Scoring a Big Four Out of “The Big Five”: Etosha National Park Day 10

Lion, Buffalo, Cheetah, Rhino and Leopard.  Collectively known in Africa as the “Big 5”, these are of course, the most sought-after sights to see.   Lion and Buffalo are fairly common, while the Rhino, Cheetah and Leopard are harder to spot.  We were told ahead of time that seeing Rhinos in their natural habitat would be verry difficult, and even more infrequently spotted in the wild are the Leopards and Cheetahs.

Not to be discouraged by this, we decided that we absolutely must do some guided game tours while in Etosha.   We figured we would do lots of driving on our own getting to and out of Etosha park, and would hopefully see some animals that way, but really counted on a tourguide to show us around and really know where these Big 5 hide during the day.

Sunrise and giraffes=great combination

So first thing in the morning on our second day at Etosha, we got up crazy early to meet the game truck at 6am for the “morning drive.”  Since the sun doesn’t even rise in this area of Africa until about 7am, we were driving in the dark for a good hour, hoping to catch a glimpse of something creeping about for an early breakfast.  After a while we spotted some wildebeest, and soon after that we saw some hyena.  Hyena aren’t as easily spotted as one might think, so it was pretty cool to see them.

Our morning greeted by this hyena

The drive continued on, and it was really chilly so Matt and I cuddled as close together to stay warm.  It was a relatively boring drive for a while, until Ron spotted a rhino in the distance.  That started to wake us up a bit!  Shortly thereafter we drove on, and we saw in the distance a group of hyena and vultures crowding around the plains.  That could only mean one thing: a feeding.  Sure enough, with our binoculars we could see that they were in fact feasting on a zebra carcass.  As we were peering through the binoculars, both Ron and I happened to see about 100 meters away a small mound that was absolutely NOT a bush.  After a closer drive to the mound, we discovered it was 3 lions, laying around after eating their meal of a zebra.  (We learned that there is a problem with anthrax and zebra fatalities in the area, so I’m not sure if these were as a result of that or if these were kills.  I’m assuming it is the former.)  Mesmerized, we stared into our binoculars for what seemed to be hours watching the 2 lionesses and lion sitting in a gluttonous food stupor, taking in the sun.  My gosh are they beautiful animals!

Up until this point, we had done a few game drives and had not seen lions and I have to admit that I was starting to get a little uneasy that we wouldn’t see any during our travels.  And while this was indeed a lion viewing, I still had hope that maybe, just maybe, we could see some a little more up close.  I had visions of seeing lions lying by the road under a tree, taking a little mid-afternoon siesta in the heat of the day, or seeing a couple run out in front of the truck as it chased down its prey.  Pretty tall order, I know, but hey, This is Africa, right?

Cheetah with her cub

Anyway, satisfied that I had at least seen that lions do actually exist in the park, we continued on a bit, and what do you suppose we stumbled upon about 5 minutes later?  A female cheetah and her 4 cubs.  Just walking out in the middle of the day, completely oblivious to the 3 cars that were crowding around her desperate to get a photo.  And keep in mind that cheetah sightings are rare; most times this is the one animal people don’t get to see on safari.  I have to admit, I was pretty stoked about this one.

The drive continued on, and we saw more zebra and springbok and wildebeest than one should ever have to see in their lifetime, and spotted a few more giraffes and some gorgeous African birds.  But to be perfectly honest, we were thrilled with what we had seen and was happy to call it a game. 

Rhino at the Watering Hole

So we headed back to the camp, had a mid-morning breakfast, followed by a nap on a cool cement table not far from our campsite (the tents absorb as much heat as they possibly can so napping in them once the sun comes up is pretty much impossible.  So we went for the next best thing: a cool cement table in the large group area of the campsite.  Aside from the firmness of the cement, it wasn’t all that bad!!).  We had several hours before our next guided game drive at 8pm, so we spent some time relaxing by the pool and headed down once again to the watering hole.  This time Matt and I arrived as an elephant was leaving and a rhino was coming in.  The rhino spent probably at least an hour drinking and bathing in the hole.  It was absolutely incredible.  So far, 3 of the Big 5 seen in one day.  Awesome.

