The sky shone with a crisp dawn as we made our way out of camp at 6am. We were heading south, to a watering hole where we’d seen a lioness sleeping the day before. When we got there, sadly there were no lions in sight. Instead there was something even more special: A small herd of elephant with a tiny calf in their midst. It couldn’t have been very old, as it was still a little wobbly and playfully discombobulated in its movements.
At first the herd eye’d us wearily and ushered the little one in
to their midst. The mother drank quietly glancing at us occasionally, while the two older babysitters stood guard. We kept our distance and parked the car on the side of the road, switching off the engine. This was too good a sighting to move on, and as we were the only vehicle, there was no reason not to sit back and enjoy.
Eventually the baby elephant wriggled out from the centre and the rest of the herd relaxed at our presence. What followed next was a wonderful insight into how these majestic pachyderms operate as a family unit. The older elephants raised their trunks and the calf mimicked as if playing a game of Simon says. It was almost as though the calf was discovering its trunk for the first time. In no time it was madly flinging it’s trunk around in circles as if to say: “Wheeee! Let’s see what this thing can do!” I could imagine the teenage elephants rolling their eyes “Kids!!” Yet they patiently played along. Perhaps they too remembered what it was like to be discovering new things for the first time.
Seemingly bored of the game the calf moved back to its mother where it watched and then perfectly copied bringing up slurpfull’s of water to its mouth. It was incredible to watch the lessons being patiently taught by the elders. The matriarch then moved off and in perfect obedience the baby elephant calf and rest of the herd followed. We were sad to see them go, but what a magical start to the day.
