At the moment the world is holdings its breath in anticipation of the corona virus outcome.  So what can you do while under lockdown?

You can be lazy and lie on the couch, watch series and get lazy.  My motto is to tackle only one task that I never get around to do or just always find an excuse for and get it done and dusted, but then thoughts wonder to travelling and I somehow still do not get around to completing my task. 

If you are hungry for a camping trip, but all the campsites are locked for safety reasons the next best thing to do is to unpack and check your camping equipment.  Get the kids involved and pitch the tent, check the zips and window gauze and give it a good waterproof washdown.  Put things aside that needs attention for another day when under lockdown.  Remember the aim is to keep busy!

We take time to plan the details our next off-road trip.  At the moment we are working on a trip to do the Ben 10 in the Eastern Cape mountains.  Hopefully we will be able to accomplish this before the end of the year still. 

While Googling I also discovered some live webcams.  Now I can take my own virtual trip around the world – from Alaska to Zambia. without being exposed to the virus!     Armchair travel at its best!  If you are curious to see what is happening in other parts of the world head over to:   https://www.skylinewebcams.com and https://www.explore.org to watch some wildlife action.

Lockdown also provides me the opportunity to edit pictures and compile some video clips that were pushed to the background for some time now due to other commitments, but now there is no excuse. Ride with us in the clip that we have compiled on the Saasveld Pass in the Garden Route.

And then my all-time favorite is to Google (and drool) about places that I have not been to yet.  The western part of Tanzania with Lake Tanganyika came up the other day when I Googled.  This destination for sure needs to be investigated more for a future trip into Africa ……

You see in the end it is not so bad to have the corona virus around.  It makes you slow down and appreciate what we have to our disposal.  On the flip side it is also really tough to be a travel addict and be restricted to your house, but this will also pass.

All travel plans are on pause, but dreams are on play!

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Let’s start off with some interesting and lesser known facts about the trunk of an elephant:

Feeling the vibe:  Aside from smell, the trunk is sensitive to vibrations; from the ground it can sense the rumble of faraway herds and even far-off thunder.

Mighty muscles:  An elephant’s trunk has eight major muscles on either side and 150,000 muscle bundles in all. It is so strong that it can easily push down trees or roll over a vehicle.

Move it:  Like the human tongue, the trunk is a muscular hydrostat – a boneless muscular structure that allows for its excellent maneuverability.

Phenomenal sense of smell:  So sensitive is an elephant’s trunk that it is more capable than a bloodhound’s nose and is said to be able to smell water, citrus and apples  from several miles away.

How to approach an elephant

• • Slow down as soon as you see and/or approach the elephants.

• • Assess the area for possible escape routes if necessary.

• • Make sure you do not have any citrus with you as they will trample a vehicle to get to it.

• • Take extra care if there are juveniles in the elephant group – keep your distance as the mothers can be extremely unpredictable with small ones around.

• • If you are in an open safari vehicle, do not stand up or make sudden movements on the vehicle or speak loudly.  Although their eyesight is not good an elephant might feel threatened and can cause an aggressive response.

• If an elephant shows threatening behaviour, slowly retreat and give it space.

Some of the most obvious threatening behavior displayed by elephants are

Spreading the ears:  The elephant faces an opponent head-on with ears fully spread (at 90 degrees from the body). They also spread their ears when they are excited, surprised or alarmed.

Mock charging:  The elephant rushes toward you while spreading its ears and just stops short of its target while kicking up dust.   This will also be accompanied with trumpeting.

Bundu bashing:  The elephant causes a commotion to demonstrate strength, tossing its head and tusks back and forth through bushes or other vegetation while making a noise.

Charging:  The elephant rushes toward you with its ears spread and its head raised or lowered while it has the apparent intention of following through. Its trunk may be tightly curved under so that the tusks can make contact first. A real charge is usually silent and extremely dangerous. I think it is time to get away as soon as possible!

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Did you know?  That an elephant’s skeleton makes up 16.5% of its total weight in order to support its heavy mass?

