Our African Safari!

One of the “must do”s in Africa is to go on a safari!  During the winter months, the foliage is minimal, there is no rain so animals congregate at the water holes so it is perfect for viewing the animals.

Because things were slow at the office this week and the Eppel's (the most wonderful & delightful couple we work with) were going to visit their family this week, we decided to take the opportunity to travel to Madikwe Game Reserve near Gaborone Botswana.

On Monday, July 15, we drove 4 ½ hours to Impodimo Lodge inside the reserve and checked into our bungalow.

Dry season so no mosquitoes but netting is pretty!

View from back deck of our room!

                                                                                                                                                                  Here is a zebra who came to the hole right outside our room!   We saw kudu, impala, warthogs, zebra & elephants come to this watering hole.  The elephants came frequently, first to drink, chasing away anything else, then after they had their fill they would leave and other animals would move.  Didn't take long though, before the elephants would return & again chase away the other animals. This time they came to cool off.  

They splashed around, kicking the water with their feet and spraying themselves with their trunks.  Besides the trumpeting, they have a roar sound not unlike a lion or a crocodile.  (at least to my untrained ear).  Here's the best thing ever....several elephants came over to the swimming pool and drank out of it.  There was a baby elephant who wasn't quite tall enough to easily reach into the pool from where he was standing.  All I could see was his little trunk come up over the lip of the pool and into the water to suck up some water, and then the trunk would retract to squirt the water into his mouth.  It was really cute.  Before they finished, I think the water level in the pool had dropped a couple of inches.  This photo is from another guest since our camera was not at the pool.

While we are at work, we don’t get much sun so we decided to go to the pool and layout for an hour before the evening game drive.  Imagine our surprise when I way was blocked by this elephant who was busy eating the trees near the lodge boma.  

The tracker, Sam [because we couldn’t pronounce his real name], sits in the front seat of the Land Rover and watches for game as well as studies the tracks to see what animals are in the area. He was amazing at pointing out animals long before anyone could see them.  Ruan was the driver, Park Ranger & guide.  He would take us off the road, into the bush to get close to the animals. 

On our first game drive, we saw so many elephants.  One mama didn't really want us around and gave us warning by trumpeting and mock charging!  At least Ruan said it was a mock charge.  They warn you by beginning the charge and then they stop & pause to see if you will leave....and by the way, we did!  They are so huge and a bit scary when you can tell they are annoyed at you.  Ruan, our driver, is excellent at reading animals.  He can tell when to back off and when to stay. 

Here is a short clip of that elephant:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws-vC4ysAyQ

Ruan had a rifle just in case and I'm very thankful he didn't need to use it.  Here is a picture of baby that was so cute.  He was doing what his parents had taught him and “charged” our Rover!  He trumpeted and began the charge about 3 times then turned and ran to mama to tell her it wasn't working.  

If we showed you a picture of every animal picture we took, we’d be uploading over 300 pictures and about 25 videos.  So, we have selected a few to display here.  But we can enumerate many:

 Of the deer type animals:  Zebras,

 kudus with long curly horns (large antelope), klipspringers (wee little pigmy antelope), impala (deer-like animals)  Of the cats:  Cheetahs and lions.  We got so close to the lions!  There was a mama resting while her little cubs frolicked and rolled around playing with each other.  One mama stood up and stretched against the tree then started licking her cubs clean.  They cried out with complaints. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h_ZbucgfO0

If you follow the link you can hear the cubs objections. :)

One lion sighting was just after a kill:

  (He was eating a baboon)  Another time we saw a lion eating an impala.   Nature is so very cruel.  Isn't the circle of life a mean thing... so many animals have to kill something to eat. Other animals we spotted were warthogs, baboons, hyena, rhino, wildebeests or gnu, mongoose, lots of birds, including the yellow billed hornbill (like Zazu), & giraffes.

Impodimo lodge has no fences so after dark we were not allowed outside without Ruan and his flashlight & rifle accompanying us.  Our two nights and 4 game drives were a great introduction to Africa.  We thoroughly enjoyed our first African safari