Shuffle back to Buffalo

This is a sequel to an earlier blog entry (Shuffle off to
Buffalo).
It has been about a couple months since I have last
been to Buffalo and yesterday as chance had it,
there was an opportunity to return. The last time
I was here it wasn't quite as far into the dry season
and though there were many animal sightings at
that time, I was told that the best was yet to come.
So seeing as I was able to return to Buffalo and
upon arrival, almost immediately we saw what you
are looking at in the picture above. Behind the
elephant, if you look closely you may be able
to see the legs of a baby behind her. In back
of the mother elephant is a African buffalo. I was
pretty lucky to have gotten that shot.
We must have seen a total of about 20 elephants in
3 groups. In the last group we passed there were
three bulls and one was trumpeting and posturing
at a distance of about 20 meters from the vehicle.
There were some Namibian ladies in the back of the
pickup and when the elephant got feisty, they said that
the reason was, that it was because one of the
women was pregnant. The women were scared as
the belief is that the elephants can smell a pregnant
woman and will attack her. This goes under one
of those cultural beliefs.
As the night rolled in so did the elephants. When we
entered they were about 300 meters from the
camping/housing area. After dark they moved in
closer and though the sounds in the night can play
tricks, they seemed to be at least 20 meters or
so away. It was something to hear them ripping out
branches and chomping away. At one point we
were virtually surrounded by them.
Too bad there wasn't a moonlit sky to so that we
may have caught a glimpse of them. But there
were plenty of shooting stars so needless to say,
it was a great adventure and a totally surreal
experience. It would have been even greater if
there was a chance to see them, but hearing them
was exciting in it's own way as there was a lot
left to the imagination.
The elephants actually drink once every couple
of weeks so I am lucky that this is their time.
Hopefully today there are a few of them coming
to the river and the chance for photo opportunities
will be off the charts.
If there is I'll definitely post again this evening.
For now it is off to the river with a cup of coffee
and anticipation.