The water hole

Sunrise

Sunset

Dusk

There is a waterhole about a half hour away from us and yesterday I had an amazing day experiencing several different parts of the day there. 

In the morning we showed up well before sunrise around nautical dawn. There was fresh elephant dung everywhere and we know that lions use the area as well so we decided to stay in the car until the lighting improved. The air was dry and chilly, I was wearing a long sleeve shirt and fleece jacket. There is a smell to the air in the dry season that cuts hard into the morning air. It's a combination of the dry grasses, scents of animals, and all the different plants in the area. We could hear the birds slowly come to life led by the scrub robins and doves, with the booming ground hornbill echoing throughout the landscape. As the sun came up we circled around the water hole looking for various animal tracks and we saw a fresh lion track in the mud.

Lion print, fresh

There was also eland dung and plenty of tracks of elephants and bush pigs. We heard the helmeted guinea fowl chattering about and then 20 of them finally coming down to drink across the watering hole. We finished up our work and headed out with the plan to return in the evening. 

In the evening the weather was completely different from the morning. My trousers and fleece jacket were replaced with shorts and a light cotton shirt. The air was still heavy when we arrived with the sun likewise very hot. We parked under a tree for some shade and then surveyed the area. We noticed plenty of fresh signs of elephant. A large group had obviously used the site between when we left and around 4pm. I had a feeling that our presence in the morning was likely preventing some animals from coming for their morning drink. We carried on with our work and the sun began to drop closer to the horizon. When the sun sets the weather often turns from a scorching dry heat to a crisp and cool desert night*. Around five knob-billed ducks flew in to feed but quickly moved on. A black-backed jackal passed by in the distance, possibly annoyed at our presence. As it got darker we climbed back in our vehicle and waited patiently. 

We heard a group of elephants before we saw them and right away we knew that they were skittish. We were in close proximity to a village and it still wasn't quite dark so they took their time coming out. We could see the tops of trees shaking and an occasional guttural vocalization but they remained hidden for about 15 minutes. Eventually a small group emerged and I saw they had a very small calf. The small group trumpted at us and showed their displeasure by parading around and eventually back into the trees. When it finally got dark four very big elephants led the way to the waterhole eventually followed by over 20 others. They came down and some drank, others splashed water and mud on themselves. It was an intimate sighting and I was pleased after the initial tense moment. They seemed very comfortable with our presence and we could enjoy watching them from a safe distance away.

*This is due to the dry conditions and low humidity. Water vapor in the air traps heat close to the ground and stops it from dissipating into the atmosphere. Air with high humidity also requires more energy to heat up, meaning it also takes more time for that energy to dissipate and for the surroundings to cool down. Therefore, a lack of humidity in deserts allows these arid places to quickly heat up but also rapidly cool.