By 8’o clock we were pretty beat from our early day but gathered our energy and headed back to the truck for our 3 hour night drive.  We were greeted by our tour guide, Rambo, and we let him know we had very low expectations; we only wanted to see leopards during this drive.  He just laughed and said he’d do his best.

Selfie at the Watering Hole

The drive started out pretty much like the morning drive; boring and not a lot to see.  Since it’s night, we are at the mercy of the driver’s flashlight swinging to and from as he looks for reflections in eyes.  This actually makes it harder to spot things as you don’t have your own light to spot things, thereby adding 7 extra pairs of eyes looking out for animals.  Instead, we’re at the mercy of our guide to use his night-vision expertise to see what’s going on out there.  At first we only saw a few rabbits and steen bok, (small deer), so it was easy to get lulled to sleep.  Then he took us to a watering hole and as were looking out over the water, we saw another (!) rhino.  As we were looking at him, our guide Rambo was looking to his left, and very interested in something over there.  He took out his light, which had a red cover over it that helps to not blind the animals as we look for them, and removed the cap so it was a flooded bright white light.  He continued to sweep the area and finally told us, “there’s a leopard out there.”

Leopard walking right by our truck

HUH???!!!??  THAT woke us up a bit.  Excited about watching the slight movements of the shaded creature, Rambo watched his direction and slowly drove to the area toward where the cat was walking.  After about 15 minutes, we saw him creep out of the bush, about 25 feet away from us.  And by some miracle, he walked right next to the truck, and around the other side.  Very slowly, very deliberately, and very uninterested in us.  It’s almost as if he was letting us get a good look at him, for he did not care in the least that we were there.  Rambo told us that the difference between leopards and lions is, a leopard will spot you, look at you for a moment, but then walk away without giving you a second glance.  Whereas the lion will walk away but continue to turn around and watch your movements.  And this leopard did just that, he never once turned to look at us again.

It was an amazingly surreal experience, watching this guy walk right next to us.  And he walked in utter silence, as we watched in utter silence.  It’s almost as if you put the tv on mute and watched a scene out of National Geographic.  I took photos but of course, with the darkness and the red spotlight on him, you never can do justice of the shot.

Okay, now THIS has been an incredible day.  We’ve seen 4 of the Big 5.  In one day.  Most people spend 10 days-2 weeks in a safari resort and if they’re lucky see 3 of the Big 5.  They might witness a little more action of the animals, but it’s truly luck of the draw.  We were feeling pretty stoked about our sighting.

And we still had about an hour and a half left to go!  We were all feeling like we could call it a very successful day of game viewing and head back to camp, but there were 3 other people in the truck and I’m pretty sure they wanted to get their money’s worth (‘cause they weren’t on our truck this morning so most likely this was the coolest thing they’ve seen).  So we ventured on, relying on Rambo’s light and eyes to see what was out there.  And low and behold, another leopard.

Leopard #2

Seriously, now we’re just getting spoiled!  This time, he was sitting in the bush as about 4 jackals and 1 hyena were feasting on something.  Apparently he was biding his time.  And like the last leopard, completely oblivious and uninterested in our presence.  He sat for a while, watching the feasting take place, and slowly he got up and walked a little closer, and sat down, biding his time.  It was so amazingly similar to the movements of a housecat, watching him walk around, sit down and take in the view.  He almost seemed cuddly.  Of course, I wasn’t about to walk out of the truck to find out!

Okay, so two leopards, a cheetah, 3 lions, 3 rhinos and elephants.  All in one day.  Oh my gosh.  So stunning. 

