Walking in Giants' Footprints

I have an ongoing fascination with elephant footprints - crinkly, wrinkly ovals in the soft sand, replicating the contours of their foot soles.

Last time I wrote about this, there was no scale to show the size of the prints, and people were curious, so I've been needing another photo opportunity...

A couple of weeks ago en route to one of the weddings, we overnighted at Elephant Sands Lodge, near Nata.

Footprint maker...

Elephant visiting our favourite waterhole (last seen here) for a reflective late evening drink.

The elephants covered the vehicle tracks overnight....

Even though the sand was icy cold at six on a cold May morning, and I had no shoes on...

...I stepped inside one for a photo. (My foot is about a size 5 UK shoe size, if that helps!)

It's an awesome feeling to take a walk in their tracks, and I like to attempt striding from one footprint to the next, even if this does result in some fairly undignified leaping behaviour!

On the way out, we saw miniature, perfectly formed baby elephant footprints, but we couldn't lose our momentum in the thick sand, so I was unable to capture them this time. Watch this proverbial space!

Warm African weekend greetings to all reading this 

All in a day's work...

During the week we had to visit Elephant Sands near Nata, to fiddle with one of our satellite internet sites there. Apart from having to go there for work, it's also a top favourite place to visit - natural, unspoilt, good company, and plenty of elephants!

Here's a photographic update on the waterhole, last seen in October, at the height of the dry season (in this previous blog entry). 

This time, I had to wade through a clutching jungle of knee-high plant growth, in order to locate my log for the traditional photo!  As you can see, there is quite a contrast in the level of the waterhole these days - almost at the end of the rainy season.

Although there is still the odd thunderstorm around, there is most definitely an autumnal feel in the air, and leaves are beginning to fall... Here's one of the rain storms we missed, while on the road.

Earlier, while driving in to the lodge,  I'd been anxiously eyeing our progress through impossible drifts of white sand, when, unexpectedly, a TUSK appeared in my peripheral vision! It felt as if it was about to spike me through the open window, but in all reality, I'm sure it wasn't that bad! The poor elephant seemed just as horrified at this close encounter,  and as I let out a yell of surprise,  he was already doing a frantic U-turn, and we just saw his flapping ears, tail and a cloud of dust as he scuttled back into the bush, no doubt deciding to attempt his track crossing much later!

I love the way "Africa-time" unfolds at Elephant Sands... it's just that kind of place.  Nothing is hurried, and an afternoon on the patio overlooking the waterhole progresses lazily, matching the slow, measured pace of the elephantine arrivals and departures in front of us.

After a bush-cuisine dinner laid on by fabulous chef Lazarus, the done thing is to sit around the open fire, where amazing stories are exchanged, and the Southern Cross shines down from a silvery/white milky way.  I found a place to curl up on a cement pillar, and communed with the skies, while sipping Kahlua-laced coffee, and listening to the conversations floating around me...

Next morning we went to do a quick site survey for our next satellite dish installation, at an exploration camp close to the lodge. It's going to be right here, at their future office: another communications miracle in the middle of nowhere!

These odd looking constructions dotted around in the middle of the bush, are apparently going to become signposts. The upright stones have been placed there to stop the elephants from getting up close enough to push the signs over. I'm not so sure how well this is going to work, but I will keep you notified in due course!

As we left, we followed the giant footsteps of a fellow road-user, before reaching  the tar road and setting off back to civilisation...

Elephant footprints at Elephant Sands

Traffic and Pedestrians

A few days ago, driving home from work, the car ahead of me slowed down - hazard lights flashing. We both stopped and waited for a leisurely band of elephants to amble their way across the road in front of us. They were in absolutely no hurry, and seemed supremely confident (with good reason) that we were going to wait there for as long as it took them to get to the other side.

Amazing how large an elephant looks when you are in a tiny green car, whose driver's seat is almost at road level! It really is a humbling experience to look up at the plodding, wrinkled legs and gently swaying undercarriages of these unlikely traffic obstacles! 

They really don't seem to mind encountering us on the roads during their walks to and from the river, which never ceases to amaze me. Every now and again, one of them will direct a gentle, rolling head/ear shake in the direction of the vehicles on the road, as if to remind us lowly humans that they could... if they just wanted to.... load us and our silly little tin boxes up onto their tusks like a forklift.... I always have the greatest respect for them while on the road, and no matter how serene and friendly they are, I always breathe a sigh of relief, tinged with awe once they've actually crossed over! 

For an older post about other encounters with elephants have a look here.

Highway Elephants - rainy season

Warthogs roam freely through the town, mainly on the bottom road which parallels the Chobe river.  In the mornings, if you're unlucky enough to coincide with the government workers' "rush hour",  it is not unknown to sit in a traffic jam (in Kasane, about 6 cars), with all vehicles flashing orange lights while waiting for a lone warthog or family of warthogs to cross over!

