Chitwan - Wild elephants couldn't drag me away.

From the moment we arrived at Tiger Tops Lodge we were hearing about the wild elephant in the park. At first this struck me as odd. Why wouldn't there be wild elephants in the park? The reality is a rich diversity of extraordinary and rare wildlife exist in Chitwan National Park, but there are very few wild elephants. The park straddles the India border and is contiguous with a park in India where elephants are more prevalent. Occasionally a young male will wander across the border into Chitwan in search of new territory and female elephants. Tiger Tops is home to a stable of mostly female domesticated elephants which are employed as mounts for the "elephant safaris" into the park. The stable of domesticated females is an obvious attraction to a young bull.

When young bull elephants are in musth, they can be unpredictable and, as described by the Tiger Top staff, downright"crazy". This is the case with the rogue currently wandering in the park. The elephant had killed one man and injured another only a few weeks before. The staff was closely monitoring the location of the elephant at all times, and would divert or delay nature walks, elephant safari's and other guest activities based on the movement of the wild elephant. Shortly after the morning nature walk, the wild elephant made a dramatic appearance at Tiger Tops.


I was heading to the main building for lunch, when Dhan got my attention. "The wild elephant is coming. He will walk by here." Most of the other guests were already sitting down to lunch.

Sure enough, he came strolling along the two wire fence, making a bee-line for the elephant stable. The only thing between the park, the wild elephant, and us, was a simple fence comprised of two small wires strung along six foot posts. As a physical restraint, it couldn't stop me from walking through it, let alone a full grown bull elephant. But it looks like the electrified fences farmers use to keep elephants out of their fields. It is not electrified, but it looks like it. Apparently this elephant had seen that kind of fence before, and was not inclined to test whether it was plugged in. As Dhan explained with a smile "We are lying to the elephant".


Most of the staff started toward the stables to see what would happen. I decided this was more interesting than lunch and followed the staff. Dhan looked concerned and attached himself to me. "How fast can you run?" He asked. This was actually a serious question. Dhan was worried as he had seen me limping a bit during our nature hike earlier in the day (lingering effect of getting my knee scoped last summer). This was, after all, a killer elephant. Still - all I could think of was an old joke "I can't outrun the elephant, but I only need to outrun you." Dhan was not amused.

While much of the staff gathered around the stables, I think I was the only guest, and shot the video clips compiled above. In the clips, the wild elephant arrives, and moons forlornly over the females from the other side of the fence. There is one domesticated male elephant living at the lodge, a big tusker that was born and raised in captivity. He was off working with some of the females hauling grass when the wild guy showed up. He returns in the middle of this clip. He has bigger tusks, and should be dominant, but it is not clear to me how they react to each other. The domesticated male appears to lose interest despite the efforts of the handlers to keep him focused on the interloper.

CEO Marcus Cotton (with the binoculars), and Director of Operations Tim Edwards (standing next to him) watch the interaction. Eventually the wild elephant wanders off. I'm sure this is not the end of the story, but unless someone from Tiger Tops sends me an update, I'll never know how this eventually played out. My guess - I don't expect the wild elephant will be denied the object of his affection.

But for this particular chapter in the pachyderm love story, it was all over in time for me to still enjoy lunch.

Africa Journal - Power Lunch

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Tuesday, October 10, 1995

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Power Lunch

 At breakfast, Bigfoot shows up at the pool and does some pruning of the trees and foliage in the immediate area. Manfred takes pictures of Amy at this end of the pool while Bigfoot is on the other. Bigfoot stops eating to pose for the picture. It is a very small pool.

We take a morning walk with Francis as our guide. Boat ride to an island, and a 2 hour walk. Sights include: elephants, red lechwes, bleached buffalo bones, and a pair of lions at 100 yards.

Our first lion sighting on foot. It feels good to actually get some exercise, but by the end of the walk the heat is oppressive.

