We started off on the game drive seeking out a rhino that we could hardly see through binoculars. I wondered if that’s how the whole drive was going to be. A small part of me wishes it had been. Suddenly we came upon some elephants pretty close to us. I thought that as soon as they saw us, they’d take off into the bush.
Yeah, I’ve been wrong plenty of times in my life. Instead, they came toward us...
...crossing the road in front of the vehicle we were in....
Above is the Momma elephant, protecting her babe as he crossed the road...
...and then the Momma followed the babe into the bush. Then came Mister “I am learning to be tough so I’m going to use my intimidation skills”.
That’s what our guide told us the young male elephant was doing. I quickly told him that it worked and the elephant could go on now. At first he seemed to be leaving but then he quickly turned back around and came straight toward our vehicle. I was so panicked at this point I had to grab the hand of the person next to me, along with Doug’s shoulder as he was in front of me! I have never been that close to such a large animal before and really thought he was going to charge us. Eventually (thank GOD!) he walked away, further into the bush. He once again turned around and made the noise elephants make!!!! I was still scared out of my seat but thought it was so incredibly cool to hear a wild elephant do that!
Thankfully my dear neighbor had some medicine to calm me down, cause I was seriously in the midst of a panic attack. About 15 minutes later I took in my surroundings, my sister and brother-in-law with me in South Africa, and said “Wow…I am so glad we’re doing this!” Everyone laughed and commented that the meds kicked in.
But really, elephants are amazing animals and my new favorite….as long as they keep a safe distance from now on!
Thankfully my dear neighbor had some medicine to calm me down, cause I was seriously in the midst of a panic attack. About 15 minutes later I took in my surroundings, my sister and brother-in-law with me in South Africa, and said “Wow…I am so glad we’re doing this!” Everyone laughed and commented that the meds kicked in.
But really, elephants are amazing animals and my new favorite….as long as they keep a safe distance from now on!
Here is the beautiful giraffe, large but peaceful and did not come right toward us... ;)
3 comments:
Doug and I enjoyed this one! You left out one part of the story, though. After the young male made the elepant noise, his older, and bigger, buddy (also male) came charging out of the woods straight towards the vehicle we were in. The driver started the car in preparation for a (hopefully) quick getaway should the elephant choose to attempt to crush us. Instead, Big Buddy turned around and walked away.
Oh yeah...I forgot about that part. I guess it was the other male that scared me the most!
What a special time you are getting to see so much of God's amazing & creative creations!
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