I was up before sunrise just as well. The silhouette of those leaf-covered baobabs look outstanding in the golden hour, any morning.

The color spectrum is unreal.

The sun eventually emerged over the horizon, gold leaf and all. How lucky am I?

Zimba enjoyed the view just as much.

I guess there are some advantages to having a clean car. Let’s see how long that will last.

My first stop was a point of interest I marked 6 years ago. Here I camped by the river in the middle of nowhere land.

I didn’t get here last night as I ran out of light but a small herd of elephants did. These elephants are different.

They are not scared or skittish of humans, nor are they aggressive.

They just graze around you as if you are part of the environment. I guess I am in a way, my way.

The land was dry, the land was hot. I decided not to pass the Chongwe Gate into the national park.

The Chongwe River was completely and utterly dry with only a few scattered waterholes remaining.

It was to no surprise that the waterfalls had dried up too. The bottom pool hosts a large crocodile I have been told by Hector who is one of the local builders of this brand spanking new housing.

He was happy to show me around this 5-star accommodation which was impressive by all means.

I still prefer a million stars to only 5.

Some tall timber appeared as ghost trees sweltering in this heat. It was quiet and calm. Keeping cool was impossible.

I kept curving the trax along the Chongwe River with hardly any animal movement recorded.

A proud group of Kudu stuck around a muddy puddle, hardly worth drinking.

One of them joined a small group of elephants, thirsty in the midday heat.

It wasn’t funny anymore as the elephants eventually moved into the shade.

Finding a shady spot wasn’t straight forward either.

Tall trees had no leaf cover whats soever.

Even at my proposed campsite by the river, no shade was big enough for my steaming zebra wagon.

A dip in the Zambezi River was very much tempting, but Oho. Murky waters made it impossible to spot the croc.

No dippo with the hippo. But at least I can draw some bucket water and cool off this way.

I was eager to take Rick for a spin. I noticed a group of elephants on the river flats further west from here.

A mother and a few young ones just had a refreshing drink by the river.

A lone bull had other ideas. He was on his way to Mana Pools in Zimbabwe. Mana Pools is one of many places I heard of in Zimbabwe and is located across the Zambezi River.

The riverbed widens considerably at this particular stretch, creating a pool of islands, easy enough to hop on and hop off. It seems unlikely that I ever get there. So close, so far.

Unlike this elephant bull who barely got his feet wet.

He stranded on Robinson Island quite happily.

The sun was setting lower as I parked Zimba closer to camp by the river’s edge.

What a spot, what a view, what else do I need?

The lone elephant bull was still grazing on Robinson Island as I deployed Rick for sunset duties. I positioned Rick as well as I could towards the elephant at sunset, but close-ups are impossible with this f2:8 wide-angle lens.

This lens gives you a breathtaking perspective of the landscape though.

It was still too hot two handle anything else but one or two gin/lemon/soda water. Listen to the hippos in the pool below and gaze on the stars above.