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Hope you enjoyed these facts.   Also read about the bee and elephant project in Kenya. You can follow them on Facebook @ Elephants and Bees Project.

Be responsible and travel safely in the wild!

Love will draw an elephant through a key-hole —– Samuel Richardson

The post ELEPHANT 101 appeared first on TRAVELBUCKET.

Arriving at Felix Houphouet Boigne airport you are in French country.  Leaving the airport parking you are welcomed in French (Bienvenue) as you pass the white elephant sculptures spanning the airport road.   Sadly this welcoming sign is no more as it was removed during 2011 with the change of government.  Also look out for the bronze statues as you leave the airport grounds.

Bronze statutes

You will also see the local guy, come rain or sunshine, delivering his bags full of baguettes every morning with his bicycle or an old beat up Citroen stacked to the roof with pain (French for bread).  We were really spoiled as you will not have to look far to find freshly baked bread and pastries wherever you travel in this beautiful tropical country.

Fresh paistries

But on with my story.  Quickly you learn the basic French lingua to cope with the ever present police and military roadblocks asking to see your driver’s license (but actually looking for some free cash donations),   be able to go to the shop,  the bank or use one of the many colour coded taxi’s in the city.  Taxis are colour coded which means they are only allowed to operate within certain areas.  So make sure you catch the right one or you may change taxis a couple of times to reach your destination.

Approaching Le Plateau

All over the city of Abidjan traffic is always congested and you have to have lots and lots of patience to cope with the bicycles, pedestrians, slow moving traffic and impatient drivers overtaking at any possible place, pace and space.  As I was always in a hurry whenever I went to downtown Abidjan I never had the opportunity to visit St Paul’s Cathedral which was erected at a cost of $11.7 million.  Apparently it is worth is visit.

St Pauls Cathedral

When the smell of cocoa is filing the air of the city you will see the toys of the rich on the streets. Hubby nearly had a heart attack when  a McClaren production car drove past him in the potholed streets of the city!  What a shame that it will probably never be driven what it was built for, but only reaching a maximum speed of 100 km/h due to the horrendous road conditions.

The toys of the rich

One weekend my Ivorian friend Christine, from French decent who grew up in Abidjan, took us on the road east towards Grand Bassam.  Along the road we see numerous road stalls selling art, wood furniture, clothes, and local food.  These stalls are a lot cheaper than the crafts market situated near Zone 4 in Abidjan and is worth a visit as some of the craftsmen are extremely talented.

Once in Grand Bassam the strong French colonial influence is still noticeable as  the edge of palm fringed beaches are speckled with modern resorts and beach houses frequented  by the vast Lebanese and French community soaking up the sun.

In Grand Bassam

Beach house views

But this is not the end of our trip.  As my Ivorian friend knows the country well she takes us to Ayame  to show us the massive palace like house that was once built by a prosperous lawyer (back in 2010 already 70 years old) from Abidjan.  The house is still not complete after 15 years and was never inhabited once.

The lawyer’s house

To sculpture the gardens he recruited a landscaping architect to recreate the gardens of a château in France complete with sculptures from bronze created in Burkina Faso.  The only person living on the property is the security guard – which anyway let us in without asking any questions – who smokes wild mushrooms that makes him happy clappy.

The gardens

But our end destination is still further east towards the Ghana border at Assinia Mafia.  We spent the day on the beach watching the wooden Ghanian fishing boats and relaxing with friends on beach chairs.

Relaxing on the beach in Assinia Mafia

Ghanian fisher boats

Which saddens me the most, despite a strong economy due to cacao and rubber production, is the amount of pollution and  big trucks carrying massive logs (due to deforestation which is a major issue) into the city.

The stark realities of pollution

Once again I was privileged to visit a country that was never on my list, but due to circumstances had the opportunity to visit it more than once, make some good friends, learn some elementary French  and appreciate life.

CURRENCY NOTE:    All over West Africa the currency accepted is the Cefa (XOF).   Being a previous French colony the Euro is rather preferred than American Dollar.

“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” (Aldous Huxley)

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