A Morning with Elephants
It was a chilly morning as we set out on safari, you could feel the morning air blowing against your face as another adventure begins in the bush. The taste of a morning coffee and a warm scrumptious croissant still scintillating your mouth. With the leaves falling from the trees beside us we made our way up the hillside to the northern parts of the reserve.
Along the way we saw plenty of Blue Wildebeest grazing in the field, and it wasn't odd to see a dazzle of Zebra standing amongst them, quite a benefit to have safety in numbers.
As we passed by I noticed fresh Elephant dung on the road in front of us. I could see the tracks around the temporary toilet and quickly determined the direction they were walking as we started following the tracks.
There was a sense of excitement on the vehicle now as we gained ground in finding the largest land mammal on Earth. Sali, one of my guests, pointed out the trees that she could see were broken... not by lightning, but by the large herbivores that would use their brute strength for a sumptuous meal. Elephants will often push over trees in seeking the roots of the tree for added nutrition. As we continued slowly forward, we weren't sure what we would find as we came around each new corner. The fresh smell of the morning air had now slowly dissipated and was overcome by the odours of gentle giants.
We moved anxiously forward in anticipation of anything that might happen next. Suddenly there was a crackling in the trees, our heads turned simultaneously in the direction of where the sound came from. Yet we saw nothing, it can be astonishing to witness how such a large animal can be so elusive for such a long time. We were all excited by the sound, and knew it had to be the elephants that had just pushed down another tree that will prove to be a good breakfast. There was definitely activity all around us.
As I turned my head back, I was quite stunned to find a large female elephant walking on the road towards us. "There's one!" I softly exclaimed in a whisper of exhilaration. All the heads turned back to the front, and jaws dropped in disbelief. All the anticipation was suddenly gone, as if it were never there. Silence was now profound as there was an interest to see what my response would be to the elephant coming down the road.
The elephant strolled down the road ever so quietly and gracefully, as if it was on a Sunday stroll through the park. We were enjoying the sighting, and were all quite calm as the elephant was still some distance away, and not agitated in any way. Flapping her massive ears to keep cool and regulate body temperature, she posed for the photos as she walked. I looked around and noticed that more elephants started appearing from the thickets around us.
There were two coming out to the left of us , and another three to the right. Gripping the branches with their inquisitive trunks, they were rather enjoying themselves making the most of every leaf.
I took note of the elephant cow getting closer to us, and as I started the vehicle to slowly back away I saw the gigantic bull elephant emerging from the trees behind her. It's quite noticeable to observe the difference between a male and female elephant, besides the sheer size of the bulls and their "fifth leg", one can see the shape of the forehead to be quite unique. The females have a 90 degree angle that forms at the top of the forehead going down to the trunk, whereas the males have a much rounder forehead not forming much of an angle. In a herd of elephants there is a female that is the dominant character, known as the matriarch.
We quite enjoyed observing these grey goliaths, and their interesting feeding habits. After giving them their space again, they continued their breakfast and started rumbling to each other, communicating through their complex social structure. We stayed a few moments longer and then happily returned to the lodge after a morning with elephants.
