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“I have been going to eclipses since 1980, when I viewed totality from a site in central India, but the June 2001 eclipse was the best I have seen!” I've just read a report that elephants can hear, not only through their ears, but through their feet! They sense very low-frequency rumbles that their fellow elephants make by stomping rhythmically on the ground. The big beasts are so sensitive to the trembling of the earth that they’ve been seen moving toward thunderstorms over 25 kilometers distant, too far for the sound of thunder to be heard otherwise. When an elephant stands pensively with one foot raised, it may not simply be resting: it may be feeling for sounds coming through its firmly planted soles. It occurred to me that perhaps the elephants we saw in Hwange and Victoria falls had been alerted to our coming in just this way, sensing the advance seismic waves from our jeeps as they bounced over the sandy roads. Even if they did not receive forewarnings from some sort of subsonic elephant internet, they put on a marvelous show, and were surely among the high points of our trip. We smaller creatures, of course, have to rely on an electronic internet, and we hope that as you read this, you have fond memories of the SITA eclipse tour, June 2001. Ellen, Emma, Geoff, and I last saw most of you in the long departure queue at the Lusaka Airport, but our most vivid memories are of the wonderful week we spent together touring Hwange, Victoria Falls, Lusaka, and of course viewing the eclipse at the farm near Chisamba. We shot over 18 rolls of film during the trip, and we’ve already put together an album---and a power-point presentation---that we’ve been showing to all our friends. Our focus before the trip was on the eclipse itself, so we didn’t fully anticipate how remarkable would be the days leading up to totality. But when we walked through the lobby of the Hwange Lodge, and saw elephants, baboons, and impalas at home just a few feet from the patio, we knew we were in for something special. We will long treasure remembrances of the evening ride to the lioness’ den, of ostriches, wildebeest, crocodiles, and zebras enjoying the sun together, of hippos grazing on the lawn of the Azembezi lodge. I have been going to eclipses since 1980, when I viewed totality from a site in central India, but the June 2001 eclipse was the best I have seen. The sky was cloudless, and the prominences and corona were lovely. In addition, we were able to see a wide variety of phenomena that accompany eclipses—the gradual graying of the light, the peculiar behavior of birds, the spooky shadowbands that appeared on the ground just before and after totality, the eerie feeling of standing in the moon’s shadow with sunlight still visible all around the horizon. Totality, June 21, 2001, was a total eclipse experience in every sense of the word. Best of all was the opportunity to meet so many great people. My family and I treasure the memories of dinner-table conversations and of the many experiences we shared together, from game drives to peering through telescopes to bungee-jumping into the Zambezi gorge. We hope you feel the same, and we look forward to seeing you at another favorable conjunction of the moon and the sun, wherever the moon’s shadow may take us. Best regards: Larry, Ellen, Emma, and Geoffrey Marschall
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