Selous...
07:05
We land on a dirt track, there are two impala males going horn to horn on the runway fighting for territory & the female herd. If the 12 seater propeller plane hits them their dominance worries are over (and perhaps mine). Our pilot uses all his skill & many years experience to avoid the showdown. He is 23 and has a tube of pringles on his lap!
It's an open camp 20 meters from the river, animals can and do wander in especially at night. On arrival we get the safety briefing:
> Never run from Elephants.
> Do not leave the tent after dark without an escort.
> Drink 4 ltrs of water every day. This makes me want to leave the tent on my own & pee in a bush (or on an elephant thus showing my dominance!)
We get little sleep on the first night, hippos chomp, bellow & trample meters away, all around us. In the morning we are awoken to fresh coffee delivered to the front of the tent and an elephant padding past the rear.
Three days of game drives there are giraffe by the hundreds, we have seen our first kill (only an eagle taking a lizzard though!) and tracked cats by following the circling vultures, finally being rewarded with lions and an impala carcass.
It's an open camp 20 meters from the river, animals can and do wander in especially at night. On arrival we get the safety briefing:
> Never run from Elephants.
> Do not leave the tent after dark without an escort.
> Drink 4 ltrs of water every day. This makes me want to leave the tent on my own & pee in a bush (or on an elephant thus showing my dominance!)
We get little sleep on the first night, hippos chomp, bellow & trample meters away, all around us. In the morning we are awoken to fresh coffee delivered to the front of the tent and an elephant padding past the rear.
Three days of game drives there are giraffe by the hundreds, we have seen our first kill (only an eagle taking a lizzard though!) and tracked cats by following the circling vultures, finally being rewarded with lions and an impala carcass.
Our last drive is spent looking for leapord, we follow fresh tracks & check every tree but this is rainy season, food is plentiful and the grass is long, no sighting! I'm sure they saw us though.Next stop Zanzibar.
The boring duo in windswept Worthing are enthralled with your adventures but are concerned you might be harming the environment by scaring the animals. elephants are delicate highly strung creatures and need understanding.
Continue the great adventure knowing we are watching and waitng for the next thrilling instalment.
Christine & Robert