Botswana: Savute Elephant Camp

One quick puddle jump and we were in the dry, desolate Savute Elephant Camp. The land looked like something out of a sci-fi movie -- all of the trees were barren and gray, the dirt was a palid gray sand. But the actual camp gets its water from a well. Enough for a swimming pool.

Pictures:

• Impala - Our first trip out was our best - saw lots of Impala, lions and the elusive leopard.


• Lion Yawn - Lions are so fucking lazy during the day. There were puddles of kitties, and they look just like harmless stuffed animals out of Disney. Joe, our guide, said not to stand up because if you did, you will separate yourself from the jeep (visually) and become a target for the lions.


• Mama Leopard Pissed - Joe managed to track down a leopard from the truck (pretty cool to watch him analyze tracks and find it). We followed this leopard onto the rocks to see the cubs play. Remarkable. But everything was so far away that there were no good images.


• View From Savute -- This is the view from our room. There was a man-made watering hole outside the camp. There were tons of elephants out there.


• Elephant Family - We saw so many elephants out there that by the end of the two days, we became jaded. "Elephant." we would tell each other, in a listless voice while we hunted for other game.


• Lion Cub -- So adorable. Very cute.


• Rover In Savute -- these are the jeeps that the we rode around in. Our guide, Joe was really into tracking down game. In this photo, M. and I had to ride with a different group. The other guide was not nearly as good as Joe and we were fortunate to have him.


• Kudo Locking Horns -- there were lots of cool antellope. This is one of the better images that I took. They are truly magestic animals. And they taste good too.


• Giraffes -- the giraffes were curious to see us and even though there were babies, they were remarkably un-skittish.


• Elephant Alone -- View the image. Words don't do it justice.


• Sunset In Savute -- the wide open spaces were remarkable.

There is a shocking amount of poop in Africa. Elephants (and there are a lot of them out there) generate a lot of poop.

I should create a photo album of my animal shots. I could call it "Butts of Africa" -- the animals are usually running away from us, so by the time we are close enough to take a picture, all I end up with is a photo of their butt.