Bigfoot joins us for lunch, tromping through the garden at the end of the table, and pulling down the branches from a nearby tree to munch. A dozen bats fly out of the tree Bigfoot is attacking to settle in the tree directly above our table. Manfred (at far end of table on the left) does not miss a bite.

That afternoon we go canoeing with Wayne, Cathy and the two Spanish couples. At one time the canoes at the camp were dugouts, but today they are fiberglass complete with seats & backrests.

Our guide is Letto. He stands in the back of the canoe with a cooler at his feet and a long pole in his hand. He pushes Sigrid and I through the shallows and marshes at a leisurely pace. Wayne calls it Venice in Africa. Not quite, no one is singing O Solo Mio.

Tiny multicolored frogs cling to the grasses poking out of the water. Many beautiful birds. When asked to identify a bird, Leto hands me a South African birding guide (Newman’s) and before I can open it, he tells me the correct page number from memory. This goes on for a while, before I finally stump him on a Sacred Ibis (page 46). A relaxing afternoon.

A couple of Abelours neat before dinner, and more red wine with dinner. During dinner I hear a pompous, arrogant voice holding court on a variety of topics, and am stunned to find that it is not mine. Wondering who is horning in on my customary dinnertime role, I listen as Sarel, the camp manager, lectures on: Emergency medical procedures he could conduct in the bush; The electrfied fence he is building for Bigfoot; The dearth of American culture; How America has wasted a billion dollars on an unused airbase in Botswana; and Why America needs to stop interfering in other country's business. Now, I don’t actually disagree with anything he says, but still feel compelled to retake some of the conversational high ground. I ask Sarel if he is Botswanan, and when he says that he is South African, I assert that one would be hard pressed to find any country that has interfered more with Botswanan affairs than South Africa. I further point out that America spent billions of dollars on an airbase in Saudi Arabia that was unused for years, but that eventually was put to pretty good use and someday, just maybe, Botswana could be as happy as Kuwait to have an American airbase in the neighborhood. That slowed him down a little. The conversation took some strange turns from there, not all of which I remember, as I had switched back to scotch. I do recall people starting to leave the table. Later I offered a Montecristo #4 to Sarel, which he accepted, then put in his pocket to smoke later.

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NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: This is a back-post / cross-post from my first on-line journal/blogging effort - a journal of our Southern Africa Tour in 1995. Originally posted to an abandoned domain (NetSnake.com), the term "blog" had not yet entered the parlance. I am migrating the original posts to this blog. Links to the original journal Date Index or Africa Tour Home Page will likely eventually disappear. The images from the original post were graphics and screen caps from video which I am leaving in it's low-rez glory for historical integrity. My intent is to also add some of Sigrid's higher quality scanned photos to these blog back-posts.  The difference in images should be obvious.

Africa Journal - Camp Okavango

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Monday, October 9, 1995

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Camp Okavango - Cathy Gets a Big One

Edward has taken the Beast and left. He will meet us Wednesday at our next (and last) mobile camp in the Kalahari. We board a six seat uncovered powerboat for a three hour cruise through the delta to Okavango Camp. I am reminded of an airboat tour through the Everglades, but as I watch the towering grass and papyrus fly by, the comparison fades. This is truly a strange and wonderful place.

 The water is crystal clear. Giant storks and cranes are all around us. We startle crocs and hippos as we speed past. Around a bend we encounter an elephant, standing belly deep in the channel.

And clearly visible under all that water, the white sand of the Kalahari, silently absorbing the entire flow of the river, until it ultimately emerges less than a 100 kilometers distant, a dry and desolate desert.

Brutus

The Okavango Camp sleeping tents are almost identical to Camp Moremi. The dining area, bar, and lounge are open and on ground level. The bar is better stocked and is manned by my new best friend Obie. After lunch we encounter Brutus, a tree monitor that patrols the camp.