Our drive continued on for another 45 minutes or so, and by now we are all fighting to stay awake.  But it’s a good thing we did because we came upon on group of elephants crossing the street.  As we pulled up they were eating leaves to the left of us, and slowly they started to make their way across the street.  Rambo told us that elephants typically walk together in groups; if you see only a few together it’s usually because they have a little one with them that is slower, and so they slow down for him.  As he was telling us this, we indeed did see a mother with her baby, only about 3-4 months.  This guy was absolutely adorable.  I mean, we’re talking Dumbo cute!

As the mother and baby and a few others made their way across the street, we all of a sudden heard what sounded like a growl from the mother.  Rambo told us that this is her stomach grumbling, and other animals can hear this from about ½ mile away.  Remember that the next time your stomach growls in the company meeting!

Anyway, the elephants have made their way across the road by now, but one younger-ish elephant still remained, chewing on his grass.  We learned that elephants’ eyes are very poor, but their hearing and sense of smell are very strong so even though they couldn’t see us, they knew exactly where we were.  And this guy was literally about 8 feet directly to the left of me.  So I looked at him and said, “you’d better get going little guy, the rest of the group is leaving you!”  And, I promise you, he snorted, threw the grass he was holding in his trunk onto the ground, and made for across the road.  As if he was having a temper tantrum that I suggested he hurry.  It was so funny.

Slowly we made our way back to the campsite, and in good luck as by now, we’ve seen just about all we can see in one day.  We thanked Rambo for his awesome job and made our way back to our camp, so thrilled about our sightings and chatting excitedly about the leopards. 

So now, it’s time for BED. 

But maybe…yeah, maybe just one more walk down to the watering hole to see what’s going on.

And wouldn’t you know it, the exact same elephant that had his temper tantrum with me was making his way into the watering hole.

Full.  Circle.

(By the way, in case you were wondering, buffalo are not in Etosha National Park.  They prefer to be closer to water, so they migrate closer to the Caprivi Strip in Namibia.  Which is where we were when we saw several a few days before.  So technically, we scored a big fat 5 out of 5.  But I thought I'd be fair and not take claim to see a buffalo on the same day we saw the other big 5.  But any way you slice it, we saw them ALL.  Yay. Us.)

Etosha National Park: Namibia Day 9

 Wow.  I’m a camping PRO now.  Look at me, heading into a National Park and camping like I know what I’m doing.  And even more startling; I LIKE it. 

We’re headed into Etosha National Park, the largest national park in Namibia.  Obviously in a national park you do…outdoorsy things.  And when that national park is in the middle of an African country, you obviously do outdoorsy things like…watch for game and drive around the park.  Of course, you must know that this park is ENORMOUS.  Approximately 1200 square miles.  And in the middle of the park is an enormous saltpan, where when it does rain, it fills up with water for a few months.  The rest of the year the water is depleted and all that is left is salt in huge sheets.  It’s pretty cool.

So anyway, back to the camping ground.  After 3 nights of absolute spoilage, we have now been brought back to reality to camping.  Hilali Park in Etosha, where we were staying is

Our campsite at Hilali Campgrounds

a very big, open public place (no private shower for Melly this time!) with lots and lots and lots of other people who are doing the same thing we are…camping.  And there are lots of tour buses with lots and lots and lots of people that are surrounding us and so therefore, the silence has been a wee bit destroyed here.

But no mind, we’re here to look for wildlife!  So let’s go!

The Watering Hole at sunset

First place: the watering hole located just outside the campsite.  The national park fills the hole on a regular basis so animals have a place to go, and people have some wildlife to watch.  This hole is amazing.   It’s very quite and tranquil, and it’s required that you are silent as you view the hole so as not to scare the animals.  The first time we went we didn’t see anything more than birds and mosquitos drinking the water, but the sunset was INCREDIBLE.  I must have taken about 40 photos, trying to get that perfect shot that could capture the essence…probably didn’t get it but the effort was there!

