Oh boy! Oh Boy! Roarrrrr! WITH PHOTOS

 Sunday, September 18, 2022

Up before dawn for a continental breakfast, a boat ride across the river, and a morning game drive into the national forest!  Stan is our guide this morning and he's as amazing as all the others!  All that training and education sure shows in the knowledge;  but you have to be born with this personality!! We see birds and trees and mammals, with a stop every time someone (usually Stanley!) spots something of interest.

Let me cut to the chase and we'll go back and pick up some of the other stuff later.  We saw a pride of FIVE lions relaxing on a small hill!  There were two young males hanging out together and three young lionesses arrayed around them!  They are relaxing in the morning warmth, in the shade of some trees, and couldn't have cared less about us.  Of course we were as quiet as possible and tried to be inconspicuous but, still, we were glad they weren't hungry!  At first they were almost impossible to spot, their fur is the same color as their surroundings and you really only notice them when someone flicks an ear or gets bored with its position! What a thrill!

Coming down from that high, let me mention that we saw a waterbok crossing the road, and elephants hidden in the trees, and two baboons in a tree and then crossing the bush. And mahogany trees and acacia trees with "horns" all over the trunk, and cassia trees which are used to treat fevers, and more bush willows, and morning glories and a couple of baobabs, from which comes cream of tartar and which was selected Zimbabwe's tree of the year for 2021, and the amarula tree, the winter sun tree (with seed pods that could be used as maracas, and rain trees.  They are interesting because the spittlebug nibbles on them, extracts the nutrients it needs, and excretes the remainder of the fluid in the form of "rain" which falls on the ground beneath the tree!  Hence the name! And the birds!! We saw the white-crested helmet shrike, Vereaux Giant Eagle Owl, the kurrichane thrush, a brown snake eagle, a wax wing, and more! And an elephant root bush, from which the locals take the root, dry it, grind it, and add it to a beverage as a digestive aid. And morning glories!

Eventually we pull into the shade of a Winter Sun tree and find our other cohorts getting ready for our midmorning snack!  Choco-Amarula is the special of the morning - fresh coffee with cream and amarula, although there other beverages (I didn't pay attention to what they were!) and there are chocolate muffins and poppyseed muffins, and GF muffins for those who need them.  These people (like everyone we've encountered on this trip) go above and beyond to make everyone happy and comfortable.  They provide ponchos for those who feel chilly in the morning on our amusement park ride (oops, I mean our 4x4), pay close attention to everyone's dietary needs, always have delicious and varied menus. And there must be a special personality screening because each and every staff member has a huge, welcoming smile, a ready laugh, and makes you feel so special that you might be the only person on the trip!

After our "snack" (we actually have six meals a day!) we take off again to see what we can see, including our island and the rapids from last night. We arrive back at the boat "dock" and board for the return trip to the island for brunch.  Did I mention that we're the only people on the island, which is one and a half kilometers long, by four hundred meters wide - unless an elephant has crossed the river to join us!  In that case you have to be escorted to and from your tent!  Also, there's a protocol for such emergencies.  Every tent has an air horn.  If you hear the horn, stay in your tent and turn off all your lights.  The tent with the emergency flashes their lights on and off, so they are easy to spot! So far our only emergency has been Marilyn's spider!

We gather at the fire pit at 11:30 so Sisa can explain the afternoon.  We have free time after lunch (which I'm using to do this entry!) and at 3:30 we have a lecture on elephants.  Then we will split into four groups: one group will take a river cruise, one will go fishing for tiger fish, one will take another game drive (that would be me!  who knows?  We might see our lions again for, maybe, a leopard!) or you can stay home and rest.

Now it's time for brunch because we can't go more than a couple of hours without being fed!  I feel like Hansel or Gretel and wonder where the oven is!! We place our orders and quickly join the line where our orders are plated and we can add salad or cheese (blue cheese and hmmm, its not brie but similar - maybe I'll think of it) pickles,  pineapple chutney and onion chutney. and freshly baked seed bread and mangos and grapes.  My order was eggs over medium and beans.  We waddle away from the table once Sisa has a count of everyone's four o'clock activity.  (More photos when my computer has more power!!  There's always something - the only power here where the wifi is, requires that funky South African plug that no one uses anywhere else in the world!!)

Elephant Root

White Headed Vulture

Baboons

Ground Hornbill

These are the boys;  they are too young to have their manes yet.

Puzzle pic!  What do you see?

Waterbuck

Damage done by elephants, and the healed scar.

dove

PART TWO!

Back again!  It's night time and I need to bring you up to date!  At 3:30 we joined Sisa for a lecture on elephants!  But first there is afternoon tea!!  There's a choice of quinoa salad  and/or banana muffins with chocolate frosting! OMG 

There's so much more to know about elephants than I ever thought possible!  Interesing tidbis that stuck with me include the fact that the herd we think of us actually a matriarchal society.  The oldest cow is in charge and only young males remain with the females.  Once they are two or two and a half they are kicked out and often join a group of bachelors.  She also carries the "institutional" knowledge and passes it on to the next generation.  When a male is aroused he secretes a thick green goo and leaves a scent trail.  The matriarch says which cow may go with him.  They find a secluded place for their rendezvous!  Who know?  The males have internal testes so you wouldn't know they are males unless they are aroused.  And swimming arouses them, giving them a fifth leg! They are important for the environment, as their rooting around for, er, roots, creates depressions that hold water when the rainy season begins. And there was a lot more!

After the lecture we all disperse to our afternoon activities.  Marilyn and I are the only ones who chose another game drive!  (Some people are crazy!)  It starts off easily enough, with more birds and baboons and as I'm thinking this is a pleasant drive and maybe nothing more, suddenly there is a giraffe! We drive a little closer and he doesn't move.  It feels like we could reach out and touch him!! When he finally ambles off we drive a bit further and, oh my god, there's another one that crosses right in front of our car and stops on the other side of the road, completely oblivious to our presence! And, again, he stays for a portrait session!  Life doesn't get much better than this!

He finally moves off and the sun is sinking in the west.  Fittingly enough there are three vultures in a tree! Next we find the leopard orchid again, named for the black spots on the blooms. It's time for our sundowner by the river.  There are a couple of hippos that elude us, but our guide assures us that there will be plenty of them tomorrow, we we forget about them and have a glass of Amarula before heading for home.  Along the way we see (well, almost can see) several cape buffalo, a couple of impala, and ANOTHER GIRAFFE!!!

Hold on - I'm going to try to import all the photos at once so that the nice man who is waiting to escort me to my tent can go home!!

path to cabin 5

gathered at the fire pit for our lecture on elephants

local fishmen

the women with small breasts stick themselves with the sharp protruberances!

in the dark!

sundowner snacks!

Back to the boat and Sisa greets us at the steps.  As you might imagine we are the last ones home!  It's almost time for dinner;  but first we have to share our experiences because we're fairly floating off the floor and people are a little worried about our sanity!

Dinner is, would you believe, amazing!  Again!  There's a caramelized pear salad and then braised beef in tomato sauce with mustard mashed potatoes and broccoli and green beans, and an Amarula cheesecake for dessert!!

Sisa explains the plan for tomorrow and tells us about Botswana, where we will spend the day in the Chobe National Park.  Botswana is the country, Batswana is the people and Setswana is the language! The country's economy counts on beef, tourism, and diamonds (think DeBeers) and they are doing remarkably well - free education and health care, plenty to eat.  Tomorrow we will leave at 6:30, passports and vacine cards at the ready, to cross the border!  Presently I'll be heading to bed, but I"m hoping to get more photos loaded before either the computer or I give out!!