Thank you so much to everyone who helped us raise funds or donated items for the SCI Blue Bags for the Mt. Etjo Private School located here in Namibia. Although the kids are on holiday from classes right now, as they go to school year-round, many of them live close to the school, so we headed over there this morning around 8:00 and many of them were waiting there for us. We had so much fun handing out all the items we brought, from balls to jump ropes to stuffed animals to candy, and tons of school supplies, which ended up in the classroom for the teacher to use once classes start again in a few weeks. The kids were so friendly and sang us a beautiful thank you song. And then we played! Addison and one little girl really hit it off and had a blast throwing a football around. We chatted with some of the kids about what they were going to be when they grew up; I love their dreams and plans! All of the children were so grateful for everything they received- thank you again for being a part of it!

On the way out we stopped by a big water hole to check out what looked like a giant rock, but we knew was a hippo napping halfway out of the water. We had seen the hippos earlier last week, but they were mostly submerged, so this was a much better view. The big bull was all alone and seemed to be quite content, so we snapped some pictures and kept going towards the lodge.

After we changed back into our hunting clothes, we had quite an encounter with a big bull elephant. We were watching the cows and calves at another water hole, and he must have thought that we got a little too close, because he made it very clear that he was in charge. We bowed out and drove away, but when we turned around to drive back by to leave, he stood in the middle of the road and challenged us. We wanted him to know that we totally understood and respected his dominance, so we sped away before he got angry. But not before he trumpeted at us; he was large and definitely in charge!

We spent the afternoon looking for Burschell’s zebra and warthog, and we saw tons of zebra and a few hogs, but nothing we could get a shot at. The zebra were all in a big herd, and they kept stampeding away, which makes it very difficult to distinguish between the mares and stallions. We are planning on going back to the area tomorrow and sitting in a blind by a water hole, so hopefully we will have either a warthog and a zebra come in so we can have a better shot. Fingers crossed!

We had lamb and springbuck for dinner tonight- another delicious meal after an unforgettable day!