For more than 2 years I have been contributing back page articles to this magazine and I have also completed a couple of online courses with them.
My biggest Wildlife Campus achievement to date?
Probably the fact that I started a course with them about 20 years ago…and I have yet to complete it!
That being said, I have never missed the monthly deadline for my articles.
This article first appeared in The Wildlife Campus magazine in June 2021.
There are two distinct groups on the property that I visited and interestingly enough when the matriarch recently died of liver failure there is one particular individual that is being ‘groomed’ by her peers to take over the herd.
Seeing that she is relatively inexperienced in the gigantic task of being a leader, she is being watched and carefully corrected by the more experienced elephants in the group.
Not that she is not allowed to make mistakes, she is, but just as long as they do not place the herd in danger.
The mud seemed to be a magnet for the elephants and even the smallest patch was investigated and stepped in.
I suppose humans pay a fortune for spa treatments, elephants can achieve similar results for free.
What were my overriding feelings about the interactions that I shared? It is the sense of calm and the total lack of malice that they exuded when we were sitting in the middle of the herd. I have been in similar situations where I have been on edge or extremely nervous as to what the outcome might be. (I have been seriously charged on two separate occasions). But here, in the lush KZN vegetation, I was able to relax, exhale and enjoy watching the herd interact with each other as well as our vehicle, which, our guide explained, is seen as a family member.
What makes these elephants special? On a game drive, you don’t have to look for them. If they feel like interacting, they will find you! And once found they will get close to the vehicle, to the point where, on our first drive, one particular youngster ended up chewing on the corner of the canopy of the game viewer.
What sets them apart is the fact that at no time did I feel in danger or threatened. Even when two of the largest elephants I have ever encountered walked within touching distance ( and I was not the only one who wanted to reach out a finger or a hand. It turned out that other guests on the vehicle were having the same experience.) However, it is by treating these individuals with respect during these interactions that guests, like me, can experience elephants as they should be, without fear or aggression. And given the roots of this particular herd, it is hard to believe that they have this much trust in us as a species.
Reciprocity is a two-way street and as respectful as we were, it was reflected by the individual elephants as they peered into our vehicle with deep-set eyes that engendered knowledge and an innate sadness, or so it seemed to me. They know and have seen things that we as humans will never understand. Yet, even as I spent time with them, I could not help but wonder why there are humans that would STILL kill for a set of tusks.
The owner of the property shared stories of guests who have arrived terrified of elephants and within a single encounter that fear has been replaced with adulation and excitement.
At the end of each of the encounters that I shared with the herd, it was almost always them that moved off, rather than our vehicle leaving the sighting.
And at the end of the day, it is THAT differential that separates this property from all of the others that I have visited. Here the guides do work to African time and that includes just sitting and being in the moment with these very special pachyderms.
Moments to be savoured and memories made that will remain for a lifetime…
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