Cathy's Fish - Wayne hangs his head in shame

That afternoon Sigrid, Manfred, and Amy decide to stay in camp and rest while Cathy, Wayne and I go fishing. Letto is our guide. Fishing consists of trolling a Mepps #3 behind the boat while Letto navigates the narrow waterways. A lot of time is spent reeling the lure in to clear snagged weeds. Wayne gets the first strike but loses it when the line breaks. Then Cathy lands a beautiful bright yellow-green Tilapia, which gives her First Fish and, as it turns out, Biggest Fish honors. I then bring in a Breem. The way he fights I think I’ve got a monster, but he is little more than half the size of Cathy’s fish. Finally, Cathy brings in a small Tilapia to finish the day and earn Most Fish honors - a clean sweep. Wayne got skunked.

My Fish

Cathy Celebrates Her Triumph

Back at camp, I celebrate my catch at Obie's bar with an Abelours (12 year old single malt scotch) served neat. Before dinner, I toast Cathy’s success with another. More South African red with dinner. We converse mostly with a Spanish doctor and his wife from the Canary islands. When I tell them my occupation, they want to talk about Bill Gates. They are stunned to learn that he is a trans-sexual. I am compelled to tell them the whole inspiring story, so familiar to all Americans in the high-tech industry. How Bill (then Wilma), a comely, curvaceous, and brilliant young programmer, finding her ambitions blocked at every turn by a sexist, male dominated computer industry, dropped out of college, flew to Sweden, and had the operation. The rest is history. The doctor is skeptical, until I ask him if he has ever heard Bill’s voice. He wants to know if there was a malpractice suit. I am amazed at how little they know about Bill in Spain.

That night I wake to see an elephant, in the light of a full moon, walk by the front of our tent, then pull down branches and eat them just outside of Wayne and Cathy’s. In the morning I learn that this is Bigfoot, a 42 year old bull elephant that has taken a liking to the trees in the camp. We are the same age. I wonder if we have the same birthday.

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NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: This is a back-post / cross-post from my first on-line journal/blogging effort - a journal of our Southern Africa Tour in 1995. Originally posted to an abandoned domain (NetSnake.com), the term "blog" had not yet entered the parlance. I am migrating the original posts to this blog. Links to the original journal Date Index or Africa Tour Home Page will likely eventually disappear. The images from the original post were graphics and screen caps from video which I am leaving in it's low-rez glory for historical integrity. My intent is to also add some of Sigrid's higher quality scanned photos to these blog back-posts.  The difference in images should be obvious.

Africa Journal - Sex and the Moremi Game Reserve

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Friday, October 6, 1995

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Sex and the Moremi Wildlife Reserve

Packed and up by 5:15, out at 5:30. Our stuff in a trailer behind the Beast. At the large water hole we find crowds of giraffe, impala, and a large herd of elephant. As the elephants jostle around the water, grey doves rise and fall like a cloud of dust kicked up by their feet. Other elephant herds wait on the periphery. A juvenile sneaks into the waterhole from the outlying herd. Amid much trumpeting it runs from the hole with a large female in hot pursuit. The female catches up and knocks the juvenile on it’s side. The female stands over the juvenile threateningly, then turns back to the waterhole. Edward shakes his head at the scene. He says that it is not natural to see so many different animals, all at the the water hole at the same time.

This is an artificial waterhole. There is not enough water being pumped to support all the animals that are here. At the end of the dry season, this is one of the few places in the Savuti area that has any water at all. He explains that if the waterhole had not been pumped throughout the winter, most of these animals would have migrated to the river. Now it is so late in the dry season that many of the animals would not make it. The dominant elephant herd monopolizes the water and all other animals wait. There does not appear to be enough for even the elephant herd.

Later, we hear from another guide that the hyena is gone from the tree and the leopard has not been seen, so we start the 70 km drive to Moremi. On the way, we spot and and photograph two lionesses, in the distance, under the shade of tree.

