The Charging Elephants of Lebala Camp, Linvanti

Lebala Camp was no different in the way it operated, 5:30 wake up to “Good Morning”, be escorted to the common area at 6:00 for tea or coffee, and head out by 6:30. The Pacific Northwest tribe headed out with their newly adopted member and we found a baby elephant.




We then found the leopard from last night and the true reason for my adoption in to the tribe became clear. They wanted me to get out so they could see a kill, I was the bait.






“Hey Chris looks like you dropped an SD card, why don’t you jump out and get it.”


It was overcast today so it was a bit cooler and we were treated to an amazing sight. Not to sound like a broken record but if there is a heaven I don’t think I’m far away from it right now.




We then found a pack of wild dogs, which I had not seen since my first day in Botswana.


Wild dogs eat their prey live. Now that’s some very fresh meat. Our driver Prada had a video of wild dogs eating a warthog alive. The warthog was squealing for a good four minutes with his back side, legs included, completely gone. Until finally one of the dogs ripped out its heart and the poor thing finally died. What a terrible way to go. I was glad to see it on his 3 inch camera LCD instead of in person as it was probably more than I would be comfortable with.


Wild dogs vomit and then roll around in it. There is some debate on why they do this, trying to mask their odor when hunting, killing parasites on their coat, or attracting a female as only the males seem to display this behavior. I can actually relate due to one unfortunate incident my freshmen year in college, and kept quiet while Prada explained.






We then spotted a monkey up in the trees.






Next up were some very impressive lions.






As I said before I just have your basic point and shoot camera, we are just really close to them. I think Jim stated it best when he said “I wish I knew how close to the animals we would get, I could have saved myself five grand in camera lenses.”










Just amazing, so peaceful, but so powerful.




“Hey Chris when their eyes are closed you can actually go up and pet them.”




Boy they sure do open their eyes quickly.


How close do we really get? I think Liz put it best when we were reviewing our pictures and she said people are going to think I just went to the zoo.






The clouds had cleared and it was getting hot so we headed back to camp spotting a few very curious elephants. But at least they were not charging.










Lebala, like Kwara, was very nice, it had an open bar and free laundry service. But I can’t refer to my room as a tent even if I use quotes. It was more of a permanent structure, ok yeah, I was not really roughing it in Linyanti either.


My view.


My deck.


My view from the bed.


My sitting area.


My desk to journal at.


My bathtub.


My sinks.


My outdoor open air showers, which are actually quite tricky to use when there is only one of you.


Around 4:00 we headed back out, I had a few St. Louis beers which is normally not a problem. But then I normally do not encounter angry elephants. We found a herd of elephants with a large male excreting hormones to attract females, in fact you would have guessed he was peeing.




He did not seem to care for us being this close and let out a trumpet like roar before charging at us.


As he came charging Prada threw it in to gear to place a tree between the very angry elephant and us.


It was at this point that I found out I would not make a very good photo journalist. While I had my video camera running and did capture some good audio of the elephant, assuming I can edit out the various cuss words from us, the only video I got was of the clouds as I ducked under the seat.


When I got in the vehicle this morning Prada asked what I would like to see. I said I’d love to see kill. I guess I should have been more clear, stating that I’d like to see an animal kill, not us being killed. Well, live and learn I guess. But I’d also like to mention that with four of us in the vehicle with cameras, no one got the actual charge, we did however all get pretty pictures of the clouds that day. Hey that was lots of fun but can we go someplace safe as all the excitement had accelerated the St. Louis beer and I needed to use nature’s restroom.


The safer wildebeest.


The safer giraffe.


The safer African eagle. OK, African bird, I have no idea what it is.


A hippo, safe at a distance.


Oh crap, more elephants, at least the water should slow them down.






We stopped in a safe location and had happy hour. Not sure why I was ever calling this afternoon tea other then that’s what the guides referred to it as, this was my 5th day on safari and I have yet to see any tea.


I’ve been on safari for 5 days now and you would think it would get old, how many animals can you see and still be excited? But every day, every time we went out was a new story, a new adventure. I guess that is the benefit of seeing animals in the wild, you never know what to expect, never know what is going to happen. A charging elephant might have you close to wetting yourself one day while the next day a pack wild dogs conjure up disturbing memories of your freshmen year in college. Yeah, I was not only having a lot of fun in Botswana, but Botswana was teaching me a lot. I was right where I needed to be at this moment.




We sat around the fire once again and shared our lives in to the night. I looked up at the night sky which was largely unfamiliar to me now that I was in the southern hemisphere. I could not wait to put on my headlamp, start up both showers, and have another chance at figuring out how to use them both at the same time.


VIDEO: Botswana - Day 12 - Lebala Camp