The Walking Tour at Mole Game Reserve

“The journey is part of the experience - an expression of the seriousness of one's intent. One doesn't take the A train to Mecca.” 

― Anthony Bourdain, A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines

The Early Morning Sky

I woke up at 5am for an early morning meditation. I went outside and the sky was still dark, tinted with a hint of lightness. The restaurant/bar facility is set right above a massive watering hole. Off to the side is a little viewing deck with a bench. I went to sit on the bench. The tree that covered the bench was alive with bees. The sound of the bees was louder than I have ever heard before. As I tried to meditate in peace, bees flew against my body. I kind of freaked out and moved to a less glamorous spot by the pool. I enjoyed a very nice hour-long meditation. It was such a beautiful site to open my eyes and see untouched forest reserve as far as the eyes could see.

As the sun rose I headed back for my room. Someone told me there was a family of warthogs nesting beneath the patio, so I ran inside and grabbed my camera. Beneath the patio a little family of 4 warthogs cuddled together. One of them was awake, just looking on, and as the sun crept higher in the sky, they all started to stir. They let me get very close to take pictures of them. After two of them got up, the baby started to get restless. The last warthog, the largest one, was in a deep slumber. I actually thought it was dead. The baby started gnawing at its leg, and then charging at it. Soon the warthog rolled over slowly, and stared at me with tired eyes. I never thought that I could ever describe a group of warthogs as beautiful, but there is not a better term that would suffice.

The Tour Guide showing our Group the Elephant

After breakfast we headed for a walking Safari. We broke up into groups of about ten. Our tour guide was equipped with a gun for protection. We started out, and in less than five minutes the guide got a call that an elephant was sighted, only a few hundred yards away. We walked over, passing a few more families of warthogs. The Elephant was grazing in the brush near a trail. All of the other groups were already taking pictures. We were able to get as close as twenty feet to the magnificent creature. The tour guide explained that this elephant was an older male. His face was wrinkled by time – his right ear was roughed around the edges, one of his tusks was broken, and his eyes conveyed an elephantine wisdom. He moved so slowly, undisturbed by the fact that 50 people surrounded him, mesmerized by his majesty.

A Parched Riverbed

After seeing the elephant we walked down into the valley below. The land was kissed by the waterless air, leaving behind cracks in the soil where it was evident a river once flowed. It was high time of the dry season so water was much less abundant in the reserve. This is good for tourists because animals don’t wander too far from water and the watering holes are few and far between in the dry season.

We saw a few Antelopes and warthogs as we walked. All of a sudden the forest opened out to reveal an extensive field. To the right was a little watering hole, and off in the distance a younger, smaller elephant stood grazing off of a tree. He started for the water. I walked swiftly towards him to take his picture as he climbed into the water. He turned to cross the small pond quickly, but in a heartbeat of a second, he stopped to look at me. I could see his eye through my zoom lens looking straight towards me. It was quite a magical happening, to make eye contact with an African Elephant, the most magnificent animal on land. As soon as he looked at me, he turned and waded slowly across the water, waving his head to and fro in a display of greatness before disappearing through the brush.

We made our way to the other watering hole hoping we would find the group of male elephants that called this area home, but we could not find them. On the way we found a baboon skull and saw a couple of crocodiles undercover of the murky waters. After that we headed back to the camp.

Warthog Laughing at a joke


The baby trying to wake up the mother


The older male elephant grazing in the trees



Antelope







 baboon skull


My Tour Group

This is an extract from Brennan Lagman's blog. You can view the full post here http://worldlyobserver.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-walking-tour-at-mole-game-reserve.html