We received a 5 AM wake-up phone call, and went in for a cup of tea around 5:30. On the way to our ride we saw a Nyala next to one of the camp buildings. Good grief. The fawn colored one is a female, the males are darker and larger. Here's the best photo I got.
By 6 AM we were on the safari Toyota off into the brush. Charlie and I almost didn't wear jackets. Yesterday had been warm, but today was cloudy. In the back of the vehicle the wind and cooler weather made for a jacket-necessary ride. Within 25 meters of the front gate we spotted this giraffe.
We ran across a whole elephant herd broken up into several smaller bands. One group consisted of males. When a male elephant reaches 14 years or so, he gets a little difficult to control. The matriarch of the group then tosses him out. Groups of males from the younger "teen-agers" to older males travel together. Male and female African elephants have horns. Female elephants have boxier shaped heads. The males heads are rounder. I found this difficult to see.
My attempt to catch the male didn't work - but this photo seemed to be OK.
By 6 AM we were on the safari Toyota off into the brush. Charlie and I almost didn't wear jackets. Yesterday had been warm, but today was cloudy. In the back of the vehicle the wind and cooler weather made for a jacket-necessary ride. Within 25 meters of the front gate we spotted this giraffe.
For a while we didn't see much. Then Alec showed us a tree, I believe he called the "lacy tree"? The bark could be ground to a powder and used for a burn salve. Digging a hole into the trunk provided water to drink. If you leave the sap/water it would harden and monkeys loved the taste. The wood itself was denser instead of less dense as it dried. It could burn for very long periods of time, and was used as a stove in the village homes. It was almost destroyed, but has been reclaimed and is now a protected tree species. Alec said the boys in his village would go into the forest for a month when they were 10 years old and live off the land. Given the leopards, snakes, prickly bushes, and all the other dangers out here - you'd have to be brave to go!
Again, as with our other safari ride, not a lot happened for a bit, and then we met up with a female impala herd (no horns) and a herd of Cape buffalo.
The ox-pecker birds were riding along on a lot of the buffalo.
The female buffalo had a space between their horns, but the male horns met together like a football helmet.
This warthog spooked the herd a bit. It ran past and some of the buffalo began to run too.
We stopped by an active termite mound. The dark color at the top meant that the termites were active here and working. If you placed you hand above the mound, near the opening, you could feel heat. The termites keep the mound about 37 ° C. They use vegetation and dung to create a fungus garden inside. When the queen dies (she can live 40 - 50 years), they fly out and a new queen is chosen to begin a new mound. The old mounds are used by mongooses, snakes, spiders, and, when a hole is enlarged, warthogs.
A photo of the spines of an acacia tree.
We drove to a dried out basin, stopped and had a morning tea.
Alec and Gus setting up our mini feast
Charlie by the safari vehicle (a diesel Toyota)
Stephen checking out the vehicle too.
As I mentioned, driving around through the scrub brush was either nothing or spectacular. All the drivers are in communication with one another, so if they spot something good, they can let the rest know. Needless to say, it takes a while to find the creatures.
Part of the reason it's difficult to find the animals in the brush is that, even when huge, they are well concealed. The photo above shows a full grown male elephant hiding in the scrub trees.
We ran across a whole elephant herd broken up into several smaller bands. One group consisted of males. When a male elephant reaches 14 years or so, he gets a little difficult to control. The matriarch of the group then tosses him out. Groups of males from the younger "teen-agers" to older males travel together. Male and female African elephants have horns. Female elephants have boxier shaped heads. The males heads are rounder. I found this difficult to see.
The elephant above had just dumped a trunk-load of sand on her back.
A female group with babies.
These two youngsters were really pushing each other around for fun. One was slightly larger than the other. In the photo above the smaller was knocked off his/her feet.
Some males pushed each other for dominance. The larger elephant to the right really let all the rest know who was boss. They apparently keep growing their entire lives. More elephant facts: They develop 4 sets of teeth throughout their lives. The last set come in when they are about 40. Once that set are worn out they starve. South African elephants live until they are about 65 years old. Namibian elephants live until they are 70 or 75 years old. The Namibian elephants have softer leaves to eat.
Our last herd of impalas was a group of males. Note: horns.
We came back to camp for breakfast. We had hoped to take a bush walk, but couldn't do it. We have today to relax - I can get half my blog done early! More for this evening.
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