to that effect.

Gunn's is a real bush camp, with tents on platforms overlooking the river. Safely zipped into our tents for the night, we actually enjoyed the evening symphony: frogs and birds chirping, fish and crocs splashing, hippos grunting, elephants trumpeting, wild dogs barking, lions roaring...believe it or not, it's a nice music to fall asleep to, as long as the loudest noises are the furthest away.

There are no game drives at Gunn's; there are bush walks instead. At 7 each morning and 4 each afternoon, we made our way across the hippo highway by mokoro to Chief's Island, a game reserve on the other side of the river. Question: if we had to keep to the paths at camp, was it safe to walk around on the island for 3 hours? "No problem" said Roger. "Just follow me". So we literally followed in his footsteps as we tramped through swamps and forests hunting for the animals and hoping they weren't hunting for us.

To be honest, it was a great experience. Roger could read the tracks the way we can read a book. Like a good teacher, he'd point out tracks, ask what we thought they might be, correct us the many times we were wrong, and later when we came across the same tracks, he'd test us to see if we remembered the lesson. He told us how to escape if dangerous animals came too close. Ellies: run in a zigzag direction. Buffalo: climb a tree or play dead. Lion and leopard: don't run, don't make eye contact, walk backwards slowly.

The risk of coming face to face with these animals was a little overwhelming for Eleanor. That and the 40 C temperatures led her to the decision to skip the afternoon walks and let Ranger Rick and Roger handle them alone. She'd like to claim psychic powers and say that she foresaw Richard's two deadly afternoon encounters with elephants, but the truth is, she was lazy. The pool and a good book were more attractive than tramping through the bush looking for trouble.

Next time we'll tell you about how he faced down the elephants . Stay tuned!

Right now we're in a very civilized inn in Windhoek, Namibia, the Olive Grove guest house. Check out Windhoek on the internet. It's a beautiful, modern town in the middle of the desert.
Off to Etosha and more elephant encounters in the morning, but meanwhile, we'll be sleeping in a real room in a real town!

Out of Africa- At the waterhole- 6

o We've now moved on to Botswana, a small country of about 1.7 million people. Botswana and Namibia are both very prosperous resource-based economies based on copper and diamonds. Botswana, like the UAE, has been able to introduce a very successful trickle-down economic strategy. They have among the highest per capita income in the world, but the rural areas have much in common with SE Cuba.

o We are staying at Elephant Valley Lodge at the Chobe National Park. The weather here is 36 C in the shade and considerably more in the sun. The name of the lodge is appropriate. There are herds and herds of elephants....a regular elephant convention.

o To say that we are roughing it in the bush would be a slight exaggeration. The lodge itself is embarrassingly luxurious (check the link to see photos). We are in platform tents, 20x40 feet, with electricity, running water, hot showers, flush toilets, and even an electric blanket for Richard, which he seems to find necessary because the temperature drops to between 10 and 15 C at night. Alas, there is no mini bar. The food is great, including warthog steaks and mealie-pap. We know a couple of vegetarians who might argue that it's a little uncharitable to photograph the animals by day and eat them at night, but warthogs taste much more agreeable than they look...trust us!

o Our tent overlooks the watering hole, where there is a constant parade of animals. Throughout the night, there is a symphony of sounds from the animals and birds. The politics of the waterhole seems to be much more complicated than is ordinarily appreciated- it is both ruthlessly competitive and cautiously commutarian.

o But for us, the big rush- the ultimate thrill- came in the late afternoon game drive yesterday when we came upon 3 young (4-year old) lioness sisters basking in the sun. We were able to get within 17 feet of them. They weigh about 350 lb and were about 7 feet long, with paws about 8 inches in diameter. They were solid, barrel-chested, and obviously well-fed. When they looked at us imperiously, we worried that we might be on the night's menu, but they had feasted on water buck that morning and luckily, weren't in the mood for a snack. They exuded raw power, elegance, and confidence. This is primordial nature at its best!

o This morning we took a sunrise boatride on the Chobe river. For the first time, we saw crocodiles and huge herds of hippos, along with the mandatory elephants, but this time, instead of destroying the trees in the bush, the elephants were eating water grass and were swimming, splashing, and otherwise enjoying the river. It came as a surprise to us to hear that hippos don't swim. Usually, they try to stay at a depth that allows them to keep their feet on the bottom and their heads above water. If they find themselves over their heads, they walk along the bottom to a more shallow area. Elephants, though, are great swimmers. We watched large herds swim in single file to the island in the centre of the river to enjoy the thick grass that was growing there.

One sight we enjoyed: when the elephants finish swimming, spraying, bathing and drinking in the water, they go through the complicated ritual of getting dirty again. They fling trunks full of sand or mud over themselves, creating a mudpack that dries on their skin and protects them from both the sun and the parasites. Nearly every place we've visited in Africa so far, the grays of the elephants have seemed to differ in shade, but the difference is really due to the colour of the soil they use, which ranges from almost white to a vivid deep red.

o Tomorrow morning we take a small plane to Gunn's Camp in the Okavango Delta for 3 days. It's unlikely that there'll be internet access...and Richard is worried that there may not be electric blankets, either. This will REALLY be roughing it!

