Africa 12: Animals Among Us

I think I mentioned that camps in game reserves are not allowed to build fences designed to keep animals out.

As a result, animals are free to roam anywhere they want in and around the camps.

We encountered this guy on our way into the lodge after a long day out in the bush.  Walkways and structures in this camp were raised because the ground here often floods during the rainy season.

Another evening this Cape Buffalo wandered in and hung out for a while.

He stayed until it was nearly too dark to make pictures of him.

Here is an elephant right in front of our cabin.  We tell folks about these kinds of experiences and many think we were crazy to be there.

Here he has strolled over to our neighbor's cabin.

But, living with wild animals is a reality for many of the natives in this part of the country.

The truth is that one gets used to them after a while.

Here, a huge bull elephant visits Rhino Lodge, near Ngorongoro crater. 

He made himself right at home in the garbage can.

We learned to pay attention to our surroundings at all times. And to give the animals a large leeway.  It took the more squeamish among us about a week to get comfortable having them around.

While he was raiding the garbage can, I came up to within about 15 feet of him and grabbed this shot of his face.

Then he turned and scratched his head on a tree.

This answered the question about where does an elephant go?  Answer, anywhere he wants.

Then he moseyed off and began snacking on this tree, right behind our cabin.  I took this picture from our back patio.

Here's a short video of him chomping on the tree above.

Next time, we see a cheetah and an eagle.

Continue on to Post 13: Eagle and Cheetah, by clicking here.