Elephant-back Safari

The set up was perfect! Lily Parish, Isabel Vidal, Justine Hunt and I were the only ones to show up for this particular safari – mostly because it was 8 am on a Very Cold Monday morning – just outside Sun City, north of Johannesburg, South Africa. (that's Lily to the left)

All of them, except me, had picked out their elephant from the day before. So I got the one nobody picked – the dominant bull elephant – go figure! Sapi (my elephant and father to Tidimalo – 4 months old and Very Cute – as you can see on the right) did indeed have a mind of his own, veering off the trail to rip a good-sized tree out by the roots for his chewing pleasure. It was an acacia tree – full of very sturdy thorns. Yep, it was a reminder of just how powerful he is. And what struck me is how gentle he is as well.

At the end of the game ride (we saw rhino, giraffes, impala, springbok, kudu and warthogs), we got to interact personally with the elephants by feeding them. You can do it one of two ways – pour the special pellets into the end of their trunks or put the pellets into their mouths. Hmmmmm, riding on their backs is one thing (which makes you walk funny for a bit afterwards), but putting your hand up to mid-arm into their mouths – that's another story. (That's Justine on the left, showing us how it's done.) I have rarely felt anything that is as soft as an elephant's tongue – even a dominate bull's. Bristly chin hairs, an inch thick hide, and a very soft tongue to even it all out. Yet another set of life's many contrasts.

PS You can click on any of the pics, and they will enlarge.