Our first evening in Etosha was pretty chill: Matt cooked chili and we sat around the campfire, relaxing and enjoying the night.  We did have a few surprise visitors though; honey badgers!  Evidently they really like the leftovers found in the garbage cans and quite frankly aren’t shy about their excursions.  Anya was thrilled; she LOVES the honey badger.  She was on a mission to capture a photo of our furry friends scavenging the campsite and finally on our last night, she succeeded.  They are cute, if not a little cuddly.  Of course, I wouldn’t want to get too close to one on a bad day…

 

Shortly before bed on the first night, we decided to venture back out to the watering hole to see if any animals were taking in water.  We were rewarded with 3 elephants draining the watering hole!  At night the hole is equipped with two flood lights so we can watch the action at all hours of the day.  Slowly, one by one the elephants had their fill and slowly moved out of the hole, save one.  This guy continued to drink, and drink, and drink.  He’d slowly fill up his trunk, and then cock it up and fill his mouth.  Then he’d stop, pause, think things over for a minute, as if debating whether or not he’s had his fill, then evidently decide he has not and begin again.  This must have gone on for at least an hour, which by that point we had to get some sleep as we were getting up very early the next morning.  But from the looks of things, this guy was going to be a while. 

I just hope he doesn’t drain the hole completely!!

A Tale of 2 Dogs, An Otter and a Goat

 

Oudju, the fierce Jack Russel

Our 3^rd night in Namibia took us to a campsite called Shamvura, which means “the place which rain can be seen” and is located off the Okavango River, just west of the Namibian panhandle right on the southern border of Angola. It’s a very sleepy, quiet area, with no big wildlife to speak of except for birds, hippos and crocodiles.  But this was a good way to break up our drive of roughly 600 miles between Kwando and Etosha National Park.  And so, we arrived to a very old-fashioned cabin area called Shamvura and was immediately greeted by a Jack Russell named Oudju, who didn’t take too kindly to us parking on her territory.  Her owner, Charlie, greeted us shortly thereafter and assured us Oudju was harmless.  She showed us around, surprising us with the news that since their campsite area was double booked, we were being upgraded to a cabin with a kitchenette and 2 bedrooms!  Yay!!

Tunsie, the Weimaraner

We could tell this place was going to be verrrry different from the last areas we'd stayed, especially as we were signing in she apologized for her registration form not being available as it had recently been eaten by a goat.   We walked around a little bit to orientate ourselves, and soon met their Weimaraner, Tunsie.  Charlie showed us their dining room/sitting room area, where we were promptly greeted through the window by Bokkie Spit Braai, an 8 year old goat that evidently was given to Charlie and her husband Mark some time ago as a “Christmas dinner” but they didn’t have the heart to make him their meal. And Bokkie was only too happy to have us pet him...like a dog.   

And strange as this might sound, it seemed perfectly normal: surrounding the gorgeous lake was this property and its inhabitants that happened to include some chickens, dogs, a cat and a goat.  Oh, and a month-old Clawless Water Otter.  

The sweet Clawless Water Otter

Yep, Charlie and her husband find themselves fostering from time to time Clawless Water Otters who've been abandoned or orphaned by their mother.  They tend to take care of them for up to 7 or 8 years until the otter decides to venture back out into the wild.  The current one they have (whom none of us can remember her name, I'm sad to say!!) is such a sweet, young, baby-like little creature.  When she wakes up and is trying to go back to sleep, she makes the sweetest grunting noise in the back of her throat, all the while rubbing her butt from side to side as if to get comfortable.  And her fingers!  Her fingers are like human fingers: she has opposable thumbs and 4 human-looking fingers that grab around your fingers as she gently and playfully gnaws on your hand.  And when she's ready for sleepy time, she curls up into a little ball, puts her hands around her face and sighs peacefully.

Amazingly awesome.

