Frisbee time

Not surprisingly, the frisbees were by far the most popular items in the bag of school supplies.

The Lion and the Little Red Bird

We'd all brought school supplies for the two schools we'd be visiting on this trip.

Along with crayons and pencils, I bought two copies of my friend Elisa Kleven's book The Lion and the Little Red Bird, which seemed like an appropriate choice for Africa.

This is Adelaide, one of the teachers at the school, with their copy of the book.

School visit

On our way to Botswana this morning, we made a final stop in Victoria Falls to visit a local school. It was the Saturday of Easter weekend, so the children and teachers came in especially to meet us.

The teachers gave us an overview of the school's operations, then the children sang and danced.

The children were, not surprisingly, delightful. They peered shyly at us from around the corner of the school building as we arrived, but sang and danced without any self-consciousness. Then, asked to introduce themselves and say what they wanted to study, they turned into bashful twelve-year olds again.

There are so many more children than the school facilities can accommodate that they have to start classes at seven in the morning and do a second shift of classes in the afternoon.

Livingstone

Tonight, before dinner, Russell gave a talk on the life of David Livingstone.

In addition to being an expert on wildlife, skilled at navigating the labyrinths of international travel in Africa, capable of juggling all the details required to get 23 tourists transported, housed, fed and informed, Russell is a raconteur, an historian and a superb storyteller.

I won't attempt to tell the story myself, as I can't possibly do it justice. I think the lesson here is that if at at all possible, make Russell Gammon your guide to Africa.

Giraffic Park

Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun.

Several of us have remarked that having the electrified fence between us and the animals reminds us of Jurassic Park. (Not that you would even notice it if you didn't know it was there. It's underneath the lip of the terrace, and it really feels as though there's no barrier between you and the animals.)


Elephants, elands, buffalo, babboons, and today, a journey of giraffes.

Buffalo Death Glare

Back at the lodge, this buffalo was grazing just on the other size of the electrical fence.

When I got up to take his picture, he gave me this truly impressive glare -- which probably would have been more effective if he hadn't been wearing most of his lunch.

The goofy grin below seemed much more appropriate.

Faces of Victoria Falls

A mother and child, out for a late afternoon stroll.

Victoria Falls signs

(I like the juxtaposition of "circumcision rituals" and "vibrant war dancing.")

Curios

There were some really nice curios and artworks for sale, but we have strict luggage weight limits because of the small plane we'll be using in Zambia, so alas all of I could have of these beautiful elephants is this picture. I guess I'll just have to come back.

View under the bridge

Mist from the falls filling the gorge under the bridge.

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day

We're spending the day in the town of Victoria Falls.

Several of us wanted to walk out to the bridge, which spans the second gorge of the falls and acts as the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Since the bridge is technically no-man's land, we had to drive out there, past the border control, then get out and walk.

I could tell we were getting close when the windows on the van were suddenly wet. We drove on another couple hundred feet, and the "rain" stopped as suddenly as it began.

This where the brave and the foolish can bungee jump into the gorge, or take a zip line across the river. Our bit of daring was going out there without officially leaving Zimbabwe, so that we had to file through the immigration office on our return, in the front door and straight out the back, pretending that we were being officially readmitted to the country.

Moonlight serenade

It's a full moon, huge and brilliant away from the big city lights, but my only opportunity to get a picture was while I was bouncing around in the boat, so it's unfortunately not very sharp.

But it is clear enough to see the most astonishing fact about it: it's upside down.

The moon is upside down.

Here, for comparison, is a photo I took in California last November. That toilets flush counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere may have sadly turned out to be a myth, but here's the proof that I really am on the other side of the planet.

Of course, it isn't the moon that's upside down; I am. I really am standing on my head as far as the Northern Hemisphere is concerned, and that's a little unsettling, a little dizzying.

But oh how cool.

