We’ve been asked a couple of times if there’s a story behind the photo that appears on our Facebook and homepage. That said, we thought we’d provide a little background.
The photo shows Sheri in our camp in Khwai, Botswana where she’s preparing lunch. In the background, there’s a large bull elephant grazing - one of four bulls in our camp that day (the other three are just out of frame).
I took this photo last October (2015). At the time, Sheri and I were two months into our current global overland safari after completing the build of our Land Cruiser Troop Carrier. The first leg of our round the world trip, our focus was on photographing wildlife in several of our favorite reserves in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.
Over the years, we’ve photographed wildlife in 30 African countries and Khwai is one of our favorites wilderness areas on the continent. Nestled between Moremi Game Reserve and Chobe National Park, Khwai is a community led development trust that was setup to benefit the people of Khwai Village and protect the surrounding wilderness. In Khwai, there are no toilets, running water, or other camping facilities. Just blissfully wild bush that connects two of Africa’s great reserves.
During our most recent visit to Khwai so much wildlife passed through our camp we often joked there was no reason to go on game drives. A male lion, leopard, countless elephants, wild dogs, hippos, bushbucks, kudu, impala, and baboons were just some of the animals that stopped by for a visit. Click here for a post on the beautiful, vibrant sounds of the bush at night, which include an audio of the symphony of Africa's nature.
One morning a pack of wild dogs wandered into camp while I was putting down the tent for a game drive. The pack stayed within 200 meters of our camp for nearly 10 hours before finally setting off to hunt later that afternoon.
The highlight, however, came when four bull elephants spent two very intimate days with us. It was a remarkable (and slightly stressful) couple of days where the bulls frequently came within a few feet of us. No signs of aggression. Just four very chill bulls grazing so close to us that one of them knocked over a camp chair (fortunately Sheri wasn’t in it).
We selected this photo for the home page of Wanderlibre.com and our Facebook page because it conveys much of what we love about travel. It’s about self-guided adventures into wild and remote places, where it’s possible to share lunch with elephants and be eaten for dinner.
Want to see more? Here’s a brief excerpt from our personal video journal, which we shot while in Khwai. Disclaimer: It’s part of a video series Sheri and I make for ourselves (not intended for sharing), which means we often grab whatever camera is nearby to capture the moment. As such, the production value isn’t great as I shot it with my 5DSR and it shifts out of focus often. None-the-less, it gives a little more context to our photo so feel free to take a look. Just don’t be surprised if the shifting focus makes you a little motion sick!
Are you passionate about Africa’s wild places? If so, let us know some of your favorite spots. We’d love to hear from you.