On a morning bush walk, we spotted the elephant in the top left from a far
distance only because of the sharp eyes of our guide, though the animal
was impressive enough through binoculars. The guide looked at us with an
excited grin and said, "What do you say? Shall we get a bit closer?"
We were launched then, into a sort of forced march through unbroken terrain,
often losing sight of the creature for long stretches as we hiked behind
our surefooted guide and an accompanying park ranger, both of them armed
with rifles. Suddenly we came over a small rise and there he was, maybe
fifty yards away, so close you could hear him breathing, snapping branches
off the tree as he fed. Our guide gathered us together with hand signals,
everyone instinctively walking silently. He whispered, "You'll notice
while he seems to be able to see us, he's oblivious to our presence because
we are downwind, making no sudden moves and are very quiet. Hearing is not
one of the elephant's strengths." At that instant, one of the members
in our party coughed. I have an indelible image in my mind now of that great
massive head swiveling, the body turning amazingly swiftly to face us, his
ears flaring flat out with an audible woosh. He lowered his tusks and took
two steps forward, little puffs of dust clouds rising from his feet. We
all froze without needing the guide's sudden arresting hand gesture, and
it was so quiet I realized everyone was holding their breath. We'd been
closer than this to elephants, but ensconced in the comparative height and
safety of the safari vehicles. This was something worlds away and I felt
small the way one does lying on your back under a sky full of stars.
Later the same day we chanced upon the elephants below feeding right at
road's edge and we passed a timeless, wondrous twenty minutes just parked
there close enough to see even the creature's long eyelashes unaided by
binoculars or camera lens. The only sounds were the chirp of birds, the
snap of brush breaking under the elephant's feet, it's stripping of the
vegetation from the bushes and it's steady, snuffling breathing. I felt
the hair on my neck rising and tears rose unbidden to my eyes, triggered
just by the proximity to that peaceful slice of daily life for these creatures
they say are wise beyond our comprehension. It was a very privileged moment.
|
 |
