Elephant Sands

This is one of those places where you get to see as many elephants as you want, in all shapes and sizes.

If you are staying overnight in one of the tents then it is all the more exciting as the flow of traffic (of elephants) is more in the night.

We drove down from Francistown to Elephant sands. One of the observations I made during our overnight stay is that they move very silently. They may be standing right next to you and you will not be aware of them.

From the videos you may get the impression that they are docile and tame. The fact is that once they know that you are not a threat to them (or their family), they won't harm you. I like the way they come bounding down to the waterhole when they sight the water.

Even after reaching the waterhole they don’t start drinking right away. They first splash themselves with water, cool themselves down a bit and then slowly take small sips of water. I saw two of them drinking alternatively in a synchronized fashion.

At times there are skirmishes among themselves and the Tuskers like to exercise their might and leadership. On the way to the Elephant Sands, our vehicle got bogged down. We knew that pushing it won't help but still we gave it a try. Finally got it towed by another vehicle which was passing by.

Birds too hover around the waterhole and they take turns in quenching their thirst.

saw somee Pied crows:

I saw an odd looking bird along with the Myna. It looked like a juvenile vulture but later when I got it identified I learned that it was a molting Myna.

It is a different experience to spend the night in one of those tents hearing the occasional trumpeting sound at regular intervals. The next morning I saw some ostriches grazing not far from our tent.

Going through the short video will give you a better idea of the place and our experience over there.