Go West

We headed out west today. We cannot go out west during the flood season as the water cuts it off and so we make the most of it when the floods have gone. New water from the rains we are having at the moment made certain areas difficult but we managed not to get stuck. I say we, as it was I, Mphoeng and the two guides at the local safari camp, Joseph and Thapelo. There are no guests in camp at the moment and so whenever they get the chance they are keen to join us. It is great to have the extra company, extra hands for when we get stuck, and their wealth of knowledge. We were not 100m out of camp when we had our first of three encounters with elephants in our 7 hour drive (there are not many elephants around at the moment, they have probably followed the rains in search of new grass) I spotted two young elephants feeding on the left of the road, a female of about 10 years and a male of about 7 years. I looked around for the rest of the herd and spotted an adult female to our right…. something was wrong though – she was standing funny – her head at a jaunty angle – was it because we were between her and her babies? I did a quick check and soon realised that she was badly injured, her front right leg was terribly swollen and bent in towards the other leg. The top of her leg had atrophied. The youngsters then went to join her on her side of the road and they all checked us out. The adult female was a little skinny, but at this time of the year a lot of the females and young males are and she was no skinner than others. I was desperate to get a better look at her leg and get some photos for ID purposes but did not want to stress her and so we waited and then they all crossed the road and we got a better look – it was a old wound, she was able to put a little weight on it and she was doing OK. It was distressful to see for us but what was striking was how the others rallied around her and protected her across the road – shielding her from us. Once they had moved on – we all began chatting about the other incidents we had seen injured, sick or crippled elephants and how their closest family members stuck by them and were so caring and protective –perhaps we can learn from them as in many human societies disabled people are often ostracised.