The drive follows the dry bed of the Khwai river. As we drive, the Khwai turns muddy, then into a few pools of water, then a large pool with hippo in the middle and a crocodile on the bank. Hot and dusty, we pull into the Moremi wildlife reserve and cross what Edward calls "The International Bridge". Both ends are in Botswana, which prompts the obvious question. "Because you won’t find anything like in anywhere in the world." He grins. I’m just glad we walked across, rather than ride across in the Beast with Edward. You are a braver man than I am, Gunga Din.

Our mobile campsite has been transplanted to the bank of the Khwai river, now a wide, shallow marsh with slow flowing pools. We lunch, and with a wet towel over my head, I sit outside the tent and watch three elephants drinking on the other side of the river. One looks over at us, makes a snuffling noise, shakes his head, then wades across the river directly towards our tent. He comes ashore, and grazes on the tall grass along the back of the camp and moves up the river.

 On the afternoon drive, we see crocodiles and hippos, many herd of Impala, and other grazers and browsers as we drive along the bank. Edward finds some lion spoor, and decides to stay on this track rather than the eastern edge as he had planned. I am enjoying the scenery and the leisurely pace, thinking that the we’ve already had more our share of exciting sights.

I decide to be content with scenery, grazers, and more relaxed viewing. We round a bend and Sigrid calls out "Lions!". A full maned male, the first we’ve seen, and a lioness, both resting on their side not more that 20 meters from where we stopped.

Edward says it is very unusual to see a male and female pair like this. The lioness always travels with other lionesses, unless, he guesses, this is a mating pair. "Lets wait and see what happens." Within minutes, the male rouses himself, sniffs around and mounts the lioness directly in front of us. In the process they move a short way then stop, and rest again.

Edward explains that they will mate about four times an hour for several days. We wait quietly, afraid to make a noise, when Edward suddenly and loudly sneezes. The lions jump up, stare at us a while, then settle back down. A little behind schedule 30 minutes later, they repeat the performance. It starts to get dark, so we head back into camp, giddy with our unbelievable good luck.

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NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: This is a back-post / cross-post from my first on-line journal/blogging effort - a journal of our Southern Africa Tour in 1995. Originally posted to an abandoned domain (NetSnake.com), the term "blog" had not yet entered the parlance. I am migrating the original posts to this blog. Links to the original journal Date Index or Africa Tour Home Page will likely eventually disappear. The images from the original post were screen caps from video which I am leaving as is for historical integrity. My intent is to also add some of Sigrid's higher quality scanned photos to these blog back-posts.  The difference should be obvious.

Africa Journal - Chobe National Park

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"We all had the nervous exhilaration, like a laughing drunk, that a sudden over-abundance, idiotic abundance of game makes. It is a feeling that can come from any sort of game or fish that is ordinarily rare and that, suddenly, you find in ridiculously unbelievable abundance."

Ernest Hemingway - Green Hills of Africa

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Chobe National Park

Tuesday, October 3, 1995

We are awakened at 5:00 AM, in order to be on the road by 5:45 for the morning game drive. Everyone is ready to go by 5:47, but what we did not realize was that Edward’s watch was five minutes faster than ours. Edward is crestfallen when another safari truck drives by our camp at 5:44. The guide driving the first truck down the dusty road has an advantage, as he can easily see the fresh tracks of the animals that crossed the road in the night. That first truck then obliterates the tracks by running over them, making the game spotting task more difficult for the the guides in the trucks that follow.

Edward is trying to find the lions we had seen the night before. He has to get out of the truck to sort out which are the the fresh lion tracks and determine where they are heading. The game viewing along the river is spectacular. As the sun comes up we watch a large herd of impala mixing with an equally large group of baboons, moving out of the bush, across the road, and into the open area between the road and the river. The animals are indifferent to the vehicle, passing quite close as they cross the road.

Small groups of impala suddenly take off running, hopping and leaping high into the air as we watch. We find the seemingly pointless display and of their acrobatic prowess beautiful but inexplicable, within the context of their continuous struggle to find food, water, and avoid predators. Over the next couple of days, we were to understand and appreciate this exuberant and wasteful use of calories as the "It’s Sunrise and I’m not Dead" dance of celebration.

