Day three - Elephant paradise in Savute national park
May 11, 2017. All night we heard the lions roar so you can understand the excitement in the morning when we set out after a super quick breakfast. We waved goodbye to the wonderful team at Chobe Camp, we had such wonderful experiences here in Chobe and the whole team was really lovely, wished they had followed us to on the rest of the trip as well!
Although we searched everywhere, we didn´t found any lions or a carcass, they probably killed the Buffalo well into the bush, and since it´s a national park we couldn't go off road. It had of course been exciting to see the pride knocked to the ground after a hunt and big meal. But the tension that builds up is almost as exciting!
On the way out of Chobe we suddenly saw two very interesting creatures on the road - Wild dogs, WOW!! Wild dogs has been on my bucket list for a long time! Katembo told us that these two, a male and a female were the only survivors of a pack of eight, the pack had been killed by lions earlier this year. Hopefully the two of them can recover, but that´s a really sad story. We saw them in quite a distance and you could tell they were looking for food, they rushed back and forth on the road. And just as suddenly as they appeared, they disappeared in the forest. We waited and waited to hear any signs of a hunt but not a sound, the Impalas was super calm and the Wild dogs had probably gone another way
On the way out of Chobe we suddenly saw two very interesting creatures on the road - Wild dogs, Wow !! Wild dogs has been on my bucket list for a long time! Katembo told that these two, a male and a female were the only survivors of a pack of eight, the pack had been surprised and killed by lions earlier this year. Hopefully the two of them can recover, but it was very sad to hear. Wild dogs are extremely vulnerable and few in number. We saw them in quite a distance and they were looking for food, they were rushing back and forth on the road. Just as suddenly as they appeared, they disappeared in the forest. It was a quick minute och less but a very cool sight! We waited and waited to hear any signs of a hunt that had started but not a sound, the impalas was to calm and the Wild dogs had probably gone another way.
Every day we took a break around 10 o'clock for some coffee and cake. Katembo served it on a little picnic table with a checkered tablecloth and we enjoyed the coffee and homemade muffins. Unbelievable that they can bake so good pastry with the simple wood-fired.
Chobe should be famous for its thousands of elephants, but for some reason we missed them all or they had moved to Savute, we experienced not only one but two totally magical encounters with the elephant in Savute National park. The first encounter was at a waterhole in the middle of the day, here we did not see just one family but we counted on over 60 elephants. It was as if they telepathically communicated with each other, we saw how a new family started approaching the waterhole and suddenly the family who stood in the water turned around and left so that the new group could have a drink. Everything went very smooth, no conflicts, everyone got to share the water. What if people were more like elephants <3
Something that I think is so charming is how the elephants' hind legs look, it looks as if they wear sweatpants, always ready for a slumber party We were the only ones at this sighting all the time, so peaceful and quite.
We got great movies on how the elephants interacted at the waterhole, do you agree that it's telepathic?
After one-two hours with the elephants, we decides to leave them alone, and we went to our new camp in Savute. We were so wonderfully welcomed by the guys! They had arranged a foot bath outside our tent, perfect place to read after lunch. I also got some company from a little dwarf mungo looking for food in a dead tree trunk in front of my feet.
After a little rest, we returned to the park and encountered one of the most beautiful antelopes the Kudu. The males have such majestic twisted horns and so nice face drawing. This was a first for me, so nice to expand the antelope family.
When the sun began to go down we passed a water hole where we once again experienced the magic of the elephants. This time it was a large family with many totally adorable babies, when you see the pictures you will understand what I mean!
We sat in the car with the sun going down behind us and in front of us all these elephants peacefully and quietly drinking and bathing. Or .. not all so peaceful, one little guy had not yet gained control of it´s trunk. We were laughing ourselves to death over this little guy that repeatedly dove head before into the water and drank with its mouth not his trunk just adorable. ...and once again, we were totally alone.
It was getting quite dark and our camera was not the best option for low light so the photos are a bit blurry..
Totally amazed by the lovely encounters with the elephants we went back "home" for a dinner. The food was really good during the whole trip, I'm a vegetarian and sometimes it was a bit dull, but everything taste better infront of a campfire
Days like this have created memories that will forever be close to my heart. This day when we saw the elephants in their natural environment, together with their families, free and amazing just being elephants. I can not imagine a world without free wild animals, if that day comes it´s probably the end of mankind, not humanity on earth but humanity in human hearts. We must do everyhing we can to stop that from happening!
