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We regularly meet elephants. Some of the meetings are rather too close for comfort. Other times we meet elephants that are simply benign and friendly and doing their thing which is, for the most part, eating. Elephants spend about 20 hours a day eating, in contrast to the lazy lions that spend about 20 hours a day sleeping.
One day we plan to enter a dense forest where we may be able to spot nyala antelope. It is also a good place for elephant to hang out because it is shady and there is a lot of luscious green food for them to eat. However, the forest cover also makes it hard for us to see the elephants before we get too close to them. Mike and Bernard decide to go in first to case the joint, so to speak. About a minute later they comes rushing back towards us and tell us to go back to the car. It seems there was an elephant with her approximately two-week old calf. Surprising her with a face to face meeting could have been a very dangerous situation.
At our lunch break back at camp we meet a friendly giant. An single elephant with beautiful, large undamaged tusks saunters along the riverside, which is where everyone has pitched their tents. One by one, he passes each tent and I can figure out that he will soon walk past me. I move out of his way behind my tent as he passes within five metres of me, padding softly by on his huge, pillowed feet. What a majestic beast!
Another day we watch how these social and intelligent animals help each other. One bull elephant has lost the bottom part of his trunk, probably due to a snare. With a shortened trunk it is very difficult for him to reach his mouth and stuff food into it. It is also hard for him to gather branches and twigs from the ground and the trees. This is where his buddy comes to the aid. The other bull elephant pulls down branches and gathers the leaves in a pile, in effect serving dinner to his handicapped friend as best as he can. Very touching!
