...the day the elephants came to camp!

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Day 16 and 17 (11th and 12th Oct)Zambia - South Luangwa National Park, ZambiaUp at about 5am, the usual it seems and we head from Malawi across the border into Zambia, a very very long rough ride along unmade roads, definitely shakes dem bones! We've been warned that at the camp where we are staying, elephants and hippos roam freely, especially at night! We pitched our tents, had dinner, then got ready for bed, we had to be escorted to our tents by wardens with big torches....er, we're thinking that the rumours about wild life may actually be true.... on the first night i heard a few bits of rustling but nothing too frightening, so just slept through but the second night was completely different.... at 1.30am Sarah woke me up in a fit of excitement, we both stuck our heads out of the tent and there was a whole family of elephants just wandering around the camp, oh my god, it was amazing, mum, dad and baby just out for a touch of sightseeing. Ok so wanting to actually squeal with excitement and at the same time completely scared witless, we snuggle back into the sleepingbags, but never quite go to sleep, continually listening out for every little noise...then at 3am, there's something a LOT closer!. I sit bolt upright and there right beside the tent is the biggest ellie ever.... his head is looking into the tent, just the netting between us, and he is scratching his bum on the tree, was a sight i will never ever forget, there's literally about 1 metre of space between me and the tent and the tree and in between is an elephant, if i'd have poked my little finger out i could have touch him, bloody hell this is so awesome....it's so hard not to make a noise when you are sooooooooooo excited....I was blown away, this is such a humbling experience...We also did a couple of game drives during our stay, on day one which started at 6am. We saw elephants, hippos, zebras, crocodiles plus much more...the night drive was fantastic though, with a very very special moment seeing a pride of lions about 3 metres away..however the highlight of the drive was seeing a 5 legged elephant, oh my god girls, you've never seen anything like it...the childish filthy side of all of us came out, we can't stop talking about it...forget donkey slaps, you need to find yourself an ellie...OUGH!

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Photos

Beautiful elephants
We saw these stunning creatures on the day game drive in South luangwa National Park, Zambia

5 legged ellie!
...night game drive, South Luangwa National Park, Zambia

Comments

[Stevie]

Clever Dick!!!
I thought he was using his trunk to eat with................my bad.