On the day’s two game drives we see giraffe, cape buffalo, a large water monitor, crocodiles, kudu, waterbucks, and elephants everywhere. Memorable elephant sights include watching: elephants eating peacefully a few feet from the truck, two young bull elephants play-fighting by a waterhole, and a mature female mock charge the vehicle, then stand blocking the road and trumpeting, as calves cross the road behind her.

Edward explains that the drought has driven much of the wildlife to the river, creating a higher density of wildlife near the river than normal. This also causes a higher density of tourist-carrying safari trucks along the river, which is why, he reminds us yet again, it is important to get out early.

I am learning to appreciate some of the nuances of Edward’s style as a guide. When he sees something of interest, he lets the truck coast to a stop, points it out immediately, gives a brief explanation, then turns, looks back at us, and smiles. The smile seems to be a question, or maybe a challenge. He is leaving something unsaid, and wondering if you can figure it out. He gives you the data points, then smiles. This morning, a data point: "Here, look at these tracks, there are lion hunting here." At sunset, watching a herd of hundreds of Buffalo cross the road in front of us, behind us, all around us, another data point: "Look at that one limping. Behind the others." Turn. Smile. Connect the dots. It all seems obvious as I write this now, but that Tuesday evening, driving back to camp, I didn’t put it together.

 I was watching the fires burning in the fields, across the river in Namibia.

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NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: This is a back-post / cross-post from my first on-line journal/blogging effort - a journal of our Southern Africa Tour in 1995. Originally posted to an abandoned domain (NetSnake.com), the term "blog" had not yet entered the parlance. I am migrating the original posts to this blog. Links to the original journal Date Index or Africa Tour Home Page will likely eventually disappear. The images from the original post were screen caps from video which I am leaving as is for historical integrity. My intent is to also add some of Sigrid's higher quality scanned photos to these blog back-posts.  The difference should be obvious.

African Journal - Elephants Weigh In on Namibia Border Dispute

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Monday, October 2, 1995

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Elephants Weigh In on Namibia Border Dispute

Outside the hotel, Edward pulls up in a White Land-Rover truck manufactured by Leyland in South Africa. It looks like a converted troop carrier complete with porthole hatch in the cab above the passenger seat. I ask Edward abot the hatch and he says it is for the machine gun. The trailer has been converted for our use with six cushioned bucket seats and a large cooler. The green canvas top protects us from the sun, and can be retracted for game viewing. Sigrid promptly names the vehicle "The Beast", much to Edwards delight, and we climb in.

First stop is Victoria Falls, where we again tour the Zimbabwe side. Edward is not allowed inside with us, as he is not a licensed guide in Zimbabwe. Then on to the border and into Botswana. We arrive at the luxurious Mawana Lodge for lunch. I negotiate phone rates with the front desk manager, and he escorts me into their business office to try and get connected. I am hopeful, as there is a computer and a fax machine, but the physical connectors do not match, I don’t have the right adapters, and again I am foiled. This was the last phone until the end of the Botswana tour, so the web page will remain in it’s infant state until at least Maun. A disappointment, but I am running well behind on the journal anyway.

The Beast

Edward takes The Beast ahead to set up camp, and we take a leisurely boat tour down the Chobe River. Wilson pilots the boat, which is little more than six lawn chairs and a picnic table, on a flat aluminum platform supported by two pontoons, all under a blue and white canopy.

We float through a herd of over 50 elephants crossing the river. Elephants on both banks, in front of us, behind us, and next to us. They are crossing to an island with an observation deck flying a Botswana flag. Wilson cautions us not to take pictures. This is Sedudu Island, home to a Botswanan military camp, and the object of a border dispute with Namibia. And therein lies a story.