Last week, how I wished my camera had been accessible. An entire family of hogs ventured onto a proper pedestrian crossing in front of me. Therefore I followed the rules of the road and stopped while they demurely trotted across the road in single file - mother first, piglets behind, tails pertly vertical! I was the only car on the road at the time and could have had enough time to snap a photo, as I know it sounds a likely tale which seems to require some sort of proof!  It really was a delightful experience, in any case!

Town warthog family - just passing by...

Where Elephants Rule...

Last weekend we visited Elephant Sands again (see post # 5). Their signpost (the one not knocked down by elephants) states that this is "Where Elephants Rule"...

As reported last time the waterhole is still dry, muddy and brackish, and doesn't offer much enticement to our pachyderm friends. During the day, a huge water-bowser truck comes in from one of the drillling companies operating nearby to replenish the lodge's water tanks and the swimming pool with fresh borehole water.

This time round we noted that the surreptitious slurping under cover of night has been abolished, all caution has been flung to the winds, and for now the swimming pool appears to be The Official Elephant Waterhole!

At about 4pm the generator had been fired up for the all important Springbok rugby match on TV, spectators were in place, drinks in hand. As the match got underway, those of us not actually watching the rugby were treated to the sight of 5 bull elephants first giving a disdainful sniff to the natural waterhole, then lumbering up behind the unsuspecting rugby supporters, and approaching their "real" waterhole. After that it was divided attention for the rugby fans, and a wonderful elephant-watching opportunity for us.

Here they are relishing their fresh water..
A forest of legs....

"What is that thing?" they had to investigate the blue pipe!
Humans watching safely from not too far away..It was genuinely awesome to be so close to these magnificent creatures. They are so gentle, stealthy and silent in their slow walking gait, so playful amongst themselves, whilst also managing to perfectly convey a sense of massive power - and the potential danger of their presence as absolutely wild animals.
I don't think I have the words to adequately describe being close to elephants. There is an ancient and wise perfection about them, and I just know that to us and to so many other humans, they are special and beautiful creatures. How I wish that we as humans could just protect them all and not let them down so badly and so often...

Waiting for Rain....

This is October in our climate zone – a dry, dusty, superheated waiting experience!

Driving haphazardly southwards through the potholes and craters of what once was a decent tar road, we passed through various vegetation zones; from the beautiful teak forests and red soil cutlines, through the grasslands, finally reaching the white soil of the Nata area, studded with scrubby green-leafed mopane trees.

Our destination for the weekend - Elephant Sands, one of our favourite places where sometimes, time just seems to stand still. After the kilometres of stop-start rally driving, the Vet Fence is always a welcome landmark – where one's shoes have to be dipped in insecticide, followed by a drive through a (very potholed) dip full of the same substance. Another few kilometres later is the lodge’s sign post – pushed over by the elephants. Again! Interesting drive in with our sedan car as the deep, loose Kalahari sand is at it thickest at the height of the dry season.

A bit of a shock disembarking from the airconditioned car-world, into the blanketing dry heat, and shimmery haze over dazzling white sands! Very different to our own sauna-like heat up north, next to the river.

Here is a photo of the almost-dry waterhole – this is one of our seasonal observation rituals during our frequent north-south migrations.


At the lodge's birdbath we watched a goshawk staking out the area, swooping into the clouds of smaller birds then blundering off into the surrounding bushes after yet another failed ambush! Apparently the night before visitors had seen a leopard drinking out of this same birdbath…

So continued a typically African lazy Saturday. The weightiest decision being as to the exact time of “Beer o’ Clock” (anytime!). Sharing stories with our friends Ben and Marie, the owners, and doing nothing in particular… Later on taking a late siesta in our chalet, there was not a breath of air stirring, no fan, and no electricity… When I woke up, it was dark inside and the fading light outside created an Indonesian–style shadow show against the window gauze. I watched the silhouetted drama of a tiny gecko chasing a large ungainly moth back and forth, and much to my surprise the tenacious little gecko actually won the battle! A real Discovery Channel moment – predator and prey playing out their timeless game of “eat or be eaten”.

Dinner out on the patio was interrupted by furtive slurping noises from the direction of the swimming pool. Sure enough, there was an elephant enjoying trunkfuls of the pool’s freshly delivered borehole water, this being so much tastier than the brackish remains in the waterhole! After his drink, he disappeared as noiselessly as he had come…

Next morning, we awakened to an overcast sky – some relief from the relentless heat. The clouds are still with us, and have been this whole week, but the heat and the humidity are making their presence felt in no uncertain terms, and there’s no escaping the feeling that we are all just marking time till the rains begin...