I received a couple questions regarding the objects that our guides were
carrying in the first photo of yesterday's post.
And in reading that question, I realized that I had forgotten to show you something
fantastic from our trip.
The Baobab tree!
The Baobab, or Tree of Life... is one of the most important trees in the areas in which
it grows, as it provides food, shelter and water for the animals in that area.
A single tree can be hundreds, even thousands of years old.
As you drive through Africa, here and there you see a baobab dotting the landscape.
The objects carried by our guide are the fruit of this tree...
called monkey bread.
Within each velvety pod, can be found small kernels of chalky fruit....
that taste like chalky grapefruit-vanilla-pear... obviously a little hard to describe.
They are chock-full of vitamin C, and when boiled, make a delightful fruity drink.
Another amazing tree was the Sausage Tree.
Aptly named...
The fruit of this tree is huge and heavy...
the heaviest recorded was about 50 pounds.
Imagine one of those dropping on your head!
Both the blossoms and the fruit of this tree are an important food source for the animals.
Something else that is so prevalent on the landscape of Africa
are the termite mounds.
They are EVERYWHERE!
Mound from small termites look like this...
And large termites make mounds like this, around the trunk of trees...
(see background of photo)
Another fascinating find was this elephant skull that had its outer later eroded away.
As you can see, beneath the outer layer of bone lies this honeycomb area
of boney chambers.
Because the elephant's skull is so large, it would be too heavy to carry around...
so it is made up of more air than bone, thus reducing the weight.
Lastly....
I have compiled several videos from our trip.
These will give you an idea of some of the sounds of Africa,
as well as a couple of harrowing incidents.
Our first close encounter with two bull elephants...
(exciting and informative... watch to the end)
(you may want to enlarge the video to it's full size (lower right corner) to
full enjoy it!... and turn your sound up!)
(you may want to enlarge the video to it's full size (lower right corner) to
full enjoy it!... and turn your sound up!)
My heart was pounding during this encounter!
It was a little scary... but oh, so exciting as well.
Our guide (one of the owners of the camp) was an incredibly knowledgeable young man.
He felt that this particular encounter may have been the first time that these two elephants
had had contact with humans.
Also... those dark marks on the elephant's face are from secretions of his temporal gland.
These secretions help elephants to identify each other.
A close encounter within our last safari camp...
After two flat tires the previous day,
we broke down on a long drive from bush camp back to our original camp...
No worries, we were eventually rescued.
(you may want to turn the volume up for these videos...I am speaking in a rather hushed tone)
No worries, we were eventually rescued.
(you may want to turn the volume up for these videos...I am speaking in a rather hushed tone)
Stuck in the middle of the river....
The guys were able to collect some driftwood,
jack up the left side of the vehicle, stick wood beneath the tire,
and eventually back out of the mire.
(Did I mention that as we were driving into that particular stretch of dry river,
I had mentally noted that there was no way I would have attempted to go where they were going?)
And last...
you've seen our hippos... this next video lets you hear them as well.
This is one of the sounds we fell asleep to each night.
It's been so much fun sharing these experiences with you.
As we traveled in Africa, I thought of all that I wanted to share with you.
I took photos and notes so that I could stay organized.
Sharing with you has helped me re-live these amazing experiences
and all that they meant to me.
I am hoping that I conveyed all of that to you so that you could also be touched
by this incredible land.
Comments
Thank you for taking us on safari with you.
Xo
The vegetation . . .
Sausage tree etc.
Videos are exceptional. .
That elephant was CLOSE.
I almost peed too!