Pete’s Pond

Pete’s Pond

The mama elephant stands at the pond’s edge, sucks up water in her vacuum cleaner hose-nose, then flings the water over the baby standing next to her. Over and over she repeats—suck, fling, suck, fling. Finally, the baby dips its nose into the water, sucks up a trunk full, and flings the water over its back. Lesson completed.

This little scene, hypnotizing to watch, is just one of the fabulous encounters you can have with African wildlife, courtesy of a National Geographic Society website. Go to http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/wildcamafrica/wildcam.html and you’ll be transported to “Pete’s Pond.” Pete’s Pond is in Botswana, and luckily for Internet users, has been outfitted with camera, microphone, satellite hook-up and whatever else it takes for round-the-clock viewing of one special spot in the African wild. Volunteers man the camera during most of the daylight (in Africa) hours, and the camera works remotely at night. (Just remember that Botswana time is six hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time.) The camera pans, tilts, and zooms in on elephants, zebras, warthogs, guinea fowl, lions, elands, kudus, birds of all kinds and much more, including a crocodile named “Fatty.” The anthropomorphic names are given to certain distinctive animals by the viewing devotees who make postings to the blog on the website.

In addition to the usual chit-chat, bloggers also ask and receive answers to technical questions about the equipment, about the wildlife they are viewing, and about the volunteers and the Pete’s Pond program. Some have posted photographs of the animals at their own websites. The excitement and appreciation of the viewers comes through by even a casual perusal of the postings. Some claim that they aren’t getting enough sleep any more because they stay up to watch the animals come to the water hole in early morning!

Treat yourself. Go. Watch. Enjoy.