Spending a night at Orange Elephant Backpackers

It had been an easy 2 days at the park with the days being spent doing fence patrolling. This was becoming routine and I found out that this was the norm on days when there were no "events' like game capture or collaring efforts. The ride back from Woody cape on the 21st had been uneventful and I spent time sitting by the hut watching the sunset.

The next day was spent fixing a pipe which had broken and watching some work being done on Hapoor watering hole, the watering hole where the most elephants congregated daily. I learnt that the watering hole had initially been very small but by the efforts of the elephants had expanded considerably. The sides hence had to be re-done periodically as the watering hole could become a potential death trap for young elephants who slid in and could not get out. Since the watering holes were man-made to a large extent, piping and even pumps had to be checked often and even repaired due to animal damage.

 It was common for hyenas to chew on the rubber belt used in motor pumps and render the pump useless. I also had a chance to see the 3 single male cape buffalo, older males that wandered around the park themselves.

The day was rather easy to get by with not much to do. It was also the beginning of a weekend and I was to stay over at Orange elephant backpackers for tonight.

Having made plans to meet Milou, whom I had met over at wilderness, I made my way down to Orange elephant backpackers and set up camp. Most backpackers allow camping space, where it is possible to pay for a spot at the camping grounds, yet have access to a clean shower and toilet facilities.

I had carried my tent all the way down to experience this and it was totally fun setting up my Marmot tent and fixing things up. Orange elephant has pretty interesting showers that piqued my interest.

Termed as eco showers, the shower works by means of a mixture of kerosene and other fuels in a small container which is lighted up. This mixture works for about 10 minutes to provide hot water. It was definitely an interesting experience but didn't make sense to get my hands all oily before a 10 minute shower. Thankfully the backpackers has the usual showers as well and these were a relief.

The day ended off waiting for Milou as she headed down from from her volunteer home at Port Elizabeth, listening to the sounds around Orange elephant backpackers. I had wanted a quiet evening and the cozy patch of green where I had set up my tent provided just that.

It was to be a weekend exploring the region around the park.