Elephants Sands

After a long, boring, hot drive, we arrived at Elephant Sands Lodge. Its 2 km off the highway, and has permanent tents and cabins. The restaurant, bar and lodge area was set up to view elephants by putting a watering trough about 15 m. away from the viewing area. A barrier of low sharp rocks and spikes protect the tourists. We watched them for 3 hours before dinner and another hour after dinner. There were 20-30 elephants and they were constantly moving around, jockeying for position. Occasionally there would be snorting and trumpeting. A mother and baby that was perhaps less than a year old came to the watering hole and after about 10 minutes the other elephants allowed the baby to get into the centre for a big long drink, apparently it may have been still learning to use its trunk to drink with. During the night, we were woken up by elephants walking right beside our tent (like a soft sided house on a raised platform) and so we watched them for half an hour and then got up at 5:30am and watched them again, as well as the gorgeous sunrise. Its a one-of-a-kind place to stay!Read more