| Elephants and Hippos |
| Written by Phillip Greene | |
|
On our second day at Sabi Sabi we had added elephants to our animal encounters, again in a very up close and personal way. We had seen a large bull elephant very close and next drove into the center of a herd of twelve elephants. We also saw numerous Impala, Kudu and giraffes. We next headed for the Sabi river to see some hippos.
The Sabi River was one of the few places where we were allowed to get out of the vehicle. This was necessary in order to see the hippos. We couldn't get close enough to the river in the Land Rover, in spite of it's four wheel drive. Hippos only come out of the water at night to graze so the viewing was not up close as it had been for the other animals. One doesn't want to be close to hippos anyway, as they are very territorial. They are killers of more humans than most of the other wild animals in Africa put together. We only saw a disappointing head or two poking out of the river. Hippos stay submerged most of the day because they sunburn easily. Their skin secretes an orange substance that is a natural sunscreen. Itmakes them look pink.
Hippos in the Sabi River Hippos in the Zambezi River
As disappointing as the hippo sighting had been, upper left, we had other big game to see. Later, in 2002, we saw literally hundreds of hippos at Chobe National park in Botswana (above). .
Mounting the Land Rovers again we ventured down another path in search of game. We were told that the animals stay close to the road because it is easier traveling for too. The bush can get quite dense. Pushing farther down the road we encountered another bull elephant in the middle of the road. He was not about to pull over for us so we had to take to the bush, knocking down small trees as we went. When we got around him we re-entered the road to stop and watch. Suddenly he decided he wanted to come our way. There was very little room to get off the road so the guide got as far off as he could due to the heavy underbrush. The elephant kept coming, not budging an inch. One doesn't want to block the path of a huge bull elephant. They fear few things in the bush and their tremendous strength and weight command respect. Fortunately he was able to amble past, albeit very close. It was another time when we could have reached out and touched an enormous elephant. We dared not speak or call attention to ourselves in any way.
To read more see "Leopard Sighting" published 09/20/2007. |
Bull Elephant in roadway Lunch Break in the Bush 
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