One of the most raw ways to experience Africa is on foot. While in Botswana and Zimbabwe, I did several walking / camping trips into the bush and have some of these amazing memories for it:
- A herd of elephants went right around our tents the first night we camped -- pulling at bushes and cracking branches under their feet. At times, the entire view out my screened window was blocked by elephant.
- Another night, two lions prowled our encampment. They were close enough that we heard their growls and huffs. We spent the next day tracking them on foot.
- After the sun set each day, we made a fire and stayed up late telling stories. One time, our guide pointed a light into the darkness, and an audience of shining eyes looked back at us.
Caught out on open ground, we were mock charged several times by a lone bull elephant. After numerous attempts, our guides scared it off with an airhorn, but the memory stays like it was yesterday.
In walking tours, we learned which animals require the largest space, what the earth smells like first thing in the morning, which animals come to watering holes at the crack of dawn, and what tricks we could use to navigate in the bush. We heard wildlife all around us, and were able to look up at a a sky filled with stars of the Southern Hemisphere at night. Amazing experience.
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