My stomach was upset so I stayed in camp while Jan went out on the morning and afternoon game drives. I didn't miss a lot though as I watched hundreds of baboons and herds of Kudu, African antelope of which there are countless species, from the front deck of our 'tent.'
Then we were awakened at 3:00 AM by what sounded like tanks rolling through camp. Turns out it was elephants literally surrounding our tent as they made their way up from the river to forage in the sere woodlands behind the camp. One elephant was scratching it's back on a baobab tree right beside our front deck, literally within arm's reach had we been outside on the deck. Memories and elephants dancing on the lawn... do do doo... well, more about elephant doo doo later. Arthur later explained that the elephants rub against the trees like that to soften their skin and get rid of ticks. Somehow we didn't mind losing a half hour's sleep for this spectacle!
Yes, we were really roughing it. The 'tent's' or 'cabins' we had during our stays at the four different camps were rustic only in appearance. Ensuite bathrooms with showers, electricity and camera charging facilities, comfy king size beds, maid service... we would come back after the evening meals to find our mosquito netting around the bed lowered, the bed turned down, laundry done and folded... ah yes, life in the bush!
But we really were 'out in the bush.' Even the staff who had local cellphone plans got no signal out where we were. The only 'roads,' if you can call them that, were rutted paths through the bush, and the only 'traffic' was the other of the two land rovers we split up into for the game drives, and the occasional research vehicle. We would get used to having elephant and hippopotamus and baboons and giraffe roaming in and out of camp literally right in our front and back yards. We weren't allowed to walk by ourself back to our tents after dark; we had to be accompanied by a guide. In our next camp, Moremi Tented Camp, Arthur told us one evening as he escorted us back to our tent after a sumptuous evening meal in the open air dining and meeting area, that the tree beside our tent was a favorite haunt of one of the local leopards.
Bother me tomorrow, today I find no sorrow... do do do, lookin' out my back door...
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