Take Only Memories, Leave Only Footprints

Wednesday began with an early morning game drive starting at sunrise. Again, I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Sunrise:












Guinea fowl are pretty much the funniest birds in Botswana:












An impala. The antelope, not the car:












Zazu:












Happy me and the Chobe River:












There's a lion there, I promise:












A pack of tourists:













We also went to a snake park and a crocodile farm. We got to know what the deadly snakes look like. It was a good reminder to wear closed-toed shoes at night. Most snakebites are treatable, though poisonous ones require a chartered flight to Jo'burg. Except the black mamba. If one of those bites you, well, at least you only suffer for a few minutes. Fortunately, they only attach when threatened, and they will try to run (slither?) away first. Bites are really, really uncommon. I'm kind of curious to see what a puff adder bite looks like. The result of a cytotoxin is supposedly really cool. But don't worry, I'm too afraid of snakes to actually get bitten. I learned this when the caged cobra at the snake park lunged at me and I spent the rest of the visit on the other side of the building.


Where's Waldo? A chameleon at the snake park:












At the croc park, they breed Nile crocodiles for the croc hide trade. Crocs are beautiful. They look hand-painted. Adult male crocs look like islands. And they can mate with eight different females in a day.

Pile o' crocs:
















That's not an island, it' a crocodile:










I'm so happy that our group has become friendly enough to make fun of each others' tan lines and passport pictures.

The African Jacama's head looks like the flag of Botswana. However, the national bird is the lilac-breasted roller (see bird in Oct. 15 entry). Good choice, Bots.












Class time on Friday was spent doing an informal observational study on the behavior patterns of a tribe of humans aged 19-23. Most commonly observed activities were sleeping, reading, "playing cards", swimming, and drinking. Up to two behaviors were observed simultaneously (i.e. "playing cards" and drinking, drinking and reading, etc.).












This is the campsite/resort where most students stay for ISP, because it's cheap. Sweet.