Friday, September 27, 2024: Skybeds

Indispensable items to have while on safari are:

A good pair of binoculars. They are called binocs. I used to hate binoculars because the weight would pull on my neck. A birder taught me to wear it like a cross body bag.
A hat with a strap to keep it on when it is windy or when one is driving fast to find an predator on the hunt. Broad brim is best to shield your eyes with a longer flap in the back to protect your neck.
Neck gator for dust which is ever present, even while on a boat, etc . Sometimes I double it up. Don’t leave without it!!
Sunscreen and Chapstick.
Water. Metsi is the Setswana word for water.
Sunglasses and prescription glasses are a must. Don’t even think about wearing contacts. My prescription sunglasses have an insert that adheres to my face and keeps the dust and wind away from my eyes!!
A butt/lumbar pillow. African road massages are quite bumpy.
Camera. All my photos were taken with my cell phone. A telephoto camera would be nice especially for photographing faraway birds, but I decided that it is too bulky to take as luggage.

I know that I look like a terrorist, but I am comfortable and well prepared for a safari.

In the Chobe National Park, they have special boats fitted with mounted huge cameras for photographing wildlife. When one is done, one removes the SD card to take home.

Things that I wish that I had: gum and hair conditioner. When I asked Rob, he said, “More cash”. On the plus side, every camp did our laundry at no cost.

Today begins with a ten-minute helicopter ride to Hyena Pan, another tented camp. It was just a meeting point to travel to the Skybeds. We were welcomed by a friendly staff member who seated us near the watering hole where many elephants were arriving for a drink.

His name tag said TH. I asked him how to pronounce his name. He said T.H. Well, that is a lot easier than the alternative. They don’t use periods when they go by initials.

Our adventure continued as we planned to spend the night safely among the African animals in a Skybed while observing stars of the southern hemisphere from our rooftop bed. Rob, a very amateur astronomer, planned that we would be here on a moonless night.

Prior to our arrival, we stopped at a hide to view animals, mostly elephants, and a few birds up close at the water hole.

Triplet Greater Blue-eared Starlings stop at the water hole for a drink … but they’d better watch out or they might get stepped on.

So many elephants. The groundwater is pumped in by a solar generator. It was malfunctioning so the elephants were wondering where the fresh water went. Their curiosity gave us some up-close pictures.

Baby elephants drink water this way until they learn how to close off their nostrils.

Elephant story

A group of blind men heard that a strange animal, called an elephant, had been brought to the town, but none of them were aware of its shape and form. Out of curiosity, they said: “We must inspect and know it by touch, of which we are capable”. So, they sought it out, and when they found it, they groped about it.

The first person, whose hand landed on the trunk, said, “This being is like a thick snake”.

For another one whose hand reached its ear, it seemed like a kind of fan.

As for another person, whose hand was upon its leg, said, the elephant is a pillar like a tree-trunk.

The blind man who placed his hand upon its side said the elephant, “is a wall”.

Another who felt its tail, described it as a rope.

The last felt its tusk, stating the elephant is that which is hard, smooth and like a spear.

A sighted man enters the parable and describes the entire elephant from various perspectives, the blind men then learn that they were all partially correct and partially wrong. While one’s subjective experience is true, it may not be the totality of truth. This is something that we should be aware of every day in our own observations.

Then to our Skybed. There are three of them. Each is a three-story raised platform, overlooking the wildlife-spotted plains of Khwai.

The second floor has a flushing toilet and dressing area. On the top floor is an enormous king-sized bed, draped in white linens and a feather duvet, mosquito net, and completely open to the stars.

Lucky for us (I think), lions killed an eland near the Skybeds camp, and the extended lion family would be feasting on the carcass for the next few days.