where the heck are those elephants !?

Another early day was in front of us, but me and Tania didn't mind one bit. To be honest, once breakfast was over, we couldn't be on the road quick enough and I guess the rest of the group was thinking the same coz our luggage had never been packed that quick.

With everyone save inside Chris, we left the lodge behind us and as we were dreaming of all the animals we would like to see today, the only animal that was on everyones mind was the elephant. We had seen so many amazing animals but till now we only saw one lonely elephant from a far distance and we wanted to change that.

There was a rumor going on that a large group was in the vicinity, but still, till now they were hiding pretty good because we didn't see them at all.

As the first few hours past, we only saw loads of springbok, wildebeest, zebra, ostriches and even a funny oribi which looks a lot like a small doe. These really are cute animals and although I didn't even know that they excisted, I must say that for me they always will be the African "Bambi".

Every few hours, we had a toilet break and although Norman wanted to show us how lovely the landscape here in the National Park is, for some the thought of seeing an elephant was still on their minds and love and behold, it must have been half an hour later when we finally saw a herd of elephants in the far distance. 

Hiding behind bushes and trees, we were lucky to have Chris with us so that we could see a bit more, unlike the smaller vans, but still, the herd was a few hundred meters or so away when all of a sudden they decided to leave the safety of the trees behind them. It seemed they were on their way to attack a few vehicles, but instead they just walked next to them and as they were crossing the street we got a pretty amazing view on how big they really are. Quite incredible really.

Norman said that they were probably on their way to the nearest waterhole, so instead of just staying on the road like a few others, we drove off to this place only to arrive there about 15 minutes later. We waited for quite a while for the herd to show up, but sadly enough they never did. Instead we had a nice view on a family of impala who had the "bar" all to themselves, that is till a few zebras showed up.

This was a bit disappointing, but we couldn't wait any longer coz Norman wanted to be at our lodge for today around noon. Wanting is one thing, but as we came across a few giraffes along the way, needless to say, when we finally arrived at Okaukuejo Camp it was already past 1 PM.

We quickly got the keys for the bungalow of the night and as Rhyno was preparing lunch, the majority of our group went to the waterhole which was close to the camp. This place was really a paradise for animal and birdlife and although it was very hot, it was packed with wildlife like springbok, zebra, oryx, giraffes and so on.

I was a bit impressed to see so much animals together especially because of the heat, but I guess they all wanted to be near the fresh water and who could blame them.

After our quick lunch we hit the road again because the search for the herd was still on!

We drove for quite a while, but the herd was nowhere to be found. At one of the artificial waterholes, we met up with a lonely elephant and although we waited for the herd, it never came.

Norman thought that they were at another one and as Alington was driving on several roads commanded by Norman, they were lost as well. It seemed we lost our herd of this morning. We saw a few kudus but no elephants. Since some of us still wanted to see a few elephants, the search for another herd was on and armed with our binoculars and cameras, we were on the lookout for this magnificant mammals.

We still had an hour or so of daylight left when all of a sudden we saw another herd at an artificial waterhole and this time again there were little ones involved. This was just so cute that we all wanted to stay there for the remainder of the day, but sadly enough we had to go. It started to twilight so we needed to go back to the safety of the camp, which we made only by mere minutes. Thanks to the speed of Alington otherwise we had to spend the night outside the gates, which could have been interesting as well.

Just like the day before, me and Tania signed in for a night gamedrive and altough most of our group thought we were crazy and wouldn't see a thing, the both of us just made sure we had warm clothes with us and about 2 hours later we were back on the road again, together with 4 other people from our group.

Crazy enough, just like yesterday we were immediately cold when we were driving up and down the dark roads and this time we asked for a few warm blankets but still it didn't seem to help all that much. Who knew it could be that cold!?

Like yesterday, our guide of this evening was searching for the more important animals, but instead we had to drive for quite a distance to see loads of springbok, zebras and other smaller animals. I guess it must have been halfway the drive when we suddenly came across a lioness. She was only a few meters away from our vehicle and I must admit that this was quite impressive seeing it was dark as hell.

Within the safety of our car, we drove further down the road and although our guide tried to look for animals, it seemed more difficult than the night before.

As we were on the way back to the camp, we suddenly heard a noice and saw a few jackals and hyenas running after eachother, it seemed that they were after the same prey. It wasn't easy to follow them all the time with the infrared light, but we sure got the pictures with all the noice going on.

Seeing it was almost time to turn back, our guide passed by one more waterhole and although we didn't expected to see a thing, we were pleasantly surprised to see a white rhino on the other side of the water. We waited for a while to see what was on his mind. Armed with blankets, a drink in our hands and sadly enough without the crisps, we were looking at real life National Geographic and we were definitely not ready to go back to the camp, but sadly enough our guide decided otherwise.

It must have been a bit later than 11 PM when me and Tania decided to go to sleep. We set our alarm clock at 6 AM coz according to Norman this was the time to see the sunrise and we wanted to make the most of it while we were still inside the NP.