 

Hippo sighting on our sunset cruise

Just another gorgeous sunset

This was by far the most entertaining evening we’ve had yet.  After a leisurely afternoon laying in our comfortable cabin, we went for a sunset cruise on the Okavango River to look for hippos and crocodiles.  It was so beautiful and once again, tranquil and peaceful.  Once the sun had set we made our way back to the cabin for a quick cleanup and cocktail, and headed into the main room/dining room for dinner.  We had signed on for a sit-down dinner, which was cooked and served by Charlie and Mark.  We found ourselves sitting outside in front of the campfire, sipping wine and chatting with another camp guest, while the goat, Bokkie Spit Braai, quietly sat next to you, waiting to be petted.

This goat was so funny.  He acted like a dog, needing attention from anyone who would give it to him.  He actually wanted to be petted like a dog.  And once you started, you were committed to petting him forever.  But if you bothered him, he would go into serious aggressive goat attitude-he even tried to horn me earlier in the day!  Luckily for me, he didn't do it quickly or violently, but rather clumsily and not seemingly very interested in physically hurting me, so I was able to unhook myself away from him.  The rest of the time he was the perfect gentleman.  A goat.  Being the perfect gentleman.  In a house.  

Strange as it sounds, it was so...fitting.

Matt with his new best friend...

The main sitting room (Bokkie's Chair is the one on the left)

Dinner was even more entertaining.  We had what we’ve been told (and so far, in our experience, is the truth), traditional South African food: meat (game, in this case: some sort of bok or “buck” in English) and Boerwoerse (Bratwurst), cooked over the campfire, potatoes or rice and nshimi, which is like grits, but waaay firmer and more flavorful (remember the ads on tv about feeding the Ethiopian kids and you saw them eating something white?  That’s nshimi) and salad greens.  The food was absolutely delicious.  None of us had a problem with devouring our plates.  But the animals, 2 dogs, a clawless water otter and a goat, who obviously learned a thing or two about the deliciousness of human food, would not leave us alone.  The goat was told to “go sit in his chair” (which he did, haphazardly), the dogs were told to get out of the room (which they did, sheepishly), and the otter, well, the otter just got to sit under our feet and make her sweet whimpering noise.  You can tell who runs the pants in THAT family. :)

The kitchen/dining room

After we finished our dinner, the animals were allowed to help “cleanup”: the dogs got the bones, the goat got the scraps, and the otter got cuddles from us.  I’m the biggest animal lover I know, and even this awed me to silence that so many different animals could coexist together in such a small area without issue.  And watching Charlie and Mark handle these animals like you would children made it even more entertaining.  Because the animals listened to them.

Of course, we couldn’t be finished for the night with just these 2 dogs, otter and goat.  Sure enough, at one point Mark either heard or spotted an owl in the trees, to which we all eagerly went out to stare at while he shined a huge bright light in his eyes (the owl remained unphased by this), and at the end of dinner, we met the cat, Weatherby, named so after the gun.  Again an animal not meant to stick around Shamvura as Mark clearly informed us he is not a cat person, Weatherby found his way into Mark's heart as Mark was about to, er, um, well, let's just say make Weatherby disappear when he first entered the area as a wee kitten (Mark and Charlie can't have strays running around as there are so many that are rabid or otherwise diseased, so Mark has to shoot them if they come to their property).  But this little kitten looked into Mark's eyes and started to purr and love on him, and well, Mark just couldn't go through with it.  Instead, he sat the cat on the table and had a very stern talk with him that if Weatherby ever, ever, killed a bird, he would be fish food (Mark's first passion is bird watching).  If he behaved himself, he would always be welcome at Shamvura.  And so, he was named Weatherby to remind him of his responsibility in the house (as every person or animal has a job to do, Mark tells me).  The cat has lived there for 3 years.  And so far, he's kept up his half of the bargain.

