ITCHY FEET TRAVELS

Okaukuejo, Etosha NP

Namibia

June14, 2024

As if the parade of animals during the sunlit days were not enough, there was more in store at night. Parked at one of the benches, I along with most of the tourists watched the waterhole, itching with anticipation. The floodlights have come on as they do each evening. The show is about to begin.

The light wanes and first come a group of elephants. It seems the same group I had seen before with the baby. They wander off and the sky grows orange. And there! In the distance I see some tall necks. Giraffes! It seems a family with three young. They are skittish though, even more so than the springbok. We wait, silently urging them to come to the waterhole. They move slowly, stopping for ages after advancing a bare few yards.

It grows darker still and it is hard to make out the animals. But their reflections in the water are easier to see. Oh, oh, oh! There on the opposite side is the clear reflection of a rhino. The dark outline mesmerizing against the orange-red of the sky. The waterhole is a still, dark surface.

But wait, there are others too! There is a mother with a baby and three others. And here comes another mother with her young. They have the waterhole to themselves. Some of the rhinos approach each other, do the sniff test and drink peaceably. But there is testosterone in the air. Earlier today I had seen a group of six male elephants come to the water. A couple of them tussled and here are two rhinos doing the same. Two of the male rhinos draw close and grunts pepper the air. They lock horns and push at each other.

The grunting, rattle of rocks and huffs are all I hear. Everyone is watching with baited breath. But look, here come some elephants padding silently in a long column. This is not the small group I saw before. This herd is enormous! I count twenty-seven elephants and some thirteen youngsters, including a baby that could not be more than a few days old! Oh wow! Oh wow! Oh wow!

Now trumpeting rents the air as trunks raised, they chase off the rhinos and proceed to splash, wade into the water, play and drink with loud slurps. They are spread out all around the waterhole but my camera can only take photos of the ones nearer the light. I gawk and gawk again.