Elephants crossing

Early one morning we headed out in search of elephants. Everybody was eager with anticipation and the pressure was on. As we were approaching one of our large dams, we had a glimpse of what seemed to be an elephant crossing the road a long way up ahead. We sped up slightly to catch up and see if our eyes were playing tricks with us – this can happen especially when one wants to see a specific animal really badly! As we got closer we saw it was an entire breeding herd. They were all casually coming out of the bush to cross the road, in fact a couple had already done so. We sat quietly and gave the herd plenty of room to pass. They slowly approached and some decided to have a better look at us, stopping within a metre of the vehicle! It is always great when you get this close to such a magnificent animal – they leave a lasting impression on everybody long after they depart again.

The other day we found one of the lion prides taking advantage of the cloudy weather, sleeping right out in the open. Occasionally they would lift their heads to look around but most of the time they were out for the count! Typical lion behaviour as these big cats spend anything from 16-20 hours a day sleeping. This is a sure way of saving as much energy as possible – as it is not guaranteed they will get a meal. Lions have to work very hard when hunting and only about 30% of their hunts end in success. The little cubs are still in hiding and the mother has yet to bring them out to show us. Hopefully we can post some pics really soon!

Otherwise we are in birding paradise at the moment as summer- time has set in. We have been treated to a whole array of species.