By this point I’ve about gone into animal overload and I just can’t help myself in giving love and cuddles to each animal I come across.  Tunsie was for sure all about the affection, as was Bokkie, and even the otter liked getting petted and let me hold her.  But we finally managed to pull ourselves away for the night as we had a verrry early start the next morning to Etosha National Park-some 400 miles away from us.  So we said goodnight to Tunsie, Oudju, Bokkie, the otter and Weatherby.  Oh, and then we said goodnight to Mark and Charlie.  :)

As far as memorable nights go in our travels across Africa, I am positive this evening will stay fresh in our minds for a long time.  I mean, seriously, when was the last time YOU had dinner with a water otter and a goat?

Bokkie doing the post dinner cleanup!

Namibia-Days 6 and 7

 I’m sure if you know me it will not come as a shock to you that I’m not what you would call a camper.  Sleeping in a tent, on the ground, outside, where I have get up and put shoes on to walk to a toilet (or bush) in the middle of the night is just not my favorite thing.  So when we originally started planning this trip, and the talk of camping came up, I had to have a hard stern talk with myself.  I had to accept that, while I was going on a trip of a lifetime, I was also going to have to put my Big Girl pants on and deal with the fact that I wouldn’t necessarily be sleeping in areas that have walls and indoor plumbing. 

Even after this talk with myself, I still slightly dreaded the time we would actually camp.  But I figured, hey, this is an adventurous trip, right?  So let’s go for it!

To be fair, our “camping” is not as hardcore as I remember it was when I was a kid.  In fact, a lot of camping these days is waaaay more luxurious than I ever knew.  Our tents are located on top of our Toyota Hilux 4x4.  And the tents actually have a padded mattress so it’s more cushioned.  And, they’re actually pretty spacious!  I mean, it’s no king-size bed, but Matt and I can sleep pretty comfortably without squishing ourselves.

Kwando Camp

So we headed out of Zambia on Friday the 5^th of September and headed into Namibia.  Our first stop was in the Caprivi Strip of the country (located in the panhandle) in an area called Mudumu Park.  Our camp location was called Kwando Camp, named after the Kwando River in the area (I know, original right?).  And this place was quite the fancy campsite!

Shower and Toilets in our Campsite

Our “exclusive” campsite included a campfire setting, a utility sink and counter, and 2 brick shelves in which to put firewood or other outdoor equipment on, and a private shower area and a private toilet area.

Now THIS is my kind of camping!

We arrived around 2pm, which gave us a while to walk around and explore the area.  The setting was absolutely gorgeous; located just off the Kwando River, it was a slow running river with tall marshy grass on either side.  Exactly how I imagined an African river should be. 

Kwando River

We spent the rest of the day lounging, reading, snoozing, etc., and close to sundown we headed to the lobby/bar area where they had a circular porch extending out toward the river.  We took our drinks over to the area and snapped pictures of the gorgeous sunset (I’m telling you, African sunsets are AMAZING) while enjoying the company and cool air.  After a while we made our way back to the campsite, where the boys cooked up some pork chops and veggies and us girls took turns spoiling ourselves in the gloriously HOT shower (they use a wood-fired incinerator, which Ron and Anya call a “donkey” to heat the water.  It definitely did the trick!).  I think it’s safe to say it was the best shower I’ve had since arriving into Africa.

Patio overlooking the Kwando River

The next morning, we woke up bright and early (okay, maybe I wasn’t so bright but you catch my drift) to go out on our first official game drive of the trip.  The Caprivi Strip is in an area where several rivers flow into each other, which means the kind of game you see here isn’t necessarily what you would see elsewhere (ie the kinds of African places you see on the Discovery channel).  We did see quite a few buffalo, some hippos, TONS of various antelope and deer (Impala, Kudu, Oryx, etc), baboons, warthogs, wildebeest, and tons of beautiful birds.  Sadly, no cats were in the viewing, but I suppose we just can’t always have it all.

African Buffalo

After our viewing we made our way back to camp, where Ron, Anya and I slept the afternoon away and Matt downloaded photos and relaxed.  We spent the evening, once again, sitting around the campfire and enjoying the silence.  I mean, you’ve never heard silence like you do in the wild.  It’s almost as if the oxygen has been removed and you’re in a padded room it is so still.  The occasional bird makes its noise, but even that isn’t intrusive.  It is so amazingly peaceful. 

