Our morning safari drive started off well with some good sightings of Kudu, Warthog and Impala. We hadn’t driven very far from the safari lodge when we found some fresh dung and signs of our elephant heard. After tracking them for the past two days I took the opportunity to follow up on the fresh signs they left behind and try to locate these massive animals. Driving along we could clearly see the destruction these animals had left behind on the vegetation, bark stripped off trees, and some trees were pushed over so that the elephants can get to the roots and loads of broken branches and shrubs. We followed the trail all the way to the dry river bed, knowing the elephants would be thirsty after consuming a great amount of vegetation. I knew about some puddles that dammed up after our recent rain and decided to make our way to the area as fast as possible. As we arrived at the first mud wallow we got our first glimpse of one of the female elephants who showed some interest in our arrival. We allowed her to settle down and continue to drink before we moved closer. The whole herd was playing, drinking and just having fun in the water. After they had their fill of water we followed them to a sandy area were we watched them dust bathing and one by one moved off into the dense bush. Rudi, Tracy, Sean and I were very lucky to have spent so much time with the elephants and observing their behaviour. Nice.
Erich Jamneck
Senior Ranger
Vuyani Safari lodge
get to know us!