Yesterday morning started off very relaxed and we headed down south to see some hippo and to enjoy some of the small stuff. We enjoyed a morning coffee on the Sabi River and then slowly made our way back towards the lodge. On the way we bumped into two and a quarter rhino...the baby was about 5 months and was in a seriously playful mood. We watched as he was headbutting a large bull that was with him and his mother. It was all too cute!
After the rhinos we bumped into an enormous elephant bull that has been hanging around for a while. He is very recognisable by his enormous tusk, as you can see in the photo, and is probably about 50 to 55 years old and is definitely moving towards the end of his life. This beautiful giant was very passively feeding next to our vehicle, unlike the elephants we would encounter that afternoon!
That afternoon, in temperatures hanging around 34 degrees Celsius we watched some buffalo feeding at the waterhole in front of Bush Lodge and just enjoyed the tranquility of it all... all relaxed and happy to have completed the big 5 for my group of guests we slowly made our way to find a nice spot for sundowners. To our surprise, as we came out of the river there was a herd a elephants and we headed closer for a better look. As we approached one of the females got a little stroppy and mock charged, so I gave her some space and started circling to the front of the herd...
Next thing I herd trumpeting and the sound of a vehicle hitting high revs...it was another ranger flooring it to get away from this elephant as she charged full speed at him! Once he was out of sight she decided that we too deserved the same treatment and headed straight for us in a fit of rage. We were now too far from the road to get back to it and had to head through the bush to avoid her wrath...fortunately it was pretty open until we hit a mud wallow which I had to slow down dramatically for to avoid throwing any of the guests out of the vehicle and this allowed her to gain ground. She was right on our tail as we hit an open area with no trees and fortunately were able to open the gap sufficiently until she stopped. This morning I measured the distance of the charge to have been about 500 metres that she chased us at near 40km/h...
WHAT A RUSH!!
Once safe, the guests burst out into hysterical laughter as the adrenalin poured through their bodies... Fortunately Mar and Agustin got some of it on video and I have attached the video below. You can clearly see where we hit the mud wallow and the last frame of the video shows how close she was!
We all enjoyed a well deserved drink after that and then headed to see the lions. When we arrived, the male had just got to the water for a drink and after quenching his thirst he headed back to the female that he had been mating with for the last couple of days. After waiting about 10 minutes the action started right next to the car and we enjoyed the view and the sounds that came from it all....
WHAT A DAY...
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