Monthly Archives: September 2021

……..On the morning after we gathered , under a starry night, to see the movie about Star we were treated to their 7am release from the sanctuary into the bush. There was Star at the very back of the line. Their goal is to get all of the elephants to join wild herds and to cut their dependence on humans. It’s a difficult task as the elephants love their human caretakers. Only a year ago guests were allowed to mingle with the elephants. That was one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Abu Camp. They however stopped this practice, because it was only making it more difficult to separate the elephants from humans. I was very disappointed, but understood. The gentleman who is speaking was the man who first bonded with star. He became Star’s mother. Even though they lead the elephants into the bush every day the elephants, on their own, make their way back to the sanctuary every night! They are in the process of building another sanctuary in the bush so the elephants stay in the bush. It was a wonderful morning to a wonderful day in Africa

Abu Camp was our first stop. Joe, our guide picked us up at the “airport” strip. The guides always get there early to make sure there are no animals on the small narrow air strip so the planes can land safely. He packed our bags in the jeep and off we went. Instead of going straight to the “camp” we took our first trip through the “bush”. It’s their spring [the opposite of us since it’s the southern hemisphere], and it’s also their dry season. The bush was brown and beige. To my surprise there were few roads, and the ones there were…were made of dirt or sand. Many had deep ruts in them from jeep tracks so there was a lot of swerving side to side…..and a lot of BUMPS! We literally drove off the roads over dried shrubs, grass and small trees that popped back up as we road over them. I had always heard of “the bush”, but experiencing it was something else. Then we started seeing them….the animals in the wild…..warthogs, and all sorts of birds, giraffes, elephants, and zebras. I was snapping pictures like crazy!!!Then at lunch time we headed to camp….This video shows the grounds of Abu. Abu is located in Botswana on the Okavango Delta. I call it a “water camp” because there is always water and the lakes never dry up. They are filled with crocodiles and hippos. One of the things that surprised me were the termite mounds that ranged in height depending if they were new or old and if they were still active. They are all over, but that’s a whole story in it’s self. We had a beautiful room even though it was invaded by baboons or as they call them “badboons”. We met two wonderful young couples, one from Seattle, and the other from Paris, France. We shared our jeep with Carolyn and Michael, the French couple. They live near the Eiffel Tower! Michael is in the construction business and is in the process of building stadiums for the next summer Olympics in Paris. I would guess, since he is so young, that it’s a business he shares with his father. Of course we shared info so who knows if I ever get back to Paris or if they come to the states we may get together. The trip was off to a great start!

On our last night at Duma Tao, the entire staff put on an out door dinner show. See, my assistant guide to Peter, was the star of the show. He did an authentic African dance acting like an Ostrich….Boy could he move! It was a fabulous way to end out stay…..next stop was MOMBO CAMP