On our second day at Kruger, Karen and Trisha took a nap after our sunrise safari walk. I decided to take the car out on a drive and see what I could find. I found some kudu, a couple of giraffe, impala, and even a lone elephant or two across a river. I also saw a hippo out of the water in the heat of the sun (unusual). And I saw a crocodile and a variety of water birds. Then I tried another road near a different river. That’s where I had an amazing elephent encounter.
It started with suddenly driving around a corner with some bushes to find two nearby giraffe eating some tree vegetation on the right side of the raod. I stopped and turned off the engine to take some pictures. They didn’t seem bothered by me and continued to munch. A couple of minutes later, they seemed alert and then started walking away. I wondered why?
I spent the next 20 minutes or so watching them as they congregated around nuzzling each other and corraling the kids and adults into a tight bunch. There was even a large bull – and I understand adult bulls rarely remain with the family groups. This was a close-knit family, but they stay bunched together like this to keep the young ones protected from predators. Several were throwing red dirt up on their backs. They apparently do this to protect their skin from the sun. It’s like sunscreen I guess.
It was a hot day, but these elephants knew where the shade and clear water was to stay cool. I was just entranced. But, I needed to leave to return back to my family. To see even more of this elephant family, see the photo album below. Someday I’ll upload the video that shows the moving action. It was awesome!