EmotionsofAfrica

Jack Russell Terriers are well known to be intensely energetic dogs. This video shows when a fearless attitude is combined with all that energy, you get a jack russell that does not hesitate for one second to show a big and dangerous elephant bull who is the boss of the camp. Botswana is host to the world’s largest elephant population and encounters between man and the largest mammal on this planet is not uncommon. There are no fences around any reserves in the country and elephants can move freely as they like. When you stay in a wilderness safari camp, there are no fences around the camp either, and the tents are exposed to the wild as it is. While elephant herds normally do not cause too much trouble, it is usually the old big lone elephant bulls that can become troublesome and encounters with humans can be very dangerous. Elephants also freely move through camps and sometimes they will feed around the tents peacefully. It is on the odd occasion that you might have an angry and grumpy old elephant bull that likes to charge anything that moves or that comes in his way. This behaviour is usually caused by a period of musth which older male elephants go into when they are ready to mate. That means an overdrive of testosterone and hormones for the big bulls which makes them extremely dangerous. The video shows one of those bulls that came into a safari camp in a remote area of Botswana. The bull elephant looked like he was not in camp for casual feeding. As soon as the bull elephant saw movement of people between the tents, it started showing some intimidating behaviour, mock charging towards the tents while kicking sand and throwing dust around with his trunk. Some people banged on the tables to try scare the elephant away but this big bull was in no hurry to leave. Suddenly out of nowhere, a jack russell comes bursting through, charging straight at the elephant bull while barking. The bull elephant stared down at the charging and barking dog with his ears raised. Instead of charging towards the dog, which is ten times smaller, the bull elephant got a big freight and turned around and ran off. The feisty jack russell chased after the elephant for a few more meters before she had enough and turned around, casually walking back, looking really impressed with herself. The elephant then stopped, looking back all confused by what just happened. The elephant then decided it was better to move on and ran out of the camp. What an amazing show of self-confidence and fearlessness by the jack russell.

With self-drive safaris now allowed again in Kruger National Park after seven weeks of lockdown in South Africa, I didn’t waste any time and took the opportunity to visit the Park for a day. It did not take too long before I came across a small herd of elephants standing around a mud wallow. It was a hot morning in the African bush and the elephants took the opportunity to cool down, splashing mud all over their bodies. While keeping their bodies cool with the mud, the elephants also get the opportunity later on to clean their rugged skins by scratching of the dry mud, using a tree or rock to scratch against. In the process the elephants get rid of ticks and parasites trapped in the dry caked mud on their bodies. Majority of the herd finished their mud bath and slowly moved on. At the mud wallow remained