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...
It is always a joy to be with them. As I arrived, a bit early by Kasane standards, the kids were playing outside and they just rushed along from the playground for big hugs (at knee level!), or just to hold my hand, or gently touch my arm... I took hundreds of photos, and had some interesting moments sitting on the floor at child level, trying to get a few decent pics of my diminutive moving targets!
Just being with these children always reminds me to count my myriad blessings...
