It was hot … 45 C plus humidex ~ it felt like the hottest day ever! We had spent most it in and around the pool at White Elephant Bush Camp in KwaZulu-Natal and now we were driving through the bush in an open Landrover, hoping to see elephant and other game. There! Stop … go back … what was that? My 4-year-old daughter had spotted antelope drinking at a waterhole. That earned her an extra portion of dessert tonight! 

Then we came across a herd of giraffe – there must have been at least 11 or 12 of these graceful and inquisitive creatures. Some were grazing the tops of Umbrella-Thorntrees, but some were lying down. I had never seen resting giraffe before. Their high blood pressure does not allow them to put their elongated necks and heads down, but they had managed to fold those long legs under, so they could sleep. I suppose a ‘giraffe pillow’ would be useless.

After seeing Impala, Warthog, Wildebeest, Kudu, a Monitor Lizard and many bird species we suddenly spotted him – Ngani, the bull elephant!  He was quietly grazing and we were downwind of him, so we cut the engine and settled in to watch quietly for a while. But Ngani had other plans and moved away. We wanted to follow, but the Landrover did not! Now we had to push-start the vehicle with an elephant no more than 100 meters away ~ needless to say, we pushed quickly! Ngani took to the road, so we had a good view of his huge back-end, swinging rhythmically from side to side with every stride. When Ngani took a short cut through the bush, we managed to get ahead of him and waited. Ngani came closer and closer ~ we could now smell him and hear his breathing! By now was about 5 meters away, flapping his ears and snorting at us… we moved on quickly. Playing ‘chicken’ with an elephant is exhilarating ~ but the elephant always wins!

My senses were awakened to the bush again – I walked barefoot on the red earth, heard the shrill sound of cicadas, the songs of dozens of birds, the snorting of gazelles and warthogs. I felt the heat, smelled the elephant dung… and at night a cacophony of chirping crickets competing with croaking frogs and other nocturnal animals struck my ears, while I lay staring at the Southern Cross constellation shining brightly in the dark African sky!  Africa is in my blood and it always will be.