Elusive Elephants

There is nothing as enjoyable for a ranger as to have guests who are just as passionate about the bush as himself, and a couple of weeks ago I had some of the biggest nature lovers I have ever met. The lady in particular only wanted to see elephant and spend some time with them. Yes she was extremely excited when we saw the lions and rhino, but they are still not elephants!

One afternoon we hear an update about a small breeding herd on Tau link, but at this stage we are enjoying an absolutely breathtaking sunset on top of Lenong view point. We decide that after sunset we will drive over Tau link to see if we can catch a glimpse of the ellies. When we got to the spot where they were earlier there was absolutely no sign of them at all! We decide that before giving up we are going to check the pan quickly, but as it is a fairly cold night we don’t really think they will be there to drink water. We were wrong.

As we pull up to the top of the pan, there they were. Two big females, three youngsters, one tiny calf and a medium size bull. They were standing all around the pan drinking water. The pan itself is an old whole dug up for soil, so the viewing area is raised quite a bit above the water, with a perfect view of everything going on at the water’s edge. We sat in awe watching them splash around and play. The spot where we were had fairly steep banks so we thought they would probably move up on the road side of the pan where it is a bit more level, once again we were wrong.

When they were done at the water the matriarch started climbing the bank right in front of the vehicle. We moved back to be as insignificant a threat as possible, but it was still the matriarchs duty to make sure we are no danger to the calves. She first came to stand right in front of us to block us from the calves following her path. When all of them were out she started to move into the bush, but then it was the other females turn to assess the situation. She moved up next to the vehicle, playing with some dirt lying on the ground. It was absolutely fascinating, it almost seemed as if she was doing ‘under cover’ surveillance. She just kept standing there, one eye on us, one eye on the herd, playing with the soil. Eventually she came a bit closer and inspected the inhabitants of the vehicle, when after a couple of minutes she was sure it was safe to turn her back on us she moved to join the rest. Just as she got to them it was almost as if she glanced back, just to make sure we were not following.

In an incidence like this one really learns to appreciate these animals, not only because of their awesome natural power, but also because of their gentle, loving, caring attitude towards each other. Maybe instead of trying to learn about them, we should consider trying to learn from them.

Till next time.

Neill - Ranger