Lion walk

We took turns kneeling down behind the cubs and rubbing their bellies. They seemed perfectly content to be fondled by strangers, and emergency distraction with the sticks wasn't necessary.

Then the cubs were somehow persuaded that going for a walk was more fun than snoozing in the sun getting their bellies scratched, and we again took turns taking the lead position, walking with the cubs, while the rest of the group walked behind.

The cubs trotted along docilely, but at one point during my turn as leader, I started walking too fast and got in front of the cubs. The handlers quickly pulled me back. You don't want them to start thinking they're chasing you, which would automatically qualify you as prey, even though you were giving them such nice belly rubs only a little while ago.

Here's another nice closeup.

Little -- well, actually, quite BIG -- ball of fur

Another closeup of the beautiful cub, and one of the impressively large paws they were equipped with. lest you forget, even for a minute, that these are wild animals.

Soft kitty, warm kitty

After signing waivers and getting a safety briefing, we were armed with sticks and taken to meet the lion cubs. (The sticks were not intended to act as weapons, but were the lion-sized equivalent of dangling a piece of string in front of a kitten. If the handlers thought the cats were getting cranky, we were supposed to tap the ground in front of them with the sticks and distract them.)

The cubs were asleep, curled around each other nose to tail. We had to approach them from behind for safety reasons, so one of the handlers picked up the hindquarters of one of the cubs and flipped it around so they were both facing in the same direction. This woke the cub up, briefly, but otherwise didn't seem to bother him. His sister slept through the whole thing.

Elephant ride

After breakfast, we split into two groups and headed back to the game reserve. My group was going on an elephant ride, while the other group went for a walk with lion cubs. Then we switched.

This is my beautiful elephant, Detema, with some well-earned treats after our ride.

As high as an elephant's eye

Here's a closeup of the feisty elephant.

Musth

I'd already seen far more animals than I'd hoped for on the drive, but our guide heard elephants and drove off to look for them. We found them but they were too far away to see clearly; all I could make out was the movement of some very large shapes in the bush.

We drove on, and a few minutes later saw another elephant behind some trees close to the road. We stopped and waited and after a few minutes he came out to investigate. It was a large bull, and by large, I mean at least ten feet tall.

And he was in musth.

When his head was turned sideways, you could see the secretions oozing from his glands, a sign that he was in hormonal overload, eager to mate, and likely to be extremely aggressive. And did I mention that he was over ten feet tall?

We sat very very quietly while the elephant checked us out and decided if we were a threat or not. We'd been told that animals saw our vehicles as one large creature, and as long as we stayed inside and didn't stand up, they'd never realize that we were actually a conveniently packaged container of bite-sized taste treats.

Then the elephant charged.

Technically, it was what's called a mock charge, a lot of head waving and ear flapping and trumpeting while the elephant lunges in your direction. It's very dramatic, and has the effect of making the 5-ton animal suddenly look about twice that size, and definitely removes any curiosity one might have had about seeing an elephant do a non-mock charge. (It happened so fast I didn't even have time to think about whether I should keep taking pictures. I'm not that much of an idiot.)

Fortunately, having established who was boss, and making it clear that he did NOT like us, not one little bit, the elephant retreated to the bushes, glared at us a minute or two longer, then ambled away.

And once he had left, we did too.

Close working relationships

The white birds flocking around the zebras' legs are cattle egrets. As the zebras graze, they disturb the insects in the grass, providing a convenient breakfast buffet for the egrets.

More black and white

Our next sighting was a small herd of zebras grazing in the sun. The sun was behind the one above, all wrong for pictures, but I like the effect on the spiky mane. Notice the way the black and white stripes curl around the ear.

Here's a different zebra, cooperatively standing in the sunlight, plus a foal with its mother, below. I'd never realized how the markings are so different on each animal, like fingerprints.

And the way the stripes curve around the zebras' rear ends confirms everything the fashion magazines ever told you about the perils of horizontal stripes.