On our way back to camp, we came upon a stopped vehicle waiting for 5 elephants to move off the road, leaving about fifty to sixty yards between us. Two adult bulls and three sub-adult males, in no hurry to go anywhere. Now keep in mind that when I say sub-adult, I’m still talking about an animal that may weigh 8-9 thousand pounds or more! Elephants can be at their most dangerous when in must or at night. Elephants are not happy with loud noises and flashing lights at night. It’s just not a good combination.

The two adult bulls eventually sauntered off into the river alongside the road, and the three sub-adults started making their way into the tree line. The driver in front of us, either not knowing anything about elephants or just very impatient, started his vehicle, revved the engine, and flashed his lights several times. I suppose in an attempt to move the elephants along. This sent these youngsters into panic mode. They started trumpeting, growling, and stampeding into the trees. The noise was deafening, and the sound of snapping trees and branches seemed to add to the chaos. After several long minutes, we restarted our journey. No flashing lights or overly noisy engine sounds. After moving about twenty yards, one of the juveniles came charging out of the tree line behind us to give chase.

   This is one of those moments when it’s good to know the wildlife. Most elephant charges are bluffs as they try to intimidate you. This may be evident when they approach with heads held high and ears out straight to the sides, as was our follower. When they are coming at you with heads down and ears tucked in, there is a good chance that it’s the real thing. Our outraged teenager following us seemed only to want to intimidate. As we moved along to outpace our follower, directly to our right, stampeding out of the trees was juvenile number two.  Head down, ears tucked, and growling, he came. I could hear myself yelling to our guide and driver, K.B., he’s coming! Not more than ten feet from the side of our vehicle, he came to a sudden stop! I don’t know why he stopped, but that seemed to be a good thing.

   Either one of these animals alone could have overturned our vehicle, seriously injuring or even worse, any one of our small group.

Follow more of my blogs at ImagesByTommyV.com