Elephant Week

At last we have managed to find the real Elephants of Tembe. Not only have we now seen the biggest ‘Tusker’ (Tusks that are over 100lb or 45kilos each) in South Africa but also a number of the other top 10 as well as some close encounters.

Isilo – biggest ‘Tusker’ in South Africa

Don’t upset the locals whilst having their lunch or they will throw it at you!

The above Elephant Bull was quietly having lunch by ripping some trees apart when we wanted to get past and he decided that we needed to pay a toll! Unfortunately we did not have any peanuts on board (just before people complain this is a joke as everyone knows they prefer marshmallows!) so he decided that it was best to teach us a lesson for next time and threw part of his left overs at us which landed beside the vehicle. All good fun.

We have been joined this week by Ernst again who was with us at Mkhuse as well as Philippe from France. This is very handy as the cooking is now shared between 6 which makes a real difference.

Dawn’s Sweetcorn bread is now reaching mega popularity around the camps (bread made with a tin of creamed sweetcorn and some chili flakes) as well some home made flap jacks (called crunchies over here). Slight problem last time with the flapjacks though, David set the oven temperature wrong and half the flap jacks were burnt and the rest very brittle but as Ernst had never tasted them before, he still thought they were great.

Early Tip of the Week

Don’t tell anybody out here the food you have prepared is not right until they do not eat it, as you always have some benefit of the doubt when it comes to cooking out here.

We had another great experience with Elephants on Sunday with some close encounters  with a  couple of small breeding herds (7/8 including babies), followed shortly afterwards by some large bull elephants. The bulls were amazing as they walked up the road towards us which was then followed by them slowly working their way around the vehicle whilst eating and then carried on along the road behind us. The Elephants here are seriously big and being sat out in an open vehicle is a great way of experiencing their size. Please note in the picture below we had already been outflanked on either side by two other elephants!

Tembe Road Block (who is going to move first?)

Shopping

Dawn went shopping with Cilla the monitor for our fortnightly food supplies and although the Spar was open, the locals were picketing the store on behalf of a sacked worker. Decisions had to be made, cross the picket line (the whole car park encircled by the locals with a number of police in attendance, and we were not sure whose side they were on!) or go to the very under stocked and not the food we would purchase, local market store. Unfortunately the food this week will be a little below par and someone will have to go again next week!  The lure of chocolate was strong but sense prevailed – note for Weight Watchers picket lines on all Hotel Chocolat and Thorntons shops could greatly increase members success!

Thunder and Lightening

More thunder and lightning this week mostly at night thankfully which has started to fill some dried up pools/waterholes – This has really turned the whole park now very green and will improve the colours in our photos from now on. Dull grey elephants against a dull sand background are not very inspiring but against very green grass and bushes we should start to see some improvement.

The other impressive part to all this rain however is the difference in wildlife and a serious David Attenborough time.

Termites – all hatching with us driving into swarms of them however this brings out all other prey species which is incredible.

Frogs, Toads, Scorpions, Centipedes etc – millions of them – where have they come from? Some rain appears and they are just everywhere and with that comes the amazing noise the frogs and toads make. The whole smaller animal kingdom has come out in numbers starting with the insects which is an interesting experience when driving back in the dark. Coats and jackets are done up to the top to minimise any space for them to get in and you are then attacked from every angle as you drive along. When back home you then shake free all the ones that somehow managed to get under your shirt and up your trousers, and in your hair! No bad incidents yet other than David got a fly (or something similar) hit him directly in the eyeball. We must remember to also keep our eyes closed, but how are you meant to spot animals!

A friendly termite eating cricket (actual size this photo has not been enlarged – eck!!)

After the above animals though come the higher predators such as more snakes, Eagles and other  various hungry animals – it is excellent for photography as most of the animals are so full they just are happy to sit still whilst they have their photo taken.

Question – when do you know your driver is going too fast?

Answer – when the bugs that hit your sunglasses ‘splat’ rather than bounce!

Please note this is obviously not aimed at any one particular monitor we have had on our trip, as none of them would ever be going fast enough for this to happen! (well that is what we were told to say).

David and Dawn