Our second night in Etosha and it was still exciting to see and watch all the animals. A majority of our Acacia team was comfortably seated in the benches or leaning against the game-proof fence. That night the elephants were at it again with their head butting when one of them stopped and looked directly at me (well no but in my direction). My friend Duncan was sitting next to me and being a lover of taking animal photos, I had dubbed him as my personal photographer. "Duncan take the photo", I said as the elephant was making his way over. Again I said, "Duncan take the photo" this time with more urgency in my whisper. I continued to repeat myself with the hopes he would eventurally hear me. The elephant was in such close proximity that you could feel the anxiety in the air as people started to shift and move away from the wall (except us). In fact, one of our poor friends jumped up and hid behind a group of people from fear of the elephants approach. By now the elephant was still directly in front of us and still continuing forward. Apparently Duncan hadn't heard my mutterings and when he finally looked up he was quite surprised to see a massive elephant standing just feet in front of him. Poor Duncan was so shocked that he couldn't even function his camera properly and when he went to take a photo, little did he realize it was set on video. In all his fumblings he wasn't able to change the setting which, fortunately, gave us great video footage. In the end, the elephant was so close it could have reached out with its enormous trunk and literally pulled one of us over the fence! However, all it did was raise its trunk, give a few sniffs before a park ranger arrived ranting and shouting with a stick. By no means would I say this man saved the day but it was a great testament that the fences don't really do much and you're still amongst the 'wild'.
As the evening wore on you could hear the call of the lions. Initially they were far away but each call came closer & closer. It wasn't until midnight that they finally emerged. By now most of the human crowd had dissipated in addition to the animal crowd around the watering hole. Although it had taken hours before they'd arrived, a ranger informed us that they give teh call as a warning to let the other animals know that the "King" is approaching. It was also interesting because there were two of them and their calls let them know where the other is located. So you'd hear one call from the far left adn a few moments later a return call would come from the right. It was near midnight when we saw the first sign of their arrival. Amongst the darkness you could see two beady lights, their tapedum lucidum (found in nocturnal animals, it reflects light onto the retina giving them good night vision...yes i'm a bit of a nerd sometimes) reflecting back at us. They were crouched behind a bush patiently waiting their turn at the watering hole. Prior to that, you could still tell they were approaching simply by the actions of the other animals. You could almost feel the tension in the air as the calls were getting closer: the jackals were anxious, the giraffee were very hesitant & cautious now, only drinking one at a time while the rest kept watch like dutiful scout, and the zebras were nonexistant as they had high-tailed it out of the area. The only ones who appeared non-chalant about the situation were the elephants and rhinos. Apparently they have little fear with the lions and even when they arrived and crouching behind the bush the elephants continued on with their drinking and bathing in the hole. The lions patiently waited their turn and it wasn't until the elephants and rhinos were finished that they emerged and quenched their thirst. The two males appeared so thin and scruffy compared to what you see in the zoo but I guess it's much harder to work for your food than to be handfed. I guess it's a small price for freedom, huh?
