BLOG 17 - DAY 42, 43 & 44

DAY 42
Today was an interesting one. Starting with me slipping in a lot of mud and ending surrounded by elephants. After a very cold game drive which included seeing a hippo roll over we packed up our campsite we were on the road to Elephant Sands. On arrival Allison, Jessie, Sav and myself upgraded into a family suite- called the Elephant room. In front of the bar, restaurant and pool was a large man-made watering hole to help Elephants survive during the severe droughts. After a quick swim and some sun we played cards will dawn. Hearing the elephants at the watering hole we sat along the edge of the bar area. One elephant came very close-5m- from Sav and I. Such a humbling and beautiful experience. Once the power went off we had to try walk to our room- which was on the other side of the watering hole...where all the elephants where last visible. Using our torches, being incredibly quiet and keeping our ears to the floor we walked to our room. Once in bed we fell asleep to the footsteps of the elephants.

DAY 43
A long drive  to Sitstunga (Delta Rain) with a lunch break at Nandos. We set up our tents and packed our small bags for our trip into the Delta

DAY 44
Leaving our tents up while we climbed onto game viewing vehicles to take us to the delta was fantastic. Once at the water we were paired (Sav and I) and then assigned a Mokoro pusher, his name was Johna. A Mokoro is traditionally a hollowed out tree trunk carved into a canoe like shape but with technological advantages many are now made of plastics and fiberglass. The way there was gorgeous as we weaved between reeds with blossoming lilies. Our campsite felt like we were in our own little world. We had even had fancy large tents (already set up= yay). While getting ready for our nature walk I discovered by suntan cream leaked all over my bag and onto most of my clothing, oh well. A close encounter with two elephants was the highlight of our walk and all the ginormous baobab trees For dinner we were served babotie (which is a well-known South African dish consisting of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-based topping) cooked in tin cans which was incredibly delicious.