MOTIF: The Only Real Fear

African Elephant

Lower Zambezi, Zambia

EOS 10D. Sigma 100-300. ISO 400. F8.

I post this not because its a great image, but because its a portrait of an African Elephant Bull - the only wild creature in all our African travels that always manages at some stage during our trips, to scare the living daylights out of me!! (That is a watered down version....)

This particular one was a sweet natured male just going about his business and no problem at all.

On another morning as Dave and I set out with our guide at dawn to drive way out into the bush and spend a day at a remote water hole, an extremely large and totally demented bull charged out from the trees as we passed along this track. Driving through this particular area is always a time for caution, as the trees close in on either side of the track as it winds its way through the forest, and you never know what's around the next bend. To have an enraged giant thundering towards your open topped vehicle with no intention of stopping as it screams through a cloud of dust, is the biggest adrenalin rush you could imagine! Our guide had no alternative but to put pedal to the metal and drive like a madman for what seemed like an eternity, twisting and slithering through the trees as they whipped around our faces and we held on to our cameras and the seats to prevent being thrown out to a certain crushing. The bull just kept coming and coming! as we rounded every bend, he was right behind us! His speed was amazing! Finally, we lost him but not until we were gasping for breath and shaking with fright!

Only when we got to the water hole and were able to relax, did our guide tell us that a month before, a bull had chased another vehicle and managed to hit the back of it - pushing a large hole through the bodywork with its tusk, before they had managed to lose him.

When we finally got back to camp that night, the question on everyone's llips was - "Did you get the shots of him chasing you?" :roll: :roll:

Alas, hanging on to an open landrover as it crashes through a forest - often on two wheels and tilting alarmingly, while you try to hang on to your cameras - makes getting a shot impossible! The only thought in your head is Survival!!

Does this put me off going again to Africa? - Not at all!!