Elephants in Action

I haven’t talked much about the elephants because… well, they are everywhere and almost start to blend into the background.

Elephant reflecting in water

They are beautiful, and they are destructive. They dominate their surroundings, crashing through forests and knocking down trees; stripping bark for food and leaving the remaining tree remnants to die. They stroll into a water hole like a bunch of older bullies walking into a community pool, tramping through the water while everyone else vanishes into the bush.

Mature elephant with baby

Left to their devices they will wander into the campgrounds and infiltrate every water source. The barricades put in place to prevent this resemble the Maginot or Siegfried Lines.

Still we love them and are always seeking them out for observation. It always gets more exciting when we see young with their moms, aunts, and sisters. They are families and they support (and defend) each other. Their behaviors towards us in the vehicles vary as we move from region to region. Sometimes they ignore us completely Other times they abruptly turn to us, flashing their ears and shaking their heads in a sign of threat. Only once have we had something resembling a false charge, and that was a minor one. Not that we are seeking that out.

Here’s a video I put together showing some of the action. The editing isn’t great but it has some great footage (from Julie and from me) and their different surroundings.