In the winter season, the Runde River weaves across the sandy bed in thin threads,  separating, rejoining and separating again. The Chilojo Cliffs tower above, an iconic feature of Gonarezhou National Park. Dwarfed by the escarpment that dominates the landscape, wildlife go about their daily business. Hippos wallow in the pools that are sufficiently deep to swallow their bulk, heaving themselves out to warm when needed. Grey herons, white-crowned lapwings, yellow-billed storks and other more diminutive waders (read, unidentified!) step delicately and patiently in their search for sustenance. As usual, it is the elephants that grab your attention, walking leisurely across the sand: sometimes casually draping their curvaceous trunk over a tusk or pausing to spread their ears in recognition of another of their species emerging on the opposite bank. They’re on Africa time and there is no hurry. Eventually one reaches the water and drinks while the other avails of a muddy scoop hole to splash mud over its body. They pass by each other with one briefly extending its trunk towards the other but not quite close enough to touch. The muddy scoop hole is revisited by both and they then return slowly to their respective river bank. Even the elephants seem small and vulnerable in this immense landscape.