Page 37 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL5

A herd of African elephants enjoy drinking and bathing in the Ewaso Ng’iro River in Samburu National Reserve, Kenya.In this issue, “Elite Adventure” takes you to Africa, the birthplace of safari, a word in Swahili meaning “long journey”. The term is now used internationally to indicate a trip to glimpse wildlife, especially in eastern and southern Africa. The popular safari destinations in Africa are Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, which can provide quality lodging, international cuisine and game drives with knowledgeable guides to please the photographers and wildlife enthusiasts who arrive from all over the world.Although Africa is teeming with a myriad species of mammals, birds and reptiles, the main safari attractions are undoubtedly the Big Five – the African elephant, lion, rhinoceros, African buffalo and leopard. Going on game drives in search of the Big Five is an adventure in itself, taking you on seemingly endless tracks through grassland and savannah. It is not easy to find all of the Big Five in one day or even in aweek of game drives. Some online research or perusals of wildlife guides to understand the habits and nature of the animals, however, can help make the game drives more fun, educational and successful.Let us begin with the African elephant, the largest land mammal and the easiest to spot from a distance. It prefers a habitat of woodland or riverine woodland. An elephant drinks 100-300 litres of water a day, and needs to stay close to lakes or rivers. When a herd is bathing and drinking, you can spend up to an hour watching; the calves especially enjoy dipping in the water. After they come out they spray dust on their skin to protect it from ticks and other insects.I found a herd of elephants in Chobe National Park in Botswana wallowing in mud after bathing in the Chobe River. The mud has a cooling effect and also protects against sunburn and biting insects. After emerging from the mud the elephantsElite+ 35