Another 5am start and we piled into the van to drive to Mapungubwe, an Iron Age settlement where many archaeological finds had been discovered. Along the way we saw several iconic boabab trees:
We walked up a stairway which gave us amazing views over the landscape:
We also viewed a mysterious set of grooves in the rock which were excavated by the Iron Age settlers and used as a game, the rules of which no one really knows:
At the top we also had time for a group shot:
Further on, we stopped at various look out points where we enjoyed spectacular views over the Limpopo valley, with three countries in one view. Botswana is on the left of the picture below, and Zimbabwe on the right:
In order to get a closer look at the Limpopo river, we ventured across a broad walk:
The broad walk was lined with fever trees, conspicuously yellow and wrongly blamed for early cases of malaria in the area:
The crocodiles in the water were difficult to spot, but my attention was taken by a pair of white-fronted bee-eaters:
Our next stop was for lunch in a hide by a waterhole. This may have seemed normal, but what happened to us next was something I will never forget. As we were sitting watching warthogs drinking, within 1 hour we were visited by two separate herds of elephants which wandered over from the bush in the distance without a care and seemingly oblivious to our presence. The first shot below is probably my favourite photo taken in Africa:
Before and between these visits, warthogs, zebra, vervet monkeys and impala also utilised the waterhole:
The second herd was soon joined by a very large bull:
It was incredible to be so close to so many wild elephants and their young, definitely the best wildlife experience of my life. I used up several camera batteries and could literally have posted hundreds of photos on the blog. We all left the hide feeling that we had witnessed what we had signed up to see!
In the afternoon we returned to the base for a lecture on wild dogs and followed that with a braai and a few beers around the fire...not the worst day of my life!
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