day 31

So after 20 minutes of Uber, a bus departure delayed by 2 hours and 13 hours of traveling, 15 minutes of taxi, 2 hours of Trotro and another hour at the police checkpoint being checked, and 20 minutes of motorbike riding, we finally arrived at the Male National Park at 2 pm today after leaving the hostel at 4.30 pm yesterday. 

Thinking that now was the time to be lucky, we took the advice of the guy at the desk and we left immediately for the safari, just to hear the Ranger (our guide) saying: "let's hope we see something because this is the worst time to see animals!". I rolled my eyes to the sky and crossed my fingers.

Apparently something went right because gazelles and antelopes started showing up, even crossing the road in front of us. We saw gray monkeys and a big group of baboons with their alpha male, many colorful birds and a couple of big crocodiles. We also saw a family of wild boars and a huge green python moving out from its home. We didn't get to see lions, as it is very difficult here during the day but we saw the real king of this part of the Savanna: the majestic elephant.

We also saw them in the zoo, together with other animals, but it's not the same as getting to see them in their environment, walking freely where they were born and raised, with no one feeding them. Prey and predators together. 

We got into a group of males: during the year, males and females live separately, sons with fathers, daughters with mothers. They just meet during the rainy season for three months of fun.

These males were near a pond, or small lake, washing themselves and making some noises. The ranger told us they were communicating, probably deciding if to go into the water or into the shade. They were moving slowly as each of their decisions takes a lot of time to be pondered over.

Amazed by this show of nature, I started to wonder if we should be like the elephants or just follow our heart in our choices, without thinking too much.