In tune with nature

After arriving to Mole National Park, we quickly realized how in tune we were with nature because while we unloaded, a family of warthogs wandered about our feet.

A few were just standing around various sections of the hotel without a trainer or anyone to tame them if they were to become aggressive. Tired and worn out from our 10 hour drive, a few of us looked to blast the AC and nap as soon as we reached our room, while others planned to take in the beautiful scenery. Unfortunately, our naps were put on hold due to the blackout, so we all decided to chill alongside the swimming pool. Mac, Kelly, Nicole, and Brittany couldn’t resist so they all threw on their bathing suits and took a dive into the lukewarm swimming pool for their cool down. As the sun set, we were greeted by a group of baboons gathering at our front porches. Initially, everyone was fascinated by their arrival but Ashley and Olivia quickly discovered that these baboons weren’t as friendly as we’d like them to be. One baboon hopped from the tree and charged at Olivia but, she managed to run quick enough to avoid its fatal swipe at her legs.

The next day, we woke up at the crack of dawn; some by the banging of monkeys on our back doors and others by the cries of various birds. Still cleaning the crust out of our eyes, we were all ready to start our tour. We were divided into two groups. Unfortunately, the first group was stuck with an uninteresting tour guide and an angry elephant to top it off. On the other hand, the second group’s, the group that I was in, tour guide immediately captured our attention the moment we hiked down the hill to witness four male elephants bathing in the water hole. These enormous animals, as deadly as they could be, gracefully dipped their trunks in the water slowly rinsing their backs off from possible debris left from the night before. We even noticed a crocodile just a few inches away from the group of bathing elephants. Don’t worry; it wasn’t like in the movies. The crocodile didn’t attack; it just swam right pass the elephants. Christopher, our tour guide, then led us to see the antelope. There were three types of antelope that lived in the national park, the water buck, bush buck, and the third I don’t remember. The water bucks were grayish in color and the bush bucks had a brown coat. To our surprise, we witnessed an up close view of what I like to call, a “love triangle” battle amongst the water bucks. Two male bucks were fighting over a female buck. Christopher said that the males often fight over females and sometimes these fights can last for days. Out of courtesy for the visitors, the bucks put their “love triangle” battle on hold and ran to opposite ends of the park. Next, Christopher took us to see the green monkeys. Many were in hiding and blended in with the environment pretty well. There were two types of monkeys in the park, red monkeys and green monkeys. Christopher said the green monkeys were still shy and hadn’t gotten comfortable with humans yet. On the other hand, the red monkeys definitely warmed up to visitors. Earlier that morning, a red monkey stole one of the hotel resident’s breakfasts. After hiking for some time and observing the gorgeous view of the landscape, we finally reached the moment we all were waiting for: THE ELEPHANTS! Scared, yet bursting with energy, the group quietly approached a group of elephants enjoying their morning breakfast. All we heard were the breaking and tearing of tree branches as the elephants munched on their delicious leaves and branches. Though we couldn’t get too close to the elephants, we got as close as possible to take our “America’s Next Top Model” photo shoot with the elephants. After everyone was satisfied with their photos of the elephants, we hiked back up the hill to end our walk through the safari. The rest of the day consisted of swimming, lounging, reading, and the first group decided to take a second tour of the park in a van to make up for their unsatisfying tour from the morning. After a 15 hour ride in the van, we are all exhausted but excited to be back at the guest house. Until next time, DEUCES!

-With Love,
Leah Davis