Elephant Magic Saturday

Today, Jonathan and I join 14 other intrepid Earlhamites for a 2-week wildlife expedition in Botswana and Zimbabwe. PhotoSynthesis will continue as usual (I love that I can schedule posts ahead).

To celebrate another opportunity to travel to the wilds of Africa, I wanted to recall this incredible experience I had last time I was in Zimbabwe.

Those of you who have been with me for a long time will remember this elephant, but the magic of this moment never gets old. Enjoy.

And then there was the time in Zimbabwe in 2019 when we arrived at a new lodge in Victoria Falls, and I was tired. Everyone was going off to search for a rare bird — something I normally would always do — but this time I did not.

Our new cabin was lovely in the middle of a game reserve where animals roamed freely. We were told not to walk the grounds alone and always to have an escort at night.

It was hot. All I wanted to do was sit by the small wading pool on our deck, soak my feet, and watch birds from there.

Everyone else left.

I put on my bathing suit, grabbed binoculars and phone — which had my Zimbabwe field guide app — and sat by the pool with my legs in the water.

We had seen an elephant nearby when we moved in with our bags, and as I sat there, I wondered if elephants ever drank from the pool.

And then it happened. Barely 5 feet from me, an elephant came to drink.

Calm descended over me — he was perfectly content, and so was I.

I’m sure he knew I was there, but he didn’t look at me until he had drunk for a while.

I spoke quietly to him. And he kept drinking, looking at me, even tossing a little water towards me, as though playfully. As he readied to leave, he looked at me, wagged his tail, gently tossed his trunk, and sauntered away.

Be still my heart. A moment meant to be.

Join me now.

[Be sure to turn up your sound. Click on the video, which will take you to Substack where you can watch it full screen.]

According to the guides and lodge owner, no one had ever experienced this before.

African Elephant, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

August 29, 2019