Ecotourism - Elephants

Mole park was established in 1957; became a National Park in 1971. People living around the immediate environment outside the park are extremely poor, live in abject poverty so their tendency to want to poach and collect firewood is more than understandable as they have to survive somehow.

Poor living conditions, firewood in the background.
Electrification present!

Creating ecotourism around this national park was a smart idea as it keeps poaching and encroachment of people using the environment for grazing ( goats!) and firewood collecting in check. In theory, at least. Guards and other employees will have a vested interest in preserving the savanna while employing some people for all kinds of jobs. I was told by a Flemish (ok, Belgian) lady that there are several projects underway to finance such small enterprises; most financed by micro- financing from abroad (EU--Others?). This woman showed me a brochure showcasing a guesthouse with four rooms-- really pretty to look at, relatively high standard--an enterprise ('project' as they are called here) which is supervised and financed via micro-loans by the Netherlands. 

There was a stark contrast between the living conditions of the commoners (see photo above) and the lodge. The lodge sported a swimming pool (!! ) in an area where water is at premium and a beautiful veranda and other areas to roam about. The guest rooms were simple but adequate. The food was astounding. 

We arrived just as the sun was setting but missed photographing that event because the sun went down so fast, a matter of 5 minutes.

So, we sank into bed relatively early and were awakened by one of those incredible torrential storms. Our roof made of corrugated metal made  a very loud noise which was here and there accentuated by roaring thunder. It lasted ca. 30 minutes and I was wondering whether one could even drive in the savanna after such a rain event. I shouldn't have worried--the only evidence of that rain was a wet bush and a smallish puddle or two.

So, the next day we set out and did a Safari-type 3-hr drive around the savanna prior to eating breakfast. We had came to the park to see animals and that we did. We saw whole wild hog families, deer and antilope-- the latter kept  a healthy distance. 

Deer

Antilope

We were able to glance at several monkey species occupying various niches of the savanna, baboons, red monkey and some other species. And then we saw the most exciting thing of all - the animal we had hoped to see but, of course, were not guaranteed to see--elephant. Two elephants simply crossed the road as we were standing there--astonishing. These two were trailed by a flock of white cattle egrets since these guys form a symbiotic relationship with elephants, cattle, buffalo and other large animals that get bothered by bugs. One of the egrets to the lower right of the photo.

At the watering hole we saw an entire family (or clan) of eight, of which three young ones were frolicking in the water. Notice the flock of cattle egret in the tree; they were waiting for their companions bathing time to be over.