ADDO Elephants

Here we are in Addo elephant park and we love it, we are staying in a little rondevel a small round mud hut with a thatched roof, but containing all the modern day conveniences one could want. We wake up in the morning, sit on our little terrace with our breakfast and watch the zebras at the water hole. It is quite a distance away and we can just about make out that there are some warthogs there too, what an extraordinarily beautiful way to start the day.

We drive around the park in our little hire car and come across a herd of approximately a hundred elephants at a place called Harpoor Dam. What an amazing sight. Elephants of all ages, from the very young to the very old. Tiny babies chase the warthog piglets, their trunks swinging wildly, wobbling so out of control, they nearly trip over them. Juveniles having play fights, creating clouds of dust as the tussle backwards and forwards. Some seem to have formed smaller herds to encircle their young, the love and protection of the matriarch is so clear to see, their tenderness so apparent, how amazingly gentle they seem.

One mother strides in the direction of the waterhole with her baby running underneath her. There are many elephants wallowing in the water hole already, it seems as if they are taking turns to enjoy a lovely mud bath, some rolling around and others are mostly submerged with their trucks sticking up out of the water like a snorkel. Some are climbing slowly out completely caked in mud, no doubt to protect themselves from the baking sun and the many parasites that live here in South Africa. That are so huge yet somehow so graceful.

 A small elephant places his trunk in what appears to be his older siblings head, it's clearly an act of tenderness, maybe one of thanks and his sibling appears to be smiling in return as their parents look on. There is a feeling of peace amongst the herd, of tranquillity and of happiness as they go about their morning ritual.

We watch a little wart hog family with their funny upturned handlebar like tusks dash around amongst the herd and they also seem totally unafraid of these giant but gentle beasts. Playing games with elephants is quite obviously a pastime to be cherished.

We turn and see a massive bull elephant in musth approaching, thick secretions from his temporal gland run down his cheeks. He is so huge and looks so powerful as he strides with an air of purpose. As he nears we realise what an absolutely incredible size he is, the bus parked nearby are dwarfed as he towers above them, one wrong move and he could throw any of the vehicles over with a mere flick of his trunk.

 A bull elephant in musth is primed to mate and has a heightened sense of aggression. He will fight other Bulls and attack other animals or any inanimate object that is in his way! Luckily for us he just marches past with only one thing on his mind! The toy cars are irrelevant to him.

He joins the herd, most of them don't seem to be too phased by his presence, although some mothers have encircled their young in tighter groups and are moving away. We continue to watch, amazed and privileged to be witnessing wildlife this close and in their natural habitat. Being able to observe them first hand as they go about their daily business is completely awe inspiring. We notice a small tortoise crawling around it looks so tiny and so vulnerable and can only watch in horror as an elephant almost treads on it but she seems to sense it there and simply raises her foot and steps over it. 

We continue to watch them for what seems like a few minutes and can't quite believe it when we realise we have been sat there for three hours.

Suddenly we sense a change of atmosphere in the herd, they all seem agitated, another bull is approaching this one even bigger than the last, he is also  in musth but his demeanour is quite different from the last, as he approaches he swings his trunk and flaps his ears with an evil glare in his eyes, he shakes his head as he nears.

We start the engine ready to move away just in case he gets too close, this elephant means business. The peacefulness has changed from calm to panic amongst the herd and a stampede quickly ensues. The sound is deafening, a thunderous thumping roar, the ground vibrates as the elephants all turn and charge away and clouds of dust rise from the dry parched land. We decide to call it a day and get to safer ground, although these are beautiful, normally docile animals a bull elephant in musth is an extremely dangerous one. However, watching approximately a hundred elephants suddenly charge in a frenetic stampede is an incredibly terrifying but totally magnificent sight and sound.

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