June 1, 2016

I load on a small boat with 6 other people at 3pm for the second half of the Chobe exploration. We embark on a water safari and I hope that I will see some of these elephants that I hear are everywhere. The sun is still high in the sky and the Chobe River is calm. There is not a cloud to be seen. The tranquility of the Chobe River is intoxicating, so much that when our tiny boat comes within 4 feet of a 14 foot crocodile sunning itself on the beach, nobody in the boat is even phased. We all simply sit in quiet observation of each other. After about 5 minutes of this, we proceed further up the river.

And then all of a sudden…bam…there they were, and yes, they were everywhere. They were in the water. They were on the shore. Remember that I wrote seeing a lion was like the first time I saw Star Wars? Seeing these magnificent animals was like seeing Empire Strikes Back. I was captivated. Their size and grace was overwhelming. At one point, we were within 6 feet as we sat quietly and watched them graze. We didn’t move for about 10 minutes, but I could have sat there all day. The further up the river we went, the more that we saw. We learned from our guide that the Botswana government has a strict law against poaching such that if they observe someone in the act, they have the authority to shoot to kill. This makes me happy that they place such a value on these animal treasures.

Cruising back down the river to end our tour, we were able to observe the elephants coming back to the shore, their massive bodies silhouetted against the Botswana sunset. I vacillate in my observations between whimsical and contemplative. Today was absolutely the latter. Being this close to nature in its purest and wildest form, to observe these magnificent animals in their natural habitat, is simply beyond description. I am truly humbled.