EmotionsofAfrica

The video shows two tourists, fast asleep next to the pool at a safari lodge, little knowing that a herd of elephants silently pulled in for a drink. It was mid-morning when we returned back to camp after a long early morning safari out in the bush. It meant some downtime for everyone, and I decided it was a good idea to go and chill by the pool of the safari lodge. When I arrived at the pool, I was totally blown away by what I saw and couldn’t believe my own two eyes. I decided to get my camera and started rolling. On the loungers was two of our fellow safari goers, already fast asleep next to the pool. Right in front of them were a small herd of large elephant bulls, busy drinking from the pool, not bothered by the presence of the sleeping tourists. They must have been very tired after the long morning safari and looked totally passed out and did not even flinch. There they were, fast asleep and not having the slightest clue that Africa’s largest land mammals pulled in for a drink right next to them. Due to the holiday makers being totally motionless, the elephants must have ignored them and casually carried on enjoying their drink from the pool. I am sure if the safari tourists were awake, it would have been a very difficult task to lie so still while these massive creatures were drinking water from the pool a mere few meters away from them.

The video shows an elephant crossing a river, then deciding it was a good day to go and pick on a heron bird standing in the river while minding its own business. Elephants are the largest mammals walking on our planet and they definitely know it. Outsizing all other animals and birds, elephants almost always want to make it clear that they are in charge and that they are untouchable. With this attitude, elephants are very intimidating and other animals will never dare to challenge a fully grown elephant. The elephant in this video was casually making its way through a shallow river when it suddenly noticed a bird called a grey heron, standing alone, minding its own business of catching fish. The elephant paused, looked at the heron and decided it was a good time to pick on the bird and show who’s the boss in the African wild. It was not like the bird posed any threat to the elephant, but the grumpy elephant decided it was time for a little intimidation. It was actually hilarious to watch the elephant going about picking on the heron bird. With raised ears, the elephant was swinging its trunk in the direction of the bird, while making its intimidating trumpeting sounds. The elephant even splashed water towards the bird a few times. It did not look like the bird was really scared and every time the elephant came closer, the bird would just fly off a little to stay out of reach. Once the elephant made its statement, it lost interest and continued through the river and the heron was left to carry on fishing in peace.

The video shows the funny moments of a cute male baby elephant attempting to show safari goers how scary he can be. When a fully grown elephant, weighing up to five tonnes, comes charging towards you with ears flapping and trunk swinging, it is time to get out of there as quickly as possible. When baby elephants attempt to imitate the behaviour of the adult elephants, it can be hilarious to watch. While on safari in the Kruger National Park, we came across a large herd of elephants which included a number of young individuals. As the adults moved on, this adorable baby elephant seen in the video, moved away from the herd and decided it was time to test his intimidation skills. Because elephants are the largest land mammals on this planet, they do tend to have the attitude that they can intimidate all other animals in the African wild, as well as safari vehicles filled with tourists. This male baby elephant tried his absolute best to be scary and intimidating. With flapping ears and a swinging trunk, the baby elephant made several mock charges towards the safari vehicle. At one stage the baby elephant even got onto his back legs in an attempt to look bigger and more intimidating. The safari goers on the vehicle found this very funny and amusing to watch.

The video shows how a group of lionesses take no nonsense from two male lions that attempted to steal their food. Life in the African wild can be brutal, and when it comes to food, especially for predators such as lions, things can get really rough. There are two main things of lions that are not to be messed with and that is their babies and their food. Lionesses normally do the hunting for the prides and the males will then usually come and take over and be the first to eat. This does not always work like that in the lion world as shown in the video. The lionesses in the video managed to pull down a buffalo. While all the female lions were feeding, they suddenly stopped and became very aggressive towards something that was approaching in the bush. Their sub adult cubs ran for their lives and suddenly the lionesses went into serious attack mode. The next moment the male lions appeared and that was when the lionesses brutally started attacking the two male lions that was approaching. It sounded ruthless and there were sounds of loud growls and snarling. It looked like the females managed to give the males a good hiding. The males started roaring to show off their dominance and chased after the females that decided it was time for them to make a run for it, luring the males further away from their food.

The video shows a baby elephant slowly moving through thick mud before wiping out, taking a nose or trunk dive straight down into the mud. Watching any baby elephant going about their business in the African wild is mostly an amusing sight. While still a little clumsy, like any child in their first few years, baby elephants have to navigate through all the challenges that living in the wild can bring. While on safari we watched a herd of elephants crossing through a muddy river. While the adults of course found it easy to march through the thick mud, it was a little more challenging for the younger elephants. The baby elephant in the video was treading slowly, one foot at a time. The mother elephant even stopped and looked back to see if her baby was doing all right. Just as the baby elephant looked like getting to the end of the mud, it slipped and smack, face and trunk first, straight down into the mud. Another adult female elephant came past to lend a little support to the clumsy baby elephant, lying face down in the mud. Slowly but surely the baby elephant managed to get back onto its feet and finally got out of the thick mud, making its way straight to its mother. While it was funny at the moment to watch the clumsiness of the baby elephant, we couldn’t help to feel a little sorry for it at the same time. All was well in the end, knowing we witnessed one of the many challenges a baby elephant would have to face while growing up in the wild.