Clintons Wild Away Time on Safari

From a sunrise safari to a starlight river cruise, President Clinton took time out Monday to marvel at Africa’s wildlife wonders--elephants, lions, hippos, crocodiles, baboons and giraffes.

“It’s been an amazing day,” the president exclaimed after a journey into the bush of northern Botswana that provided a break from a grueling 12-day trot through six nations in sub-Saharan Africa.

The president spied a lioness playing with four cubs under a tree. On the Chobe River, Clinton edged close to a herd of about 20 elephants, one of them a 2-month-old refusing to leave his mother’s side. A hundred or more Cape buffalo with curved horns gathered at a watering hole. One of them had its stomach ripped open by a lion but was still walking with the herd.

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It was a spectacular day of sightseeing for the president and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in one of Africa’s last unspoiled wilderness areas, a 4,200-square-mile wildlife refuge.

Putting aside world problems, the Clintons headed out at 6 a.m. in an open-air truck and rode along dusty trails for more than four hours. They returned after lunch and came upon the herd of elephants playing in the river.

Botswana is home to 80,000 elephants, and nearly half of them are in Chobe National Park.

The president’s visit to the park was low key. Three Secret Service agents sat on the rear bench of his safari vehicle, and another truck of security officials hovered nearby.

Later, the Clintons boarded a double-decker boat and sailed down the flood-swollen Chobe River. A pink sunset turned into an inky black night of stargazing on the water.

The Clintons’ visit to the Mowana Safari Lodge included an exotic buffet of African meat: zebra, crocodile, giraffe and impala in monkey sauce. “I tried it all,” the president said.

The president will resume his official schedule today, flying to Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, and then on to Senegal, the last stop on his tour.