THE BACK LAGOON
Behind the camp.
A world of
its own.
The Back Lagoon lies north of the confluence — in the full path of the annual silt flood. The confluence flood reaches here each wet season, keeping the lagoon full and the surrounding habitat rich. When the surrounding floodplain contracts and the seasonal pools disappear one by one, the Back Lagoon remains.
Ancient winterthorn and ebony ring the water — their roots old enough to have watched several generations of elephants come and drink. The canopy spreads over the surface. The reflection doubles everything. It is one of the most beautiful places in the northern valley.
THE WILDLIFE
Everything comes
to the lagoon.
Elephant family groups — sometimes forty or more when the deep dry season draws herds together from across the reserve. They drink, they bathe, they stand in the shade of the ebonies. To sit at the Back Lagoon during an elephant gathering is to understand something about these animals that a single sighting on a game drive cannot convey.
Buffalo. Zebra. Kudu bulls. Thornicroft’s Giraffe browsing the woodland edge. Warthogs drinking on their knees. All of it here, on the reserve, without crossing a single channel.
“Forty elephants at the water. Ancient ebony above them. The reflection perfectly still. You are on the reserve. You have not moved a mile from camp.”
The Back Lagoon