Elephant Mud Bath

This morning Gavin allows us to sleep-in (7:30) and knows exactly when is the right time to head out on a game drive.  He wants to time it so that we are at the water when the elephants start coming out of the bush and down to the water to drink.  My mom and I are tired as we bump around on the red sands that have blown here from the Kalahari.  We head down to the water, there is one old bull drinking, and we park in the shade - and wait.  A small herd arrives, there is an awkward social interaction with the old bull - more of a standoff - and then the herd goes about it's business of drinking and splashing in the mud.  Another herd arrives, they lift their trunks in the air - they are smelling our scent as they come down the embankment to the water.  They pause - decide we aren't a threat - and carry on their way.  Then another herd, and another, and another.  Until we are literally surrounded by 100 elephants.  The closest ones being less than 10 feet away from the car.  As Gavin likes to say, "happiness is a wet elephant!".  They are drinking, and cooling off, spraying mud in the air, behind their ears, rolling around in the mud, wrestling in the water....  We are the only car around and we sit for at least an hour, entranced for these enormous creatures.

A horny bull is following around a cow– wanting to get it on with her.  But, the cow has a VERY young calf – he’s still pink (coated in mud) – and the bull knows the cow won’t mate with the calf there.  So the bull keeps grabbing one of the calf’s legs with his trunk – and trying to flip the calf over onto his back. 

This guy was just plain mean – and the mom was doing little to get rid of him.  She keeps nudging the calf back up onto his legs, but does nothing more.  Finally, some of the rest of the herd gets involved – there are lots of rumbles and trunk blowing and sand kicking …. And, we are right in the middle of it all.

We return to the lodge – I have a lovely massage.  And, when I return to my room my incredible boyfriend has sent me a bottle of champagne and a HUGE bouquet of flowers.  They must weigh 10 pounds!

In the late afternoon, we take another boat ride…we drive right along the Namibia border.  We get some more croc sightings

And then elephants swimming against the sunset.  Picture perfect. We spot trunks breaking the water surface for use as breathing tubes.  There is one small calf swimming along with the herd – and they are packed in so tight together that he is virtually being carried along on the larger eles’ backs.  His little tail is straight up in the air like an arial.