We were awoken at 5:30 AM with a knock ("Koko") and a coffee delivery from one of the staff, although I think they arrived closer to 5:40 AM. We are in a scramble to quickly brush our teeth, wash our faces, dress, and then report to breakfast by 6:00 AM. After our delicious meal, we were off at 6:30 AM. Elke, who we learned is 80 years old, has decided not to join us but rather rest up a bit, so it is just the three of us on this drive. Our driver and guide this morning is Ice, who grew up in the local village. We get a head start on seeing animals when we spied a vervet monkey spying on us as we ate breakfast.
The viewing began a little slowly, and it is also a little cool this morning. We all were enjoying the smell of the wild sage which grows everywhere around here. The smell was one of the first things we noticed yesterday when we arrived; it perfumes the air wonderfully. For luck on our drive, Ice has plucked a piece of it to adorn our land rover. As we proceeded into the game preserve, we first saw a beautiful bird called the lilac breasted roller. We would see this bird many times in the coming days, but one would never tire of seeing its glorious colors. We then spied an owl, then came across a large family of baboons -- many, many baboons.
As we continued, we saw the first of what would be many impalas today. Ice explained to us that is is rutting (or mating) season. In this season, the males would have already competed and fought with each other for dominance. As a result, the dominant male would be seen with its large group of females. This would last for seven days. Nearby, one could usually find another group, this comprised of all males. These would be the males that lost the battle for dominance and thus have no females to mate with. Ice called them the "bachelors." That would be watching the dominant male with his females for any sign of an opportunity to break in, so to speak. Throughout this drive, we saw many groups of impalas, all divided up into one of the two groupings that Ice had described to us. In the distance, we caught sight of a wildebeast, but were unable to see him close up. Ice also named two more birds for us: the southern ground hornbill and the Burchell starling (beautiful deep blue color).
Next we see an elephant in the distance, which is very exciting, and he seems to be with a group of six or so ostriches. This was a little bit of a surprise as we had not thought about the potential of seeing ostriches before. Then we got a big payoff: a large family of elephants that we can view up close -- wow! Ice is able to maneuver the vehicle off the road/path to get really close to the family. We got a thrill when a younger male mock charged us. Ice told us that he was trying to impress his family, but that it was not a real charge. Two of the elephants did trumpet at us, but their anger dissipated. After a time, the family moved on, but we enjoyed watching a young elephant in the group as well as a very small baby, which was difficult to get a good view of. Ice began to explain some facts about elephants, such as the fact that it is the matriarch who is in charge of the family.
As we proceeded, Ice has been pointing out tracks that he has seen. Initially, we had seen hyena tracks, and he has also pointed out elephant tracks, as well.
We are most interested when Ice has found lion tracks. At one point, we can see the outline of a lion's body where he has lain down in the sandy path. We can even see the impression left by his long tail.
As Ice has followed these tracks, we then got the big reward: a lion sighting! Ice stopped the vehicle and we watched quietly; soon other lions appeared. Ice spotted an older male, about one year old, and then from behind a bush, an adult female rose up. They were on a hunt, it appears. Ice believed that they were still hungry, because last night's hunt was less that successful. We heard the lions making moaning sounds to let each other know where they are located. It was quite exciting! Then we heard an impala (as identified by Ice) sounding a warning alarm -- he has spotted the lions himself. Ice explained that the impala don't run when they spot a lion, they watch and wait. The lions will not be able to get the impala once they have lost the element of surprise.
The lions walked into and then disappeared into the brush, but Ice went off road again to follow. Soon we saw TEN lions settle down in one spot to sleep. None of the lions stayed awake to act as a sentry, since they are the kings are feel no threats from anyone. They sleep sideways with one ear to the ground, which can help if they hear the vibrations from elephants. Only the elephants can disturb them if they decide to come their way. We stayed and watched for a long time; the lions are so beautiful. Ice counted what we saw and believed that the pride totaled 14 lions, mostly young males.
