The waterways of the Okavango Delta attract large numbers of elephants for obvious reasons. You will frequently see them on land, on the islands, at the water’s edge, and in the water. We saw them from our vehicle and our boat, and we even walked amongst them. If you are an elephant fan like us, you will be in heaven.

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Evidence of their presence is everywhere

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They destroy trees as they go about their normal routine

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Walking amongst them was one of the more thrilling ways to see them. This one was not happy with our presence, and our guide made us lay low for a few minutes, then carefully circle past him, giving him wide berth.

As we drove around the Moremi Game Reserve we encountered elephants frequently. They were usually in large herds, with many youngsters of varying age. The herd was led by a female elephant who had substantial wisdom on finding food and water.

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Elephant herd crossing a stream

This young male is in musth, as evidenced by the fluid draining from his ear behind his left eye. This is the equivalent of being in heat in the elephant world. When males are in this state they are more aggressive. This male showed his irritation with our presence by shaking his head and ears, and then trumpeting loudly. Our guide knew he was just showing off, and after a few seconds of this, he went back to eating.

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It talks a lot of munching to fill up this stomach

We saw many elephant on the islands and the waterways of the Okavango Delta. They were quite peaceful, and we were able to get amazingly close in our boats. The high speed boats let us cover a substantial part of the waterways near our camp, yet we still only saw a small fraction of the Delta.

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