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Country:              Botswana                                            
Location:             Okavango Delta               
Reserve:              Moremi Game Reserve 
Camp:                  Abu  

This is a picture of a young elephant tagging along with the herd taking guests on an elephant back ride through the lush green marshes of the delta. The youngster has been playing in the water, evidenced by his skin being wet and reflective. About 6 inches of water covers this area of  marsh grasses, which then gives way to slightly raised palm covered islets.

This picture was taken in the Okavango Delta.  The Okavango Delta is rightly considered one of the most incredible wildlife and wilderness sanctuaries in Africa.    It is the largest inland delta system in the world, an area of about 6000 square miles, a mosaic of grasslands, floodplains, palm filled islands, forests, lily lagoons and winding water channels, all combined into a perfectly constructed puzzle, in which animals wander as they please. The Kavango River, born in the uplands of Angola to the Northwest, flows into and fans out across the Kalahari Desert to form this immense inland delta. What makes this area most remarkable is that it is a wetland paradise located deep within the arid Kalahari Desert. The Okavango is Africa's largest and most beautiful oasis. The water of the Okavango literally floats on a saturated sea of sand.

Abu Camp, set in a pristine pocket of riverine forest, is situated on the western side of Botswana's Okavango Delta in a vast private reserve of 450,000 acres.  The camp is named after Randall Moore's legendary Elephant, Abu, the star of such motion pictures as "White Hunter Black Heart", and "The Power of One." Abu is an Arabic word meaning "Everything to do with Elephants." Abu currently leads a herd of four adults and nine juveniles, ranging from two months to 40 years old.

Guests of Abu Camp walk with and ride elephants, to get a glimpse of their world and learn about their lives. From the lofty heights of the elephant's back, the wetland wilderness that is the Okavango takes on a unique perspective. The elephants move at a natural stately pace without disturbing other game. Viewing wildlife from atop an elephant allows a closer approach to other animals than can be achieved when simply walking as an obvious human figure. Becoming part of an African elephant herd is an extraordinary privilege.

Photographed and Copyrighted ©2005 - 2011 All Right Reserved By: Harriet Smith

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