Day 2: Suddenly.. elephants

I didn't have the best sleep the first night here so I can't say I felt fully refreshed when we received our 5:30 AM wake up call but we were going on our first morning drive so really.. who cares about refreshed? We left for our morning game drive at 6:30 and this one was eventful that's for sure! Early into the drive we heard a lot of activity out in the brush and Freedom told us they were elephants. Elephants are pretty big I think I'd see them Freedom! Well, suddenly.. elephants. EVERYWHERE. Tons and tons of elephants broke through the brush and began crossing the road. There were several babies and a few teenagers too. The moms were very concerned with keeping the kids moving, nudging them with their trunks when necessary. One mother had to stomp her foot and yell at her defiant teenager to keep it moving. They seemed like they were on a mission. They walked right next to the jeep so close I could touch them. They even started to get pissed as we followed closely with the jeep. They'd stop and huff if we got too close.

A little bit later we came across the very first lions of the trip. Seeing lions in the zoo and seeing lions in the wild is so drastically different I really can't even describe the experience and do it justice. There were about 10 lionesses and one young male. We were privy to a failed hunting attempt on the young male's part. He was stalking a giraffe and according to Freedom the young males are too stupid to hunt, which was made pretty evident when he spoiled his cover by walking out into the open. It was a good attempt. The giraffe spotted him and tilted his head in a similar manner to Riley when he's confused. It seemed to take the giraffe a few seconds for the danger to register but when it did he ran for the hills. Seeing a giraffe run is really interesting because no matter how fast they're going it looks like they're in slow motion. They're so graceful despite being so awkwardly designed. The lion chased the giraffe but only briefly because he knew he didn't stand a chance to catch him after his cover was blown. The lionesses didn't seem surprised at their young friend's failed efforts. Freedom explained that the adult males leave the young males at home when they go for hunts. I can see why.

We continued to follow the lions and our driver had no opposition to off roading so we could follow them. When I say off roading I mean plowing down trees, laying on the floor of the jeep for cover off roading. Freedom takes his job VERY seriously and goes to any means to get us closer to the wildlife. My kind of guide! We ended up in what looked like the lions' feeding grounds. A few lionesses casually layed about and bones were scattered around. It seemed like they had a meal pretty recently. 

The rest of the drive was uneventful in comparison. After seeing all the elephants that morning I was especially excited to do the elephant experience in the afternoon. We were driven to a small camp about 15 minutes from the lodge where 15 rescue elephants called home. The trainers introduced us to one in particular. A 17 year old male that was found stuck in the mud when he was a baby. They tried several times to reintroduce  him into the wild to no avail. He was very friendly, especially when you had a handful of food. We got to feed him, pet him, and of course pose for some pictures. I immediately fell in love. Next pet after Riley has to be an elephant. That's realistic right? After spending some time with the older elephant we met Mambo, a three year old rambunctious baby elephant. He wasn't trained quite as well and almost charged into us. I got to take some great pictures with Mambo before we headed back to the lodge. The elephant experience was something I will never, ever forget. 

The night drive was another great adventure. We made friends with a couple from Boston who were really nice and so much fun to have on the drives with us. They were on their honeymoon and had some great stories about their night in the "sleep under the stars" excursion. Basically they just put you in a hut, a fancy hut but a hut nonetheless, in the middle of the bush to spend the night in pitch black darkness. They woke up to the low growl of lions and panicked. They called the ranger to pick them up and someone was sent. Nobody told the guy that was supposed to pick them up in the morning however and he arrived to an empty hut with the only sign of the couple being a pair of slippers in the dirt. They really should learn to communicate a little better. Needless to say he freaked out but was informed they were picked up during the night. It was a great story but I digress. Freedom and Ringo were on the hunt for big cats and we spent the drive searching. These guys delivered and after the sun went down we found a very large male lion with his very large female counterpart. They weren't phased by us stalking them although I feel as though we were major mood kills for what clearly was supposed to be date night. The lions got their cuddle on but probably saved the rest for a time when spotlights weren't being pointed on them with 8 tourists taking pictures. Sorry big buddy!

Day 2 Pictures