Back from the Bush

You have not truly lived until you have been charged by an elephant. I say that because I now believe that in order to know how alive you actually are, you must (at some point) feel very close to death. An encounter with the matriarch of a breeding herd of elephants is a great way to do this; I really recommend it. It's extra efffective if she charges you three times. More on this later.

I'm writing from our hotel in Johannesburg. We're overnighting here--we came from Botswana this evening. We stayed at Baines' Camp in the Okavango Delta. It was beautiful. The camp is five rooms on stilts, a boardwalk connecting them, and a main lodge/dining area. The whole thing sits on top of the delta, and the area directly in front of and below the dining patio is frequented by hippos and crocodiles fairly regularly. Giraffes were everywhere, and I watched a leopard contemplating which impala to eat for dinner from about ten feet away. I also sat (in a Land Cruiser) in the middle of a moving herd of buffalo, at least 200 head. The whole experience was completely serene.

Before Botswana we were in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. There's not much going on there except tourism, and even that's only going on at about 50% the normal level. Besides the uncrowded tourist areas, there was no real indication of Zimbabwe's current troubles in the Falls area (surprise). Except for the fact that entry to see the Falls cost 400 Billion Zim Dollars (it cost $15 USD). And that no gas stations displayed prices because the zeros in the numbers couldn't begin to fit on the signs.

Tomorrow we're heading back to the bush--this time in South Africa. Over the next 6 days we'll visit 2 camps near Kruger National Park. We haven't seen lions yet, but I'm told Kruger is the place to find them.

I'm keeping a journal so I'll post more detailed writing later. That's all for now!

-Em

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