Elephant Part IV

Peaceful Giants

Amboseli, beautiful Amboseli, drew me in and made me fall in love with elephants.   

The air was cool and crisp in the early hours of the morning.  The sun appeared on the horizon as a beautiful yellow ball, bathing the world in a light was as pure as could be.  The elephants were up before our day began, descending the forested foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro to the swamps of Amboseli where they would feed all day long.  These peaceful giants captivated me. 

They were intelligent creatures, hugely affectionate with each other, highly social beings.

Exquisite First Light

Amboseli, beautiful Amboseli, drew me in and made me fall in love with elephants.  The air was cool and crisp in the early hours of the morning.  The sun appeared on the horizon as a beautiful yellow ball, bathing the world in a light was as pure as could be.  The elephants were up before our day began, descending the forested foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro to the swamps of Amboseli where they would feed all day long.  These peaceful giants captivated me.  They were intelligent creatures, hugely affectionate with each other, highly social beings.

Tim and a Friend

There was one day in particular that was more memorable than the others.  Our day had begun unusually early with our guide’s promise of an early morning breakfast atop a hillside.  It was first light by the time we reached the top of the hill, and in a matter of minutes a golden Kenyan sun was slipping above the horizon, flooding the plains all around us.  We were back on the road in no time, photographing zebra, birds, and elephants on their way to the swamps.  It was still morning when we met Tim.

Majesty

We were pulled over along the road to the east side of the swamps to observe the elephants.  Suddenly our guide, Dennis, grew very excited.  He was looking through his binoculars and found Tim.  Tim was Kenya’s elephant mascot.  He was an older elephant, among the oldest in Kenya.  His long curved tusks very nearly swept the ground as he walked, a sign that he was advanced in age.  He was a very large elephant, as elephants continue to grow as long as they live.  His ears were floppy, ruffled, and torn in places from many years of life in the wild. He was a magnificent old elephant.  He was accompanied by a smaller, younger elephant.  Tim was so old that he rarely came down to the swamps, preferring to remain in the quiet of the foothills or even over in Tsavo.  He moved slowly.  Word spread quickly among the guides, and before we knew it, the roadway was lined with jeeps with tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of Tim.  It grew so crowded, with jeeps jockeying for a best spot on the road, and Tim, perhaps unnerved by the commotion, turned around and began walking back toward the hills.  At a certain point, he turned to survey the chaos on the roadway, and then gradually walked back toward us.  I was holding my breath as he got closer and closer.  Our cameras were clicking away. furiously, for we knew this was likely a once in a lifetime chance to see him.

On the Way to the Swamp

When he was about 20 feet from our jeep, Tim stopped and just looked at us.  The foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro were directly behind him, creating an awesome backdrop.  You’d almost think he was posing.  He continued walking, right in front of our jeep, crossing the roadway as he went.  Why in front of our jeep?  Well, maybe it was because we left room for him instead of crowding the jeep ahead, recognizing that he needed room to cross the road to continue to the swamps.  I think that’s why he stopped and looked at us.  He needed room, room to pass.

Tim crossed the roadway and went off to join the elephants in the swamps.  But chaos in the roadway continued, so we left the scene.  Too many people at once stress elephants.  They need us to give them room, room to roam, room to live their lives, room for them to travel from place to place.

In the afternoon, when the elephants were preparing to return to the foothills, the jeeps were so thick that they were blocking the way for the elephants.  Our guide, Dennis said, “This is not good.”   He took us away from the fray and we found a quiet place at a distance where we could observe the elephants.  We saw one very large elephant among them and thought perhaps it was Tim, but as he approached closer, we could see that while it was a somewhat older elephant, those longer tusks did not begin to sweep the ground like Tim’s had.  We watched the elephants return to their nighttime home, but Tim was nowhere to be seen.  Perhaps he had left earlier in the day, or perhaps he had left by a different route without so many prying eyes.  We had thought perhaps we would see him one more time late in the day, but that did not happen this time.

It was just about a year later that we heard that Tim had died of natural causes.  We mourned this peaceful giant.  All of Kenya mourned. It was a gift to have seen him.  Such a gift.

Tim

Have you ever loved a place so much that you wanted to return there every year? 

Have you ever had a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a creature of some importance?  Have you ever loved a species so much that you wanted to see them often and protect them?  Have you ever loved a wild species that much? 

What species would you be willing to give “room to roam”? 

What is the gift they gave?