We asked Ice why we didn't need to be worried about the lions coming after us. He explained that the lions see the vehicle with people as one entity, a very large entity. Lions also know that if they pick a fight there could easily be injury to themselves, including death of course, so they put some thought into the consequences before they might pick a fight. Can't they smell us? No, Ice said, when the vehicle is nearby, the smell of the gasoline/exhaust overwhelms the smell of people to the lions.
After we saw the lions, we stopped for a coffee break near an unoccupied but scenic watering hole that had been filled with rain water. As we were there, three elephants that we had previously seen running very fast (mother, child, father?) came racing by, although not quite as quickly.
The rest of the drive was highlighted by bird sightings and learning about the vegetation, although we did see one giraffe! The birds that we saw included: the purple heron (very large) wading in a water hole, the yellow-billed hornbill, the marabou stork, the Egyption goose, so named because its eyes have dark eyeliner like Cleopatra, the crested barbet, and the African hoopoe.
Ice also named many of the grasses that we had seen, including finger grass, sticky grass and others that I've already forgotten. He pointed out a lovely purple flowering shrub called vernonia giabvia, which has many medicinal properties, including using the roots to induce an abortion. It atracts many butterflies. We saw the broad brown spotted butterfly and the lemon orange butterfly. We really enjoyed ourselves today, Ice was a true pleasure to have as our guide.
Lunch was served back at the camp. It was just the three of us with Ice; the others were having lunch at their elephant outing. I had Thai beef with noodles, and Rob had a chicken kebab with rice -- both very good. Ice really opened up to us about himself and his life, which we all found to be very interesting. He grew up in the bush. His family and tribe were nomadic and did not have permanent homes; home was where the food was. They just set up camp and moved when they needed to. When he was a young boy, maybe about 10 years old, all the children in his village were told that they needed to begin attending school. They walked five miles each way in bare feet. Ice said that in his first year, he did not even understand one word spoken in class, since it was taught in the language called Setswana, the most common language in Botswana, but not his language. His tribe spoke Seyei. His tribe is called Wayei. Times were changing, though, as conservation efforts led to the elimination of his tribe's way of life -- there would be no more nomadic living or hunting in the bush. The tribe now lives in a nearby village. The camps in the delta, such as Stanley's Camp are operated as concession and serve to provide employment to the local people, which is mandated, not optional. Later, at dinner, I asked Ice who he had learned his tracking skills from, and he told me that his grandfather taught him. He was passing the skills onto the next generation with his 12 year old son, who is learning from Ice. It was not the same, though, as people, even Ice, are not permitted free movement in the game preserves.
Our evening activity is a mokuro canoe trip on the delta. As we drove there, we see a lovely example of the baobab tree. It has a very fat trunk and for me was made famous in the book, The Little Prince.
The mokuro is the traditional vessel used by the local tribe to travel on the delta. It would normally be made of wood but are now constructed from fiberglass, as the local people are no longer permitted to harvest the wood (but existing wooden mokuros can continue to be used). The channel is rather shallow, so the mokuro is flat-bottomed. It is propelled by a pole. Our poler tonight was Sally, short for Salvation, a waiter from the camp. Apparently, the male employees serve double-duty! Sally is a young man who is very charming and quick to laugh. He pointed out many things to us, such as which grass is harvested to make their homes. We spotted a painted green frog holding onto a piece of grass, also. He also told us that even today, the local people drink water drawn from the delta and hauled by bucket. They have strong stomachs and can drink it with no trouble -- amazing!
The ride is beautiful with water lilies and and a gorgeous sunset. Toward the end, we heard a call from a hippo. Sally told us not to worry, he was likely in the main channel of the delta, not near us. Hippos are not often found in the side channels. If they are, it is probably because they are sons who have been chased away by their fathers and need a place to hide. We are served snacks and refreshments at the conclusion of our ride before heading back to camp.
Dinner tonight for Rob and me is a sea fish called kinklip, a very firm, mild whitefish -- very good! Everyone turns in early. The five who spent the morning with elephants have to wake up at 5:30 AM for their game drive. Rob and I (with Mike and Elke) will see the elephant tomorrow, so we can sleep in until 7 AM.
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