The last week has been so slow that our days were bound to look up eventually, and the last two days have done just that. Both days were incredibly warm with relatively no breeze meaning that the elephants were basically forced out of the thicket and into the open. Not only did we manage to view the elephants for most of the day yesterday and today, we also managed to set a new record in terms of data collection.
Yesterday morning we set out to a new area of the reserve, Pongolwane, to find the AB herd. This property is located at the northern end of the lake with red soils and vaste savannah habitats. By 9:15am we had already spotted the herd within the sparse thickets, and within the hour we took two scans and five focals. Since the herd had already been to the water’s edge earlier that morning they made their way back into the thicket and out of view. As per usual we waited patiently for their return and were caught off guard when they returned to the floodplain after only an hour or so of waiting. Everything went as it usually does with one memory more prominent than any others for the day. As I was focaling Mgangane near the waters edge a young elephant, probably two or three years old, had followed her mother onto the floodplain. After a minute or two of assessing her surroundings she started to wander away from her mother amongst the other members of the herd. Ten minutes into my focal Mgangane had moved behind another elephant just in time for me to hear Eva exclaim “OMG! What is that elephant doing?!”. Expecting the worst we all turned our attention to the young elephant calf. She was flapping her ears with her trunk raised above her head, rapidly shaking her trunk in an upwards and downwards motion, faster than any regular trunk movements we has seen so far. It was unnatural and hilarious. As we strained our eyes to see what she could possibly be doing I managed to glimpse a few pieces of grass she had grasped in her trunk. The grass itself was spotless of any dirt or foreign material, but the calf continued to fling the grass back and forth with what looked like an extremely happy grin on her face, her eyes alone displayed her excitement with her new found ability. After a good laugh and quick discussion we all turned our attention back to the task at hand. Luckily, Mgangane was still resting behind the other elephant out of view and I hadn’t missed a second.
The rest of the day was incredibly successful. We tracked the herd in the Ele-truck for two more hours. By the time the herd had moved back into the densest part of the thicket we had collected a total of six scans and fifteen focals. On the ride home we all sat silently reminiscing about our successful day. Back at camp we were reunited with K who had returned from Intibane. It was great to catch up with her and we were all very happy to have her back. Afterward we got to work entering the data we had collected during the day... and the data from the day before... and the day before. By the time we were finished dinner was ready and we all migrated to our fire pit to relax and enjoy the rest of the night.
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This morning we headed out at 8:00am in order to make a stop at the Homestead to fuel up and have time for Lionel to look over the truck engine. We were once again headed for Pongolwane to try and find the AB herd. During the night Shayisa and Khumbula had made their way north and their signals were strong for the area where we expected to find the AB herd. We also had signal for Ntini as well, and his presence usually means that OJVM2 will be in the area as well. Over the past month we have come to know each bull’s personality and preferences. It became apparent early on that the bulls were usually found hanging out in pairs, Shayisa with Khumbula, Ntini with OJVM2, Lucky with Aspiphephe, and most recently, Ngani with Kohlewe.
We spotted the first individuals of the AB herd in the thickets around 9:24am. Heike decided that we would have the best view of the herd if we drove around to the opposite side of the thicket. But our trip around the thicket didn’t go as planned, within twenty minutes of turning around and driving to get a better view, we had found Shayisa and Khumbula. The two boys were resting fifty meters or so from the side of the road. Their massive bodies were slowly swaying from side to side while they dozed in the sun. We took a scan and began a focal on each bull. New behaviours are popping up everyday, and today we were lucky enough to see our first elephant lying down. Halfway through Shayisa’s focal he decided to have a good lie down with Khumbula watching over him. His massive body was completely camouflaged in the thicket. Lying completely on his side, the only way we could glimpse his body was to stand on the sides of the truck or sit on the roof. By the end of our focals both bulls were up and headed in a southern direction toward the area where the AB herd was. Our data collection started at 9:45am and continued at a steady rate until 3:30pm. We collected ten scans in total accompanied by nine focals. At the end of the day we left the AB herd and the bulls to make our way back to the Loose Mongoose.
Today was also grocery day (which was fantastic because we ran out of peanut butter this morning). Immediately after getting back to camp we bombarded the kitchen to see what had been added to the fridge and cupboards. Without noticing a newly written announcement on the wall, we all made afternoon snacks. It wasn’t until we were returning the bread, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, peanut butter, butter, and all sorts of other things to the fridge that we turned our attention to the piece of paper on the wall. Long story short, after a long day of sitting in a vehicle the first thing we want to do when we get home is to eat... and we eat way more food than is humanly acceptable. K has taken the liberty of making a detailed list of what foods we could and could not eat at certain times during the day. For example, breakfast foods consist of bread, eggs, cereal, milk, etc etc. I read the list and agreed that we do eat the most random foods throughout the day and it would be in our best interest to show some restraint. After reading over the list of food associated with each meal time we discretely cleaned up the kitchen and slunk out of the kitchen.
Tonight, after we finished our data collection (yah!), Louise and I lit a fire with the use of a handy dandy lighter and a wad of toilet paper. Unfortunately our alcohol supply has run dry but we have decided to opt for ice cream and lime jello as a plan b. Sitting around the fire is always an amazing way to end our days and tonight we will be discussing the possibility of making a day trip to St. Lucia or another place during our next day off. We have been confined to the PGR since our first day and the four of us that have been here for over a month are a little restless. With the promise of a trip and with our data collection finally back on track life is good, and I couldn’t be happier.
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