Africa 27: Elephants Block the Road

We were driving north along the shore of Lake Manyara, looking at birds.

Literally, millions of birds, like these Flamingos.

And these Pelicans.  Birds were this numerous for miles along the lake's edge.

Marabou Stork watches over Pelicans.  

Marabou Storks have been known to prey on Flamingos and Pelican chicks.  They eat nearly anything.

Click on this photo, (and any other) for a larger image.  Not only birds hung out at the lake's edge.

At any rate, we left the lake shore and headed inland.  As in the U.S., pedestrians always have the right of way.

At least the Baboons crossed the road and allowed us to continue on our way.  These elephants, however, did not.

Look closely at the above images and you will see a baby elephant lying on the side of the road.

We thought the baby might be dead, but it was, in fact, only resting.  Those who arrived before us said that it got tired and simply stopped walking at the road's edge, and plopped down to rest.

Here it is up again, but is being flanked by adults, who are shielding it from us.

Adolescents milled around the area, obviously bored to tears.  But the adults would not leave the baby.

It is now close to half an hour since we arrived on the scene.  The baby is up and we can see it, but the adults showed no sign of leaving.  So, we turned around and took the long way out of the park.

Yep.  Pedestrians, especially when it's a herd of elephants, always have the right of way.

Next time, we experience village life in Karatu, Tanzania.

Continue on to Post 28: We Explore Village Life in Karatu, Tanzania, by clicking here.