My Wild Elephant – And Lion Cub Encounter!
People always ask about how close you really get to the animals on safari, so I have two stories to give you a better idea!
First, look at the picture above: here is someone I met on safari – a beautiful – and BIG wild Elephant!
My wife Alex and I were lucky to stay in parts of Botswana that have some of the largest herds of Elephants in the world!
They are majestic – and can be dangerous if you get too close – so our Expert Guides at Little Duma Tau Lodge in the Linyanti River area of Botswana always knew how to best approach – and in this case we watched as an adorable baby elephant wanted Mom to get up and on her feet – this is so cute!
That baby was adorable – we were so lucky to capture that on video!
I have shared many of our safari adventures, but one elephant encounter was a little too close for comfort and a bit scary – and here’s how it all began:
Welcome to Little Dum Tau!
Little Duma Tau is part of the Duma Tau Lodge, situated in the private Linyanti Wildlife Preserve, offering exclusive access to prime wildlife viewing in Northern Botswana. Yes, you are right on the river, and these guys are as well!
Yes, the elephants cross the river all day long, right outside the camp! And you saw that a Hippo was out there with them as well!
The camp is renowned for having the highest density of elephants in the area, along with lions, hippos, wild dogs, and leopards.
But one day, I got a little TOO close to an Elephant!
First, here is the entrance to our tented room:
As you saw in the video, our room sits right on the Linyanti River Delta, so there were Elephants crossing all day long outside, and many Hippo sightings too.
My “Close Encounter” With An Elephant!
Here’s what happened one day.
This raised walkway connects Little Duma Tau with the main lodge, Duma Tau. They are raised to allow easy access for any animal that wants to go by – and every fifty yards, the walkways go down to the ground so that Elephants won’t crash through them – which they will!
I walked Alex to the main lodge so she could work out between safaris, and I thought I’d walk back to our room…when this happened – I walked directly into a feeding Elephant, standing next to the walkway! Take a look:
As you can see, that walkway would have put them very close to an eating Elephant – NOT the place to be!
So, I backtracked slowly to the larger lodge and did this:
That’s right: I had a beer on the deck and waited for Alex – and the wild Elephant – to both finish what they were doing!
I told our Guide later about the encounter and he told me I was absolutely right NOT to try and walk past the Elephant: “very dangerous” he said…and that is why you also never leave your room at night without a Guide – the animals are everywhere!
Don’t believe me? Look at this!
Our Lion Cub Encounter – At Our Camp!
One night we decided to do a night time safari – just to see who was out and about – and boy did we strike gold!
These two baby Lions were waiting for their Mom, who was hunting for food – inside our camp! Yes, the Mother Lion was spotted prowling on the grounds and we all waited patiently while she vacated – that is why you never go out alone at night!
So, as you can see, the animals have the full “right of way” and it is crucial to be safe and vigilant…this baby Elephant is less than 20 feet from our Jeep! Our expert Guide had stopped well before the Elephants passed, but they will go where they want to so you must be careful!
We had some many magical moments on this trip of a lifetime: see more here:
It’s important to note again that all of the animals roam free – and thanks to preserves like this, they are much safer from poachers. Here’s a look at how that happens:
You see, the animals are free to roam wherever they want: we are the ones limited to sitting quietly in a Jeep – but it allows us to discover so many magical moments like this:
Yes, a Leopard just wandering free – and we also came across one sitting quietly at the base of a tree:
You can see more video and inside info on this amazing cat…see that here:
I already shared a story about how they greeted us at Singita Boulders in South Africa on our first night, plus a look at the festive food welcome we got when we arrived…see it here!
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Categories: Africa, Exotic Travel, Memoirs, nature, safari, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir
johnrieber 
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