Saturday, Feb 1. Within the first ten minutes of our full day drive we had the thrill of the day when we were literally circled by a herd of elephants. Fabulous. The “bouncer” was on duty, nicely trumpeting and kicking up dirt when we approached too closely. Great show, especially from where we were seated.
The rest of the day followed with less theatrics. Hippos, Crocodiles, Impalas, buffoons, monkeys, tortoise, giraffes, dung beetles, ants raiding elephant dung. All kinds of birds. Rapid, heavy and short rainstorm. We got most of it. Would have been nice to see another lion, but it was a fine day.
During lunch Mado (Trip Leader) told more of the story about the illegal killing of Cecil, a world-renowned lion. The similarities of what I read about killing wolves in Wyoming was astounding.
Many natives drive the difficult roads to fish at the Park’s lake. Various forms of cheap and improvised poles. Regardless of the quality of equipment, the fish were biting.
The lodge has two female employees, who are actually the two in charge. One spoke to us about the challenges she faced to get to where she is now. She spoke of the challenges of her two worlds: serving the needs of westerners at work and living within the traditional Zimbabwe lifestyle at home.
After two days of fiddling with my new camera (often with bad results), I went back to basics and just used the “Auto” setting. Much better. I’ll try to expand my skills one feature at a time.
We leave tomorrow for a lodge closer to civilization. Might have wifi. This lodge is excellent, but it’s Out There.
Tree of Life