Day 45 – Elephant Whisperer

The shaking is violent and without let up. My eyes open, its still dark out and bloody cold. My missus is frantic, she continues to shake until I eventually I reach consciousness. “Elephant” she says, “Elephant!” this time with more urgency. I stumble about in the moonlit dark, where’s the friggin’ thing I’m thinking to myself, is it in the tent? I need a pee, desperately. I look at my watch, it 4.30am. I can hear what sounds like gun shots right outside the tent. In my thoughts I wonder how long the canvas walls of our tents will last if the elephant decides he doesn’t like them. Will they at least slow him down for a bit?

My missus is busy waking the kids up, almost silent chaos reigns. Slumbering kids are told to shhhh! even before their eyes are open. I look through the shadecloth type netting that acts like windows in these tents. The beast is two meters away. I can see him in the moonlight. The gun shots are him ripping havoc on the trees and branches around our tent. The kids are now awake and sneaking a look. Don’t turn the light on they’re told. Don’t make a sound. His tusks almost reach the ground, his trunk even longer, my thoughts wonder how he has made it for so long, those tusks must be worth a fortune. I digress; he is really close and not going anywhere. I really need a pee and he is standing right by the bathroom ‘window’. We’re in a reserve of some thirty thousand acres of bush and he has to stand next to my bathroom window. As dawn starts to break he starts to wonder off, melting into the bush silently and not more than twenty meters away.

We’re in Tembe Elephant Reserve for the weekend. Four hundred and fifty odd kilos from ‘Texas but like in a different country. It’s apparent to me that the spirit of the people in the bush is different to those who live in cities. They’re less demanding and way more hospitable. Foreigners from everywhere share our dinner table, it’s nice to talk about something other than usual South African stories. I start to wonder why, besides the expense, we haven’t done this more often. It’s on our doorstep. We should have embraced this.

I’ve never really been anally into wildlife and game parks but I enjoyed this place. Definitely not 5 Star and reasonably affordable to us locals (except for the bar…my god!), accommodation is in tented huts, all game drives and all meals are included in the price and the guides are amazingly knowledgeable about their subject. Their depth and their quick and willing smile soothes the soul almost. It makes one realize why people come from all over to be here. It makes one realize how bloody big an elephant is in the flesh and in the wild. And how menacing a lion would be if you were to meet it while suntanning perhaps.

Tembe, and whoever owns the place along with the local tribe, I salute you for almost everything. Patrick, our guide, your knowledge is amazing, to the wild life who conveniently posed for pictures, you make me look good. Check their website out, top right of this page. My acid test; Would I go back? Yes I would.

Until tomorrow…