Monday, March 17
In the morning we were still living
vicariously through our travel group. One of the couples the day
before came across a big bull elephant off the road some, and they
enjoyed watching him eat the vegetation at the top of the tree for a
while. Then they decided to move forward, which displeased him very
much. He charged them, swinging his trunk up and trumpeting. They
stopped, and he still kept coming, so they started backing up as fast
as possible, and he still kept coming. Then they stopped, and he
stopped right in front of them and was swinging his trunk back and
forth sideways. He then ambled back and starting eating off the trees
again. So they thought they'd slowly sneak by him, and again he
started to charge. They stopped and remained stopped for about 30
minutes. He relaxed and started eating again. He meandered into the
trees. They started to move slowly around the curve, and he saw them
on the other side and started to charge. They stopped, and he stood
in the street sideways, swinging his trunk, as if saying you are not
coming any further into my territory. They had thought the third time
would be the charm, but I guess not. They were very close to the end
of the trail they were traveling, but backed up slowly until they
could find a place to turn around and retrace their journey. When Kay
woke up the next morning all she could see was the image of that big
bull elephant in her windshield.
In the morning, we went on a boat trip down a river and saw scads of hippos. We are in St Lucia, which has one third of the world's hippos. A couple days ago we had a waiter from St. Lucia. When he heard we were going there he said to stay inside at night. At night the hippos wander. Hippos stay in the water during the day because they do not have the ability to sweat and cannot regulate their body heat. Neither do they swim. They walk along the bottom of the lake or river. They can stay under about 3 minutes. If they have to go above to breath and are over their heads they spring up, get the air and return. At night they come out of the water and eat greens. Frequently, they walk across the road. All through the town they have “Watch out for hippos.” signs. What a funny experience!!!! Stay in because the hippos may be in the center of town. Of course, they have crocodiles too, but it's the hippos which should concern you. One of our guides had previously said he thought the hippo should have been chosen one of the big five (lion, elephant, water buffalo, rhino and leopard). The hippo kills more people than any other animal. We drew up close to about 4 pods. All of these were a big bull and his females, and possibly young male hippos. The males try to kill off the male calves as soon as possible, as soon as they are born. They do not want the competition, even though it is blood. The mother hippo moves away from the pod when she is going to deliver. If she delivers a female she returns to the pod immediately. If the calf is male she stays away and protects her calf as well as she can from his father and other male hippos, for about 6 months, or until she thinks he can handle the attacks. We saw a mother trying to protect her 2 male calves, and 3 bull hippos waiting nearby. One was most certainly the father. One of the calves had marks all over its back, showing a male had gotten pretty close. How sad!!! The females leave the pod in about 2 years; the males in about 7. In the salt lake we traveled we were told the hippo population is increasing on an average of 10% per year. The lake is interesting. I think it is the largest salt lake in the world. About 4 years ago it was cut off from the ocean. It still has sharks. There are also mangrove trees in the lake which collect all the salt in one branch. That kills the branch but saves the rest of the tree. Isn't Mother Nature amazing??
Then we went to the game reserve which
was right beside the one we traveled yesterday. We drove over the
same road we had yesterday. Watch out for cows, goats and people.
Yesterday was Sunday, and the roads were full of people dressed for
church. People here walk; some ride bicycles; some take the common
transportation, which is an 8 or 12-passenger van. There are some
places on the highways where they always stop. There are other places
where people wave them down, often with money in their hands.
Sometimes these people are picked up by personal cars going the same
way. But walking seems to be the most common form of transportation.
The road we traveled had signs for cows, tractors and trucks in the
road. In addition, there were many people and goats. So many times we
stopped while cows or goats cleared out of the road. It was fun. We
also saw some of the huts we had seen at the Zulu village; a few
built the same as in ancient times; and many others modified, but
with domed tops. Real countryside. We frequently saw women, and
occasionally men, carrying
bundles on their heads as they walked.
Their posture is fantastic. 
So, as we got close to the game reserve
a sign said to beware of wildlife in the road. Shortly after this we
saw an elephant crossing the road in front of the motor home in front
of us. We stopped and then another came, and then more and more. They
were all sizes. Some of the babies were tiny- one couldn't even see
above the tall grass. There must have been close to 30 elephants in
all. How exciting this was. How often do you get
After the reserve we headed to the
campground. The skies opened, and it thundered and poured. We saw
lightning come down straight in front of us. Then the sun came out.
By the time we got to the campground it was raining again. I'm so
glad we're driving motor homes and not pitching tents. The rain did
clear the air a bit. It was unbearably humid and hot all day.
Tomorrow we go to Swaziland and the
next day to Kruger. It just keeps getting better and better.
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