Elephant Walk Safaris Part 2

When we last left off, we were riding elephants and trying to figure out the best way to sit (OUCH!) I found that if I curled my legs back I could put more weight on my shins and take the weight off my tailbone which was straddling a very narrow elephant spine. Until my legs fell asleep that is...
We got off the elephants and the handlers had them get down low and sit. This let us get up close without coming up to their knees!
Such cool creatures!
This one was Teddy and Jeff's Elephant.
We walked with the elephants all the way back to the lodge, watching them forage, asking questions and learning more about them. Then we got to give them a big "thank-you" by feeding them a bucket of their favorite pellets. You could drop handfuls of pellets into their upturned trunks....
...or yell "Trunk up!" and toss the pellets right into their mouths!
Teddy and Jeff feeding their elephant
After their snack the elephants went around the lake, stopping for a drink and some water play and then took off into the bush for some free time.
Every time we left the lodge we came back to a beautiful table and a delicious meal!
After lunch we took off in the Land Rover to go on a game drive. As it is still spring-time here the reserve was full of baby animals!
Impala. Check out the mom and baby to the right in the picture.
Teddy being our animal spotter:
These guys are called some kind of 'bok' or deer but I can't remember which kind. They had about 8-9 babies with them.
This baby giraffe was only one month old!
The game drive was awesome and we went all over. Some of the "roads" we traveled over were insane, and we went up really steep hills and over rivers. The driving was as fun as the game viewing!
When we got back monkeys were all over the place. This one even came into the lodge until he was chased back out. They are very bold and will come in to try to raid your food. Of course we know all about this because all the bananas in our kitchen got eaten by monkeys last week...
They are fun to watch though and a few of the females had little wrinkly-faced babies clinging on to their tummies.
The next morning we had a fabulous breakfast and then said good-bye to our wonderful hosts at the Safari lodge.
We all piled into the Land Rover for the short drive to the airstrip.
I got this cool shot of the Rover and the landscape as they were prepping the plane.
It was hard to tell who was more excited about our short flight out, the kids or Daddy!
All ready for take-off!
When we landed back where we had left our car we had a few friends waiting for us on the runway. Zebras and Wildebeest are just one of the hazards of African air travel!
For our first overnight safari experience in Africa, we had a pretty awesome weekend. It was a great way to celebrate Jeff turning 40!

VIDEO OF MONKEYS AND OTHER CREATURES HERE.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Elephant Walk Safaris Part 1

So Jeff turned the big 4-0 this last weekend and I wanted to do something big and fun since having a big party with all of our friends and family was not a possibility. I decided to whisk him away for the weekend to a place where you can go on safari on the back of an African Elephant. We headed out early on Friday afternoon and Jeff STILL didn't know where we were going! The kids did a great job keeping the secret. We drove to an airstrip in the middle of nowhere and we were supposed to take a small plane to the reserve but the pilot met us and said that it was too windy to fly so we would drive in and fly out on Sunday. We hopped in a van and started driving.
We drove a long way on this crazy long dirt road with sheer drops and washouts. I was kind of glad that we wouldn't have to reverse the trip on Sunday.

We finally went over a mountain and got a glimpse of our destination way off in the distance. You can spot the grass landing strip in this picture:
We got to the lodge and it was pretty cold and windy. They had a nice fire going though and we all settled in. There was only one other couple - a nice pair who were celebrating their anniversary. So they got to spend a nice relaxing weekend with S & T. Just what every couple wants right?
From the lodge we were able to see a lot of wildlife and we even spotted a couple of giraffes out in the distance.
Our first elephant experience was the bedtime encounter. You drive out to wherever the elephants are on the reserve - they roam free during the day - and then you get to meet them, ask questions, and then walk them back to their giant sleeping barn and watch them eat and settle in for the night. We headed out into the bush and then we found them. They were HUGE!
We walked with them and learned all kind of amazing things about these beautiful creatures. The elephant guides really know their stuff!
Once we got to know them we got closer. Their skin is amazing.... soft, rough, warm and prickly all at the same time.
Once we got close to their sleeping quarters they really picked up the pace like most animals they move quickest on their way back to the barn.
They each walked into their own pen and they had a big pile of branches and a big bucket of pellets. The pellets were obviously the preferred snack and watching them use their trunks to scoop them up was amazing.
After the encounter we headed back to the lodge to warm up. We had a nice glass of wine and some apps by the fire.
Dinner was advertised to be at 7 but I knew there would be a major delay when our host spread out the coals and got out the braai equipment. We sat down around 8:30 pm. It was the dreaded "braai delay". We were in good shape this time though because we had plenty of snacks!
Dinner was awesome. We had Kudu and Warthog and it was all delectible!
The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast and relaxed in our room a bit.
Each room is it's own little tented cabin with a private deck and a hot tub. Sooo nice in the cold weather!
Then we set out to see the reserve via elephant. We saw this guy on our way to meet them!
Now that's what I call a safari vehicle!
Jeff and Teddy jumped on first..
Sooo excited!
Off they go!
Then Sasha and I jumped on. If you've ever ridden a horse and thought it was a long way down to the ground, then times that by 10 and that's how high it feels riding an elephant!
We headed out into the reserve. Where does an elephant take you? Anywhere he wants to! Actually there was a guide on foot and he kind of acted as a leader. Elephants are very, very smart and theses 3 were also very well-trained.
Looking back we could see our cabins.
The boys!
I love this picture because you can really see the size of the elephant we were riding!
We were able to see a bunch of wildlife as we roamed around. We saw a beautiful herd of Impala:
So riding an elephant with no saddle.... see how Jeff is leaning back on his hands? That's because the elephants spine is right under your bum and they have a raised spine. It's like sitting on the arm of a chair for an hour with no stirrups and your legs just dangling. After a while everyone's bum was screaming for a break so you do a lot of shifting trying to get comfortable...
Stay tuned for part 2!
FOR ELEPHANT VIDEO CLICK HERE.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad