Botswana Traffic Jam

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I had another elephant story to tell from our trip to Botswana. Unlike in South Africa, where we traveled via jeep most of the time, our daily excursions in the Okavango Delta were by boat and on foot. Our small motor boat navigated narrow channels that wound through the papyrus reeds and pampas grass, making it difficult to see ahead. 

On our third day at Xugana we left camp for an hour's journey with a destination of the hippo pond. About twenty minutes into our ride we came around a sharp bend and saw this bruiser standing sideways in the channel, completely blocking it from side to side. Our guide brought the boat to an abrupt halt as he tried to decide what to do. He informed us that there was only one way to the hippo pond and he was determined we would get there, just as soon as we could figure out how to get around the elephant. 

 The elephant, on the other hand, was certainly not oblivious to our presence. Not only did he turn to face us, he began to walk toward us, at which point the guide tried desperately to put the boat in reverse, stalling it as he did so.

 When the elephant realized we were not moving back he began to express his displeasure in no uncertain terms by shaking his head, flapping his ears and splashing water everywhere.

 At that point our guide decided the better course of action was simply to wait out the giant so we stopped trying to maneuver around him and sat quietly as he munched his way through the papyrus. It was then that I was able to zoom in to about 300mm to show just how close we were to the animal.

 Eventually the elephant seemed to tire of having an audience so he backed into the papyrus and our guide revved up the boat so we could sprint by as quickly as possible.