Our adventure to the Etosha Animal Park in Namibia

We had a free Saturday so we drove to the North of Namibia and experienced a
wonderful animal park.  It is very dry in September so the only water available for
the animals is at the water holes.  You can sit nearby and watch the animals
interact, especially in the late afternoon and early evening.

We both love watching the animals and can do it for hours.

Our first sighting was a herd of Wildebeest that crossed the road in front of us.

The Eland--I love the antlers!  An eland can weigh up to one ton.

 Next we saw a herd of giraffe to the left of our car.  They are so graceful and majestic.

The ostrich were plentiful. 

These are DLA's (Dear-Like Animals.)  I believe these are called Impala.  

#1.  The Water-hole Escapade of Mutt and Turmoil

Now we are at the water-hole for the evening.  There seems to be a pecking order--when certain
animals are there, then others won't come around.  The first to arrive was the big elephant and
then the zebra came.  The come single file in a line across the prairie.  

Then the giraffe finally got brave and approached.  They are so timid and skiddish.  If there is
any kind of a disturbance whatsoever, they take off.

One lonely, little Rhino came on the scene next.  He's only one--he's enjoying his own
reflection--what a lucky shot.

Then it's like the gate is opened and everyone begins to come.  Everyone is doing just great
and then Mutt and Turmoil, the two local Jackals, appear on the scene.

You can tell immediately that they are looking for mischief.  They're like two little kids that
just cannot let the baby sleep or play peacefully.  They like to instigate some trouble.

Sure enough.  Suddenly with a burst of energy they take our after the little impalas and it was
like someone had appeared our of nowhere with an eraser.  So quickly was the water-hole emptied.

Not a soul was around.

It was like Mutt and Turmoil looked around and said, "Hey, where did everybody go?  We
just wanted to be your friend.  Ha Ha."

Then in no time at all, everyone came back and the party resumed.

#2.  The Eternal Triangle Rears its Ugly Head

The battle line has been drawn and these two males are ready to go at it.

And let the games begin.

Things are getting pretty intense and then suddenly it is over.  The dominate fellow calmly
walks away and takes his place in the water-hole with his lady friend.  

It seemed like the one that lost out is looking around to see if anyone saw his humiliation.

Then he just stands there, forlornly looking at his lost opportunity.  Life can be tough even in the
animal kingdom.

Animal stories from Etosha continued. . .

Imagine our surprise and delight as we stopped at this small watering hole and found
over 30 elephants there.  We stayed and watched them for about an hour and observed
some interesting things.

First of all, when the elephants are at the watering hole, no one else will come.  They
appear to dominate.  We wondered who would be the king if the lions were to show up.

This is a jackal, I think.  He may be contemplating an attempt at the bird but there is no
way he could conquer that.

"Oh well, I'll just look for a target somewhere else."

"What?  You want to take our picture again!!"

The blue color of these birds is so brilliant and beautiful.  Anyway, back to the elephant
stories and the waterhole in Etosha.

$3:   Meet Baby Elephant "Elle"

I think Baby Elle is fairly new to this world and is very inquisitive as all babies are.  She really
wanted to experience the water but Mom and the others had a different idea.

She tried to approach the water from several different angles.  But every time that she got the
least bit close, the elephants would tighten up and not let her through.

They wouldn't even let her get her feet wet!

#4:  Junior, the Elephant Bully.

This young bull elephant did something that Junior did not approve of and we heard a
tremendous elephant roar or trumpet and then we saw "Junior" take after the other fellow.
He butted him continually and then chased him away from the group.

When they were quite a distance from the watering hole, Junior stood there and glared at him
for a time.  Then left and returned to the group.

After awhile, let's name him Buddy, cautiously and slowly returned to the water hole and found
a spot on a remote rock away from the group.  Then he stood there for the remainder of the
time all alone and motionless.  It was really quite sad.

Etosha and the LIons!

Look what came walking down the street, right past our car.

Grandpa and I had a bit of a disagreement--imagine that-- because
he wanted the window down so I could get a better picture.
Seriously, this fellow walked right past our car window.  By the
way the window was up--he was on my side for crying out loud.

We followed him across the prairie as he seemed to have a
destination in mind.

See the determined look on his face.  He has a definite plan.

Sure enough.  He led us right to his lair and his ladies.  There
were four females around this water hole waiting for him.

He stayed off site but in sight as he seemed to be
supervising his territory.

Moments from Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia

We greeted this young man in the airport and it turns out he is the Chief of his village in Nigeria.
We felt honored to pose with him.

The grounds by the Grand Palms Hotel in Botswana are full of Baboons, especially in the morning
and evening.  They are so playful and entertaining.

This isn't the best picture but it is the only one that's permissible on this blog.  They are a group
of Namibians from the North Country.  Their custom is to wear no tops--men, children,
and ladies.  They coat their bodies and hair with a red clay and seldom bathe we were told.
They were at the street market selling the goods that they had made.  They rest of the
pictures I have are National Geographic worthy. 

Note the two darling boys under this gorgeous fuchsia (I think) tree.

Public Affairs Retreat in Johannesburg

We attended a Public Affairs Retreat for all of the P.A.Missionaries in Southeast Africa.
Part of the fun was to interact with 3 beautiful elephants.  They were trained to play
soccer/basketball with their trainers.  Fascinating to watch.

Then, of course, we needed to get extra friendly.  I put an apple in my mouth and the elephant
took it right out of my mouth and ate it!

And then they gave them a handful of peanuts which they promptly blew right into your face!

Elder Roberts takes everything so calmly and with such grace--is this a personality change or what!

The Kudo--such a majestic animal.