When an Elephant Came in Camp

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Geo: -15.9455, 29.3115

This morning we were woken up by the sound of many noisy hippos grunting. Paul, John and Francois left the camp site at 7am for a walk through the bush. After my last walking experience with them, there was no way that I was going to go through that again. Instead I went for a short two hour game drive.

I drove towards Vundu Point, along the way I saw a couple of baboons grooming each other but would stop when I stopped to watch them, impalas, various birds and a small breeding herd of elephants. I turned around and drove along a track that I had not been on before.

It was a very quiet road- no animals to see or any other vehicles. It was also difficult to see where the track was going as it seemed like it had been quite a while since anyone had driven along here. I then thought that it was best that I turned around and drove on the main road. I drove back towards our camp.

On the way back I stopped to watch two male elephants that were very chilled. I also saw a few crocodiles by a water pan as well as a couple of Saddle Billed Storks. I arrived back at camp the same time as the guys did. They enjoyed their walk, during which they encountered a buffalo, lions and elephants.

We had brunch as we watched many hippos floating in the river. Soon after we finished eating we noticed a bull elephant walking towards our camp site. It was very relaxed and spent about 40 minutes eating from the trees around our camp. Paul and I took advantage of the opportunity and took many photos. It was an amazing sighting, seeing him stretch up and reach for the high leaves.

At about mid afternoon, Paul, John and I went for a game drive. It was an unbelievably quiet drive, all that we saw was an elephant, baboons and a few birds. We were probably better off staying in camp.

This evening we enjoyed another colourful sunset.

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Photos

01 View
The early morning view of the river from our campsite.

02 Hippos
Hippos floating in the water.

03 View
The early morning view along the river.

04 Baboons
A couple of baboons that did not let me watch them for long.

05 Elephants
A small breeding herd of elephants walking towards the river.

06 Drinking
The baby elephant is drinking milk from its mother.

08 Walking
The elephants continuing to walk to the river.

10 Family
A family of baboons - the lucky baby is riding on the adult's back.

11 Looking at Me
The elephant looking at me as it eats.

13 Looking at Me
The elephant looking straight at me.

14 Side
A side profile of the elephant.

15 Looking
The two elephants looking at us.

18 Reflection
A nice reflection has been created when this bird drank water.

19 Birds & Crocs
Birds and crocodiles at the water.

20 Crocodile
A crocodile warming itself in the sun by the water's edge.

21 Storks
Yellow Billed Storks roosting at the top of the tree.

23 Near the Toilet
The elephant near our toilet.

24 Half Out
The hippos are half out of the water.

25 Storks
A large flock of storks.

26 Nearby
An elephant very close to our campsite.

27 Elephant
A large adult elephant enjoying the shade of our campsite.