Before long, we saw the elephants approaching, accompanied by Doug and Sandi. Doug and Sandi run this sanctuary, also known as the Save the Elephants Foundation. They are a married couple; he is American, and she is South African. The elephants' names are Jabu, a male, Morula, a female, and Thembi, also female.
The presentation began with Sandy's introduction of Morula, while Jabu and Thembi are escorted away for a while by Doug to forage for food. Morula is very friendly, and Sandy's presentation focused on her physical features. We were offered the opportunity to receive a "hug" from Morula, where she rests her trunk on your shoulder. Both and Rob and I participated in this, and we can attest that the trunk is very warm. We were also allowed to touch the "hair" on her tail -- very coarse, more like plastic fibers. Next we were allowed to take turns leading Morula by the trunk in a short walk. I thought maybe the end of the trunk would be a little slimy, but it was not too bad. Of course, we both participated in this as well. Tim took our cameras and snapped pictures and video of us as we walked with Morula.
At the end of the walk, Sandy showed us how elephants sleep. The lie down on their sides, but like to be on a slanted area of the ground so that they are not completely prone. As Morula demonstrated this, we were also able to see and touch the undersides of her feet.
Doug then led the next part of the activity, where he gave a little lecture on conservation and global warming, but he was not too strident in his views. He introduced to Jabu and provided many facts about the elephant's internal workings. We learned about an elephant's teeth. They have four teeth at a time with more teeth to come as if on a conveyor belt. In an elephant's lifetime, they will have a total of 24 teeth, six complete sets over a lifetime of 50 to 70 years. When an elephant's sixth set of teeth wears out, the elephant will die, most likely of malnutrition. He won't be able to eat enough to sustain his life. Poniso later told us that an elephant will know when his time is coming and will select a location to be his final resting spot and stop his roaming around. Other interesting facts: elephants have a third eyelid that they can control. Other animals also have this eyelid (including dogs, but have no voluntary control). Also, elephants use their ears for cooling. Doug asked for questions, so I asked if there was any truth to the concept of an elephant graveyard. He said "No."
Next, it was time for an open air lunch. We had a choice of delicious food from a hot buffet and dined with Doug, Sandy, and Tim with the elephants nearby, also eating. As we were at the table, Doug began slicing a tsama melon for the elephants. I asked to try a piece. Doug hesitated and warned me of its bitter flavor, but I insisted. Thankfully, he only provided the smallest sliver for me to try as it was quite bitter. However, it was not as bitter as an unripe olive eaten from the tree, as I can unfortunately report.
After we finished eating, Doug has more information to share and for the elephants to demonstrate. We are all invited to receive a "kiss" from Thembi, which we do. Pictures of course are taken, and I am surprised to learn that elephants do NOT have bad breath. Then Doug had the elephants share their verbal comments including some good trumpeting!
We were running a little late, so we scooted back to the camp, grabbed our already packed bags and took the transport to the airstrip. We are sad to leave, but it will only be a ten minute flight to our next destination, the camp called Sandibe, also in the Okavango Delta.
We land with no trouble and are met by a new crew of guides and land rovers, which seem a little nicer than the ones we had at Stanley's camp. Later, when we arrived at the camp, we would immediately notice a big upgrade in luxury at this camp overall. The drive to Sandibe would also serve as a mini-game drive. Why not? The driver in our vehicle was named Moss (short for a lengthy African name), and he was very good. We notice right away that the vegetation here is more lush and more green than what we experienced at Stanley's Camp. At the outset, the two vehicles made a bee line to a place where they knew some lions were hanging about. Oh my, this was amazing! The guides believed that the lions would not have moved on since they had made a large kill there and would not move as long as they had good food to eat. When we arrived, we saw a female crossing a grassy field, and then we drove right up to a group of lions lounging in the shade, four females and one handsome male. Their bellies looked very full, and they were all just lying about and panting.
We spent quite a bit of time there watching, photographing, and video-ing. My best video featured another female joining the group and greeting each lion before lying down herself. This was a real show-stopper!
We tore ourselves away, really could watch for hours, and continue on our drive. We saw adult giraffes and then three juveniles nearby, very cute, also video-ed.
We also saw tsessebe antelopes (not very close, though) and red lechwe, who are always found near water.
We checked into the resort and are brought to our individual houses. Each house (really can't call them cabins) is elevated and offers beautiful views to the bush (don't have to look at any other structures). Each has its own giant deck, private plunge pool, and outdoor shower. Unfortunately, the pool is ice cold, too cold for a very warm day like today. It also is air-conditioned! Rob and I took this opportunity to shower and relax. The schedule is for afternoon tea at 4:30 PM and a game drive commencing at 5 PM.
Our evening game drive was really great - but really aren't they all? Our driver tonight was Tsabo, super knowledgeable. We saw a variety of birds, including:
- Black Shouldered Kite;
- Coppery Tail Cocal, which was in the grass and hard to see, but notable because it exists only in the delta;
- Gray "Go Away" bird, named because its call sounds like "Go Away." In the days when hunting was permitted, the hunters disliked this bird immensely, since its call alerted the other wildlife to the hunters' presence;
- Red bill Spur Fowl, a common bird and stupid like the quail back home;
- Bee Eater bird; and
- Blacksmith Lapwing, another common bird, but we spotted it picking out food from elephant dung.
We also enjoyed seeing the silk or bushman grass, which is tall and fluffy, turpentine grass, and thatch grass, which is used to make houses. Here is a photo with silk or bushman grass in the foreground:
The game that we saw included another pride of lions! The group included one female (out cold) and four males, each about 3 1/2 years old: mother and brothers. They had already fed this evening. One of the males was especially amusing as he was so warm he slept on his back with one let sticking up in the air. We watched them for quite a while.
Later, as we were driving, we apparently annoyed a large male (bull) elephant who mock charged us and trumpeted! We also really enjoyed yet another fantastic sunset, and then spotted a porcupine in the grass on the way back!
Dinner was a buffet of chicken and lamb with rice and roasted vegetables. Our starter was an incredible curried carrot soup
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