Etosha National Park, Namibia.
25 October 2004
Etosha is a huge game reserve in northern Namibia. Its big in size, big in animals and has a big pan in which big herds migrate over. The Etosha Pan contains water for only a few days of each year, but during this time it attracts immense herds of wildlife and flocks of flamingoes and other birds. Upon entering the park we saw giraffes, zebras, gemsbok, springbok and other animals.
The giraffes stand out with their necks and heads sticking out above the tree line. They have a compact torso with of course long legs and a long neck but are so well coordinated when they start moving into a gallop. They a so graceful and majestic in their manner. The trees and bushes that they are eating off are so thorny. It must be a pain to eat. Maybe Darwin's theory comes into play here with the bushes producing the thorns to survive and now the animals have adapted to eating only part of the bush.
The zebras are in big numbers following each other around, eating off the bushes and hanging near watering holes. The zebra here are considerably stouter than your average horse and their poos are a traffic hazard. There is only subtle differences in their stripe patterns but we're sure they can recognize each other. The springboks are plentiful, mainly staying in open areas to use their speed to get away from predators. They're a beautiful looking animal, fragile and light on their feet. Girls would say that they're mainly fawn in colour and boys would say they're light brown.
Wildebeest are plentiful as well, grey to black in colour and being about the size of a cow but with a much uglier head. They must have slept in when god was handing out beauty. There are plenty of them so something beautiful is happening. There are many waterholes where different types of animals would come and have a drink.
A couple of gemsbok would challenge each other at one and lock horns which would scatter the zebra, springbok, ostriches and other animals near the hole. At another giraffe would spread their front legs to bend down to drink while kudu(which is another deer like animal) drink underneath them and then you would see smaller animals drink under them.
At another we saw a herd of elephants throwing dirt and dust on themselves with a couple of babies just rolling around playing. At another we'd see a gemsbok chasing another gemsbok after a challenge and then it would start chasing a warthog. Warthog have a funny running style. Further down the road we saw a couple of sleeping lions on the side of the road. They sleep most of the day and get up when their stomach starts to rumble.
Later that afternoon we came across a huge bull elephant near the road. It was much bigger than any of the other elephants that we had seen and was about the weight of 10 cars. Bull elephants live on their own and only meet up with the rest of the herd to mate. He approached our car from the passenger side in which I was sitting. I wasn't too worried then because he looked calm but I wound up my window because I didn't want his trunk sucking on my ear. He came up to the rear passenger side door and then turned up and walked up the road a bit. I put my window back down and sat on its sill to get a better view as it was hard to see through the rear window.
Damien opened his door and stood up to take a photo but he was looking straight into the sun. So he stepped away from the car and then a bit further until he was happy. Now we don't know if it was the sound of the camera or Damiens movement back to the car but the elephant turned around that huge frame of his in an instant. ! He was furious. The big fella started stomping his front foot on the ground, blowing his trunk and flapped his ears in anger. The elephant then started walking towards the car. Damien ran into car and started it, but by the time the elephant got near he had settled down a bit. Damien insisted that everything was under control. I asked him if he knew how to speak elephant and he said "Yeah!!" It sure didn't look to me that everything was under control when we were trying to start the car. I'm all in for connecting with all living things but I now draw a line at angry bull elephants.
We ended up staying in an old German fort that night that seven germans held off 500 natives for a night in 1907. The germans retreated through the night and then the natives trashed the fort the next day which has now been rebuilt. There doesn't seem to be so much anamosity between them these days. The germans being ridgid, on time, mechanically perfect people are a good balance with the laid back, she'll be right attitude of the natives.
Within the fort there was a big group of banded mongoose which dug little holes around the grounds and then wanted to get into our car when we opened the door. Friendly little things.
The next day we came across heaps of giraffes on the road and had to stop and wait for them to walk past our car. Some would stop and have a feed on the trees on the side of the road. They'd look all over and around the tree and then delicately nibble away between the thorns. We didn't want to rush these beautiful creatures. Its was the sort of sight that reminded us why we had come over here.
Etosha has been a great experience for us and its one that our children should get a chance to experience for themselves. To see so many animals living in harmony just doing their thing. Its a credit to the humans who have realized the importance of just letting things live.
|
.jpg)
