Day 5: Palapye - Elephant Sands

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On the move again, after de-pitching tents and breakfast. Truck duty today so cleaned it and packed and unpacked tables, chairs etc. Stopped in Francistown - not much different to all the places where we had stopped before really. Sunny morning, but cu and castellanous developing at 11:20, so thundery later I predict.

Zip broken on new tousers - poo! Have worked out that there are approx 10 Pulas to the pound. Finished my Booky Wook on the journey, so ready something trashy, called My First Divorce. Saw some really strong thermals picking up dust from the bus, just like little tornados. They were visible from quite a height, maybe 100ft maybe more? Your could really see the vortex and rotation quite clearly.

Arrived at Elephant Sands and went straight in the pool - so nice in 37degrees! It was very sandy and some beasties were swimming around - one of which turned out to be a water scorpion - eep! Lunch soon after, eaten in bikini and sarong.

Was just relaxing by the pool when an elephant appeared from the bush and went to the watering hole, maybe 50m fro, the patio. He splashed himself with mud and was very obviously a boy (my god it was like a fifth leg). He then ambled over to the pool (maybe 10m away) and started drinking the pool! You could hear the little slurpy noises when his trunk was in the water and then gurgling noises when it put its trunk in its mouth and tipped it's head back. It sounded like someone filling a vast tank with a hosepipe. It was huge and 35-40 years old according to Frik. It kept holding its feet up one by one just off the ground and holding its trunk up which was to smell us all. It looked straight at me! They have such huge eyelashes! And their trunks are amazing! It was really magical to have a huge wild beast so close!

After he had shuffled off, I read some more of the trashy novel. It them clouded over and looked like thunderstorms, exactly as I said. Frik decided to take us for a walk, so I got dressed. He caught a cicada to show us and held it by its wings. When he shook it, it made the noise associated with it - almost like an electric buzzer. It produced this sound with its abdomen by sliding plates over each other. They are about 2 inches long and grey and white fluffy things. Not as I thought actually.

It was thundering and flashing when we left for our walk and spitting with rain. We saw elephant tracks and the five toes at the front. They have round front feet and oval back feet. Elephants transmit long range sound at 12-47 Hz, 108 decibels, which is too low for us to hear but it transmits between 50km. It also uses infrasound to transmit through the earth that it feels through its feet (which have 2inch thick skin). Thats why it holds its feet just above the ground - its listening! They walk on their tip toes, on only 10% of their feet area.

It takes 4 years for a baby elephant to learn to use their trunks- they try to pick up grass but end up stuffing it in their ears!

We walked on a little further and Frik showed us an acacia tree which had been pushed over by an elephant and nibbles on one side. The Botswana government want to cull elephants as they are destroying too many trees, but Frik pointed out that that tree was now food for other animals that could reach it now. There was also new growth around what had previously been shaded.

In a small clearing Frik stopped and whistled, starting low, building high and ending low again. A bird answered him in the same way - it was amazing! It was a pearl-spotted owl, which was very dinky and he was annoying it as they are very territorial. After a few minutes it flew to a different tree.

Roeland spotted a giraffe but it was a long way away and I only saw the silhouette. No scorpions or snakes though! The only snake I have seen so far in a brown house snake which Dion picked up and gave to Frik. It does bite but has no venom. It was a baby and about 9-10 inches long, but it was difficult to tell, as it was never fully stretched out. I got to hold it and it was cold and not at all slimy or wet. I saw the stripes behind its eyes and it's little tongue darting in and out. It wrapped its tail around my little finger and gave it a squeeze - it was a constrictor and I felt how strong it could be if it wanted to.

It then got darker and the thunderstorm was all around us - huge forks of lightning that made night into day and massive claps of thunder. It was really exciting.

Sonja warned us at tea to check outside our tents in the night that there were no elephants or lions outside if we needed to go to the loo. I went to bed soon after (I went to the loo first, just to make sure)m but smelled elephant straight away - arse! Apparently quite a few came but i was so tired.

Love from

Sally
xxx

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Comments

[Mum and dad]

Amazing!
Wonderful blog, Sally, keep up the good work! Glad to hear you are seeing what you hoped for - any sign of the elephant shrew yet? Love and hugs from Mum and Dad XX