Out of Africa- The reality on the ground- 5

o We were in Zim at Victoria Falls on September 18 and 19. The falls are awesome- the raw energy and power is beautiful. The mist creates a beautiful rain forest and the view borders on the spiritual.

o We arrived in Zim 2 days after the new power-sharing agreement was negotiated. Many people greeted us by saying, "Welcome to the New Zimbabwe!" [Since our return, 3 different versions of the agreed-upon power sharing agreement have been discarded by Mugabe, and civil peace seems no closer today than it was before our trip.]

o Vic Falls, notwithstanding its beauty, is solely for tourists, but the tourists aren't coming; it's like a ghost town. Even the local casino was empty and we were only one of 3 couples in the magnificent teak hotel dining room, built to accommodate about 200 people.

o In brief, Zim is grim. It puts a new meaning to the term "economic undervelopment". But then, few have really cared about strategies for economic development since the end of the Cold War. Things are so bad here that people are killing elephants for the meat rather than for the tusks, which are worth $10,000-12,000 US each.

o In the old colonial Rhodesia, railway ties were made of teak and farms were lush. Times have changed. Ironically, people in Zambia and Botswana often send their children to elementary school in Vic Falls despite the problems.

o The people are friendly and decent but the level of poverty and beggary are overwhelming and appalling.

o The people who welcomed us to the New Zim are cautiously optimistic. There are good reasons to be sceptical about their optimism. As one person told us, "The only thing we have is hope". Zimbabwe truly is a beautiful country, and we can only hope that the political situation improves soon, and the tourists are able to return to enjoy the area as much as we did.

o After 2 weeks on the road and living out of our suitcases, we are beginning to feel tired of being perpetually on the go! Still we enjoy all we are seeing and have no desire to cut the trip short. Now we are in Botswana, home of Mma Ramotswe and redbush tea, for those who've read the #1 Ladies Detective Agency books. Haven't seen Mma yet, but we enjoy the redbush tea.

Out of Africa- Sex and the Savannah- 4

o 3 days ago, we left the luxurious Kuname Lodge and Game Reserve near Kruger National Park. It was a marvellous experience- see our link to the lodge as well as our comments below. We then returned to Jo'burg for the night and moved on to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Throughout our stays at a number of game lodges, it is easy to focus only on the Big 5, but we've been surprised and impressed by a number of other things:

o Within South Africa, our travels have taken us from the savannah, or bushveld, to the lowveld; that is, going from grassland to land similar to Gatineau Park. At Kuname Lodge, we were facing the Drakenburg Mountain range, with its gray, cobalt blue and red stratified colours. We're both fascinated by the extremely varied and colourful bird life. The birds' colours do not attract predators, because animals' colour perception is different from ours; one can understand how Europeans became enthralled with Africa as a result of its physical beauty.

o The game viewing at Kuname was magnificent, and was only surpassed by the cordiality and hospitality of Linda, Christine and their staff and the fabulous food. And yes, we even stop for "sundowners" (cocktails) during the evening game drives; we have even become accustomed to being woken at 5 AM for the morning game drives.

o IT MUST BE EMPHASIZED THAT THROUGHOUT OUR TRIP, WE GO WITHIN 15-20 FEET OF VIRTUALLY ALL THE ANIMALS, INCLUDING THE BIG 5, EVEN THE LIONS AND CHEETAHS; AND LAST NIGHT, WITHIN 2 METERS OF A BLACK RHINO.

o Without a doubt the most awesome experience at Kuname was coming across a copulating lion couple. We were withing 15 feet of them, but they were otherwise occupied and didn't seem to mind our presence. A female lion in estris will copulate 150 times in a 4-day period. Afterwards, both lions rolled over, panting and satiated....for the moment, at least.
o This male lion is called Zero by the rangers. He is 14 years old, weighs about 400 pounds and is about 6-7 feet long. Nice Kitty..... The rein of an alpha male lion is short- only about 1 year. He is fed and serviced by the females and is thus weakened so that a younger, fitter male can easily take over the pride. But what a way to go! In this photo, we purposely included the vehicle in the picture of Zero to show how close we were able to get. The animals are conditioned to the presence of the vehicles, so as long as everyone remains seated and stays quiet, the animals aren't overly concerned with our presence.

o We also experienced many other firsts with our superlative guide, Rian. We saw our first hippos, crocs, and cheetah. Rian always brought something new and insightful to our game drives.

o One of the highlights at Kuname was on our last morning drive. We walked within 30 feet of a mother cheetah and her 3 cubbies. The mother watched us in a blase, bored manner. The babies were all fluffy....like kittens.

o After we left Kuname, we took the Blyde River Canyon route back to Jo'burg. It is called the Panoramic route for good reason. It is where the Blood and Blyde Rivers meet and the canyon has been carved out by the water to look like modern sculpture. Beautiful!

o After a night in Jo'burg, we flew to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe (Zim) which is an entirely different world. We'll comment more in our next posting.