While we were enjoying the sounds of silence and nature, we noticed a rustle in the tree above us.  Anya flashed the light upwards, and we caught sight of a bush baby!!  A bush baby is Africa’s smallest primates, and rarely ever seen as they are nocturnal and very shy.  But with a little luck we caught a glimpse of this cutie patootie, and began attempting to “follow” it with our light as he jumped to and fro trying to get away from us.  After a while we gave up, but then soon thereafter, we felt the tree shake again and sure enough, he was back!  This time, we used our black light so it wouldn’t scare this guy so much, and that did the trick!  It turned out there were two bush babies in the tree!  And in spite of how skittish he/they seemed earlier, they seemed to be as curious about us as we were about them.  The would scamper up the tree, then come back down a bit to look at us.  And they were so tiny.  You could easily fit one in the palm of your hand.

African Warthog

Looking at the bush babies that night was some of the best “nature’s television” I’d seen in a long time.  The only thing that could interrupt my interest in watching these little guys was the call for Africa’s Greatest Shower.  Since we were leaving the next morning, I knew I had to get one last awesome shower in since we had no idea what lay in store for us at the next place. 

But admittedly, shower notwithstanding, Kwando Camp was an awesome campsite; situated so beautifully off the river and with such clean and well-kept accommodations, not to mention the peace and tranquility of our surroundings, we were definitely satisfied with our first stop in Namibia.  It made the transition of my first camping experience in 20 some-odd years very easy.

Zambia: Day 5 Game Walk and A Lesson in Dung

Elephant dung, surprisingly, has medicinal purposes!

Did you know:

Elephant dung serves multiple purposes for humans: when burned in a fire, the fumes are a fantastic natural mosquito repellant; you can cook it down in liquid and drink it should you be suffering from a severe cold and flu; and if you set the dung on fire and sniff the smoke it will cure a bloody nose?

We learned this, and many more facts about wildlife behavior, and their feces.

Our Nature expert and the Military Official, with a machine gun

On our last day in Zambia, we participated in a game tour and rhino walk.  We had heard that a “must do” while in Livingstone was to walk with the rhinos.  A brief lesson in current affairs: rhinos are being ruthlessly hunted in Africa for their horns.  And so, many national parks in the continent are taking action and gating up their parks so to preserve this species from becoming extinct.  And so as a result of their dwindling numbers, rhinos aren’t often spotted in the wildlife.  So this was a perfect way to see a few while in the area, as we were led by a nature expert and a military officer (who carried a machine gun no less) through the park.

So anyway, as there are no guarantees on what wildlife we will see (except for the rhinos as the personnel usually have a pretty good idea on where they migrate), the nature expert took it upon himself to show us a few pieces of evidence of wildlife behavior.  As with most sciences, a lot is learned from studying animal dung.  And so…

-Elephant poachers look for female dung that also indicates if they are in heat (ie blood in the stool) and will rub it all over them to attract the attention of male elephants so they can capture them.

-Young zebras will eat their mother’s feces to build up enough bacteria in their system that they do not develop during pregnancy.

-Rhinos, like dogs, will do the “whole gamut” of their bathroom business in one setting so as to “mark their territory”, while elephants typically spread it out over the course of a few hundred feet.

But we learned a few other facts of wildlife that weren’t necessarily dung-related as well.  Those are:

-There is a species of ants called Lion Ants.  They dig their hole in the dirt so that it looks conical with a hole in the middle.  When other insects come to investigate the hole, bits of sand alert the ant below that something is disturbing their habitat, and so they shoot bits of sand out to stun the insect and thus drop it into the hole, where the ant will never actually  eat the insect, but rather will simply suck out the fluid. 

-Another ant, living in Africa and are as big as half of my pinkie finger, will take termite eggs from the nest, and when the termites are born they become the ants’ slaves for life.