Border Dispute

Botswana was a protectorate of Britain until granted independence in 1966. The British, after skillfully drawing the borders of the countries of the Middle East, thereby contributing to the enduring peace and stability of the region, turned their attention to Southern Africa and brought equal skill and foresight into defining the borders of Botswana. One of the interesting artifacts of that exercise, is something called the Caprivi Strip.

The Caprivi Strip is long, narrow protrusion of Namibian land extending east from Namibia and sandwiched between Botswana and Angola. Here, the Chobe river is the border. On the Botswana side you have a National Game Park. Hunting is structly prohibited, tourists may view the wildlife only from vehicles, and vehicles must stay on the roads. Wildlife abounds as we were already experiencing. On the Namibia side of the Chobe, there are subsistence farmers and no restriciton on subsistence hunting by the native residents. Any wildlife finding its way across the river is immediately shot. There is little or no game living on the Namibia side of the river. With the continuing drought, the river is running low, and several of the islands in the river have become easily reachable and significant feeding grounds for the wildlife.

A few years ago, Namibia sent a small force onto the uninhabited island of Sedudu and claimed it as Namibian land. Botswana immediately retook the island, and now maintains a military presence there. The border between Namibia and Botswana is defined as the deepest part of the Chobe River. On the Botswana side, the massive elephant herd is continually breaking down the the banks of the river as they come down to drink and bathe. As a result, the Botswana side of the river is wider and shallower than the Namibia side of the river, where no comparable elephant herd exists. Since the deepest part of the Chobe river now runs completely through the Namibia side of Sidudu island, the island belongs to Botswana. So we were watching the elephants freely wade over to Sidudu, where they feed, and drink, and bathe, protected against poachers by Botswana guns, a safe haven within the border that the animals themselves created.

As the boat tour continues, we see hippos, cape buffalo, crocs, and a houseboat listing from the tourists standing and staring off one side of the boat. Cathy spots the object of their attention, a leopard, which immediately runs up the bank and disappears. I missed it, but Sigrid claims to have seen it’s tail. I am not acknowledging this tail flick as a verified Big Five sighting. Sigrid disputes my ruling.

 Edward picks us up, and takes us for short game drive on our way to the camp. We see more cape buffalo, more elephants, and our first sighting of lion (Number Four of the Big Five). As the sun sets we watch a pride of six lionesses walking up from the river, across the road, through a guantlet of five safari trucks, and into the bush.

The Tent and Toilet

Then, the first sight of our new home, the mobile camp. Three sleeping tents, one for each couple, a dining room tent, and a bar tent. Each sleeping tent has a private shower (canvas bucket feeding a shower head suspended over a one meter square tent) and a private toilet tent (also about a meter square) complete with flush toilet. Real camping. Except, of course, there is a staff of seven who set up and maintain the camp, and do all the work, including the cooking and cleaning, and serving drinks. Serving drinks. That would be Paul, serving drinks that is. . . I wander over to make his acquaintance.

Paul's Bar

Afro-Ventures promotes this tour as Botswana a la Hemingway . Paul’s Bar has a small paperback library of Hemingway books. I think the only thing I have ever read of Hemingway’s is "The Old Man and The Sea", which was an assignment in Mrs. Bobera’s seventh grade English class. This seems a good time to correct this literary gap in my education. I also hope to find some quotes to sprinkle through the journal to provide a thin veneer of literary quality, and, as a side benefit, to irritate Harlan, who hates Hemingway. While sipping a Red Label over ice, I select "The Green Hills of Africa" as my reading material.

Special Note to Lee Evans - It's the fifth bottle from the left.

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NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: This is a back-post / cross-post from my first on-line journal/blogging effort - a journal of our Southern Africa Tour in 1995. Originally posted to an abandoned domain (NetSnake.com), the term "blog" had not yet entered the parlance. I am migrating the original posts to this blog. Links to the original journal Date Index or Africa Tour Home Page will likely eventually disappear. The images from the original post were screen caps from video which I am leaving as is for historical integrity. My intent is to also add some of Sigrid's higher quality scanned photos to these blog back-posts.  The difference should be obvious.