Safari Walk With Elephants

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Safari Walk with the Elephants Adventure!

When you think about safari, what do you think of first? Which aspects of safari are important, which are essential, and which ones can you take or leave? You be the judge.

This is the story of three wild and orphaned elephants, and their dangerous journey across the savannah from South Africa to Botswana in the Okavango Delta. It is the story of Morula, Thembi and Jabu. When I met them, it was at Stanley Camp in Botswana, while on safari. I didn’t know I was going to have this encounter, so it was a delightful surprise. However, as I was to find out, the story started long before that! This safari adventure was arranged by KAI, (Kartegener Associates, Inc.) a NY based agency that promotes tourism to Africa. In conjunction with the Botswana Tourist Board they arranged this safari for travel agents as a way of familiarizing travel agents with the destination. It was, by far, the best travel experience I have had the pleasure and opportunity to take.

The program affectionately called “Walk with the Elephants” allowed visitors to get up close and personal with three elephants Morula, Thembi and Jabu. These elephants were being raised by ‘foster’ parents Doug and Sandi Groves. The elephants were wild and became unruly after seeing the culling operation of their entire families in an effort to reduce the number of elephants in the parks of Africa. In a word, these three elephants became ‘juvenile delinquents’ and were destined to also be part of the next culling operation had it not been for the intervention of Doug and Sandi Groves.

Facts About Elephants

The African Elephant is the largest of the species. Ears are large and fan-like. It has pads of fibrous tissue to cushion toe bones. Patterns are taught from one generation to the next about the migration pattern. Elephants survive in forest, bush or savannah. They eat enormously and are highly destructive, uprooting trees, tearing off branches, and eating plants.

Adolescence occurs at 12 to 14 years of age. Most physical growth is reached at 20, but growth continues throughout life. Top mental ability is at age 30 to 45. Death comes at 65 to 70 years of age when the last set of teeth wear out. A human brain at birth is 26% of adult weight, and the elephant’s is 35% of adult weight. These statistics are used to distinguish instinctive from learned behavior, and are examples of higher intelligence. Ears are also used to control body temperature; blood circulating through the large vessels in the ears is cooled by flapping. Poaching for ivory has been a big problem. Birth weight is 175 to 250 pounds. Gestation is approximately 22 months…from Oakland Zoo website

Hopefully the information presented so far has been applicable. You might also want to consider the following:

Morula, Thembi and Jabu

Morula, The guide led us to a clearing in the Plains where we met up with Doug and Sandi. Though alone with no elephants in sight, Doug began to tell the group about how he came to be in Botswana and how they became foster parents to the elephants we were about to meet. As he called them in one by one, Morula, come, Thembi come, Jabu, come, each one walked in waving their trunks in the air, each the star of the show. But this was no show. I didn’t know quite what to expect, but one look at these gigantic creatures, I knew the experience would far exceeded anything I could ever have imagined.

These elephants were wild. Used to human contact from Doug and Sandi, they have become more docile, but by no means are they tame. The feed in the wild, They cannot survive in the wild as they would not fit in with other wild elephants. Elephants are tremendously community oriented, who live in groups. They don’t generally accept ‘orphaned’ elephants. When one is in trouble, the others in the group will help. When one is happy, the others share in the happiness. When one leaves or dies, the others feel the sadness. Fortunately, these three are a team who have wonderful loving foster parents to care for them. Their journey to get to this final destination has been long, difficult and challenging.

As we drew closer to these wonderful and exciting creatures, we were able to really get a feeling of how big they truly are. Touching them was surreal. On some, their skin was rough, on some, it was quite smooth. Even the souls of their feet that always appeared to be calloused and hard, are gentle to the touch, soft and cushiony to hold the tremendous weight of this beautiful and magnificent creature.

The Story Behind the Story

Learn how these elephants came to live with Doug and Sandi and know the story of how they adopted the elephants is a story all its own. The true nature of their story is awe inspiring filled with courage and fortitude. The experience of walking down a path, holding an elephant’s trunk is an adventure that one can only appreciate by visiting Stanley Camp and sharing this treasured opportunity with Doug and Sandi. The extended version of this story is shown on the VHS ‘A Herd of Their Own’. It is a moving story of love and courage, of people and elephants.

Hopefully the sections above have contributed to your understanding of safari. Share your new understanding about safari with others. They'll thank you for it.

On Safari with Kay

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