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Published: June 16th 2006
Flyin in style
Didn't quite break the speed of sound! Gotta love these puddle jumpers though.
We took a "puddle jumper" to Savuti Camp, it was a little over an hour & half flight! I'd say the plane was smaller than the Concorde, and slower than a Snail in a quick crawl. It was fun though, especially when we hit some turbulence.
Our arrival at Savuti Camp was a little on the wet side as an afternoon shower developed. Yours truly, my lower lip began to extend out because in the back of my mind, were we going to have one of those Texas showers that can go on forever, or would we have a "quickie". My mind eased up about an hour later! Off we went for a late afternoon drive to see what "dangers" would lie ahead.
As we were driving down a hill, we encountered a couple of frisky, bull elephants, I guess they were having a "guy's night out" session. They kept their eye on us, came very close to the vehicle, but at the last minute, they decided that we weren't worth the "trouble". It is something when you have more than 4-5 elephants gang up on you, after all, they are the "heavy weight" champs out there.
The
King sized greeting
Meet & greet committee - boys night out! next form of life that we encountered was a Wildebeest. During this time of the year is the Wildebeest and Zebra migration.
It wasn't long after our meet & greet session with the elephants that we discovered 4 lioness's and their cubs. The cubs seemed to keep their Mom on her toes, but eventually she got up and wandered around.
Our vehicles were Land Rovers (4 wheel drive - completely open), so any wild life, if they put their mind to it, could be in the "driver's seat". I never really thought about it, until Mama Lioness came around the back of the vehicle, and sat down, next to the left rear tire. Naturally, I'm always leading up the "rear", and if I really wanted to go for the gusto, I could lean over and pat her on the head and say "job well done". Instead, we all looked at each other, not saying a word, not even sure we are breathing. It's not like we were living in total fear, but for me, it was more in awe! The ol saying goes "if Mama ain't happy, no one is going to be happy". This was one of
Lion youngsters
There's not a whole lot of difference in the mischief of youngsters, be it human or animal. When it is play time, its play time. Mama was very close by. our heart stopping moments!
What didn't surprise me, was "Pops", the male lion sleeping on the job. Once night prevailed though, it seemed he came "roaring" to life. It was incredible to see him, with all of his energy going from his diaphragm, all the way out, roaring across the land! The rain had washed away his "scent", therefore, he went on marking his territory all over again. He really had the gusto to make that roar!
Finally, night prevailed and we ended the evening with the sighting of an owl in the tree. Between darkness, the gnarled trees, and the owl, it gave the night a character of its own. Seeing the milky way was an added bonus!
During the next day, we saw even more unique animals, and I was "stared" down by a male lion. He was less than pleased when I stood up in the vehicle to get a better picture of him. We saw Zebra at play; some Warthogs (looked like some of the guys I went to school with); a black backed Jackal; Giraffe feeding their young; Cheetah; an elephant skull (he had been shot in the head twice); Leopard, and
Mama lion
Mama seemed to be pretty relaxed around us. other animals.
Savuti, which is located in the northern part of Botswana was full of wild life. For me, it was one of my favorite areas simply because there was such an abundance of life! The camp site was out of this world, food was great, it was really hard to leave.
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