-There is a particular type of tree (a Mopane tree) that, when elephants start to eat the bark, they form a chemical up through the bark that will makes the flavor of the tree taste bad for the elephant.  And it doesn’t end there; all of these trees are connected through the roots and will communicate to the other Mopane trees in the area to guard themselves so elephants will not eat them.

(Incidentally, the Mopane tree also has a caterpillar that lives on the tree that is a delicacy in Africa.  But that’s for another blog.)

-Elephants go through approximately 7 sets of teeth throughout their whole life.  If you look at trees and their branches and bark, you can (or at least, an elephant expert can) decipher an estimate of the elephant’s age by seeing how ragged the branches are.  A young elephant will thrash through the bark and branches with abandon, while the older (and much wiser) elephant, who has gone through 5 or 6 sets of teeth, will eat the bark more gingerly and therefore leave less of a trace of his presence.  Once the elephant loses its last set of teeth, it will eventually starve and die.  In the wild, elephants usually have a lifespan of 60 years or so.  In a zoo, where they are fed softer foods, can live up to 75!

So there you go.  Today’s trivia for you to impress your friends.  And don’t forget, the next time the winter’s flu takes a nasty hold of you, head to your nearest pharmacist and ask for the elephant dung…I’m sure they have some in stock.

Zambia: Day 4…a day to relax

I think it’s safe to say that after a big day of white water rafting, we were all ready for a little relaxing on Thursday.  So we slowly got up in the morning, had breakfast, and then went to do various things (me work on my blog, Ron and Matt rummage around the truck, Anya doing some cleaning).  And then, we decided to go bungee jumping.

Just another simple relaxing day…

Okay, I can’t lie.  Anya and I had NO desire to bungee, but the boys did.  So we once again walked back across the Zambia/Zimbabwe border to the old bridge where they do the bungee jump.  111 meter jump.  Over the Zambezi river.

There is no WAY you could get me to do that.  But Matt really wanted to, and Ron, although afraid of heights, felt the challenge compelling him, so off they went.

I’m not sure if you have ever been in the presence of a loved one strapped to a nylon strap and tied down to a bungee, getting ready to jump off of a bridge but let me tell you, it gets your heart stopping.  Nevertheless, ever the cheerleader am I, I stood there and watched as my husband swan-dived into the air. 

And then I heard him shrieking at the bottom with exhilaration and I knew that he loved it.  Whew! I can breathe a little better now!!

Okay, one down.  Next up, Ron.

Poor guy.  He looked pale and as though he were on his death march.  Anya kept trying to get him to look up at her for a photo and the look on his face simply said, “leave me ALONE.”  I honestly wondered if he would go through with it.  My stomach was in knots for him.  But as the guys strapping him up counted down, off he went.  He did it!

Once the boys were un-strapped from their bungees and had a beer in their bellies, I took on the challenge of the wire slide.  Simply put, you’re strapped to a harness and slide on a cable across the Zambezi River, at about the same height you jump off the bridge for bungee.  That was just plain fun.  Not scary or adrenaline-pumping, but just a fun ride across the sky.

Okay, cool.  We’ve accomplished some daredevil activities for the day.  I think we can slow things down a bit.

Now time for our helicopter ride!!

We arranged for a 30 minute helicopter ride for the afternoon to see the falls and the topography of the land.  We had been told this was definitely something we should do while in Zambia.  It was incredible.  We flew around the falls, and then the pilot took us through the gorge, the same gorge we rafted the day before.  We saw 4 of the rapids we rode through, although this time it was a much different perspective. 

Elephants grazing on "Elephant Island"

We also saw a few elephants and some hippos as we flew over the landscape!  It was so neat to see these guys from above.  It seemed so peaceful and simplistic.

Flying over Rapids 7

A view of Victoria Falls from above

Yep, so for a relaxing and chill “low key” day, I’d say we did pretty well.