The day after we spotted the elephant heard we got up extra early to pack up camp. The boys had to pack up the toilet and fill in the stinky pits- haha! It was time to leave to Moremi Game Reserve and move to a new site. The new site was in the Khwai Nature Reserve, which is owned by the Khwai village. The reserve differed from the Moremi because it had less stringent rules and was not owned by the government. The place we camped was in the middle of an elephant forest; by this I mean it was an area full of skeletal dead trees which had been stripped bare by elephants. One cannot full understand the impact elephants have on the environment around them until one sees the cast expanses of dead trees, huge craters where trees have been pulled up by the roots, and thick tree trunk which have been literally snapped in half like twigs. In some places these broken trees fell right across the road, making it impassable. Our site was set up under a tree which was fortunately still living and which, I was given to understand, was a favorite snack for elephants during certain parts of the year. This was not one of those parts. The ground was covered in multiple varieties of huge thorns, so thin and wimpy sandals/shoes were not an option. I learned this the hard way. Also, while we were there, it rained quite a bit, which made all the millipedes come out. There are no earthworms in Botswana. Instead, there are millipedes, and they are everywhere.
Camping in the middle of the elephant forest was extremely beautiful and allowed us to see around us for vast expanses. I went a little crazy with pent up energy and ran around climbing dead trees and jumping the air, ha ha. Faithful Amanda accompanied me so that we could at least keep an eye out for dangerous animals.
In the Khwai reserve we were allowed to both leave the roads and drive at night. On the first night drive we took be came upon the carcass of a baby elephant. Our guide told us that when he was in this area a month earlier the carcass had been there, so it was at least that old. The dry weather had preserved the skin which had not been eaten, so it still looked rather fresh. Before the end of the delta trip we were to see the gigantic, somewhat mummified carcass of an adult elephant. Also on the night drive we saw two hyenas slinking through the grass and away from our huge spot light. We also spotted a mysterious type of small wildcat which vanished too quickly for us to identify. Night drives are, in general, less animal-packed than day drives, but it is fascinated to see the landscape transformed by darkness. An added bonus is that the air is much, much cooler.
During our time in Khwai we drive as far as the boundary with the Chobe National Park. We also passed through a suprisingly modern San village (where Batsi bought everyone soda pop and I got a coke in honor of The Gods Must Be Crazy- heyoo!), saw more elephants at close range, and a large amount of hippos. We stopped by one lake in particular and everyone got out to get as close as they dared to the water where the enormous hippos watched us warily and displayed their teeth at us every so often. It was a little terrifying when they grunted and growled. We also came across a graphic reminder of the circle of life; a young impala was laying in the grass on the side of the road and it was bloody in places and one of it's legs was broken. It was panting heavily and tried periodically to heave to it's feet. It looked as if we interrupted a hunt and the predator had disappeared into the bush. There was nothing to be done for the poor impala, and in any case it was a wild animal. I didn't want to see the outcome, but I knew what it would be. One trucks stayed behind in hopes of seeing something dramatic, but whatever was hunting the impala kept it's distance. Later, when we drove back to the spot, the animal was gone. One night the skies were cloudy and as Amanda and I lay in our tents we speculated on whether or not it would rain. We figured it might, but the air was so hot and damp we couldn't bear the thought of closing the windows and shutting out fresh air. Of course during the night there was a torrential downpour and Amanda and I would have ended up soaked like everyone else if it hadn't been for our friend EJ. He got up to close the windows on his tent and then noticed that ours were wide open. He kindly came over to ours and closed them and I guess when he was closing my window I sat up and thanked him. I must have done this in my sleep because I have no memory of it. I do remember having a dream where the wind was rolling the tent around and I put my hand up to steady it. Touching the damp canvas woke me up enough to notice that the windows were closed and I wondered whether Amanda had done it. In the morning we were both mystified by the closed windows because neither of us had done it. EJ told us he did it, but he in turn was mystified by my apparent sleep talk. All around us people were waking up with soaked bedding and luggage. One guy, Grant, had all his clothes and booked soaked through. It was a harsh morning. That day, however, we were lucky enough to make a rare find. Our guides spotted a den site belonging to either hyenas or the rare and endangered wild dogs. Whichever species it was the dens were clearly occupied with pup and adult paw prints fresh in the dirt all around the entrance to the dens. While were were circling them and talking excitedly the pups were no doubt hiding out below us. There may even have been a few adults present.
On the last night in the elephant forest a hyena visited camp. It was after everyone was in their tents but apparently one of the guides spotted it and kept an eye on it as it checked out the site. The guide said nothing at the time, not wanting to alarm anyone. In the morning I was wondering around the camp behind the phalanx of tents and marveling at the beauty of the golden sunrise in the elephant forest. I noticed huge dog-like paw prints and realized what they were. The hyena had walked a scant five feet behind where Amanda and I had been sleeping.
