Welcome to Day 5 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. My theme is:
'Wildlife Encounters'
Edited extract from a travel essay:
Namibia is nirvana for a photo junkie like me. Intoxicated
by sensational scenery and exotic animal sightings, I was overdosing.
My husband takes
underwater photos but refuses to carry a camera on land.
'I don't want to see the world through a viewfinder,' he says.
However, 'Can you get a picture?' is his favourite refrain.
Our first stop was Etosha. Namibia’s flagship game park is structured to allow self-drive game viewing. Exploration of an African game park without a guide is a heady experience.
The Etosha Pan dominates the park. This former inland sea stretches into salt-white infinity.
Nothing had prepared me for its vastness.
We were watching an ostrich floating on a mirage out on the
crackle-glazed pan when we heard branches breaking nearby.
‘Sounds like an elephant.’
I have a husband who delights in scaring me. His strategy is
to plant suggestions in the hope that I will succumb to a moment of blind
panic. This he finds very amusing.
I sighed at his unsubtle attempt to tease me.
Nevertheless, we lowered our binoculars and swivelled our
heads.
An adult bull elephant was breakfasting on an acacia not twenty metres from us.
'Can you get his picture?' whispered my husband.
The angle was awkward so my shot wasn’t good, but I quietly took his portrait before we snuck away.
See you tomorrow – I’m heading west. Can you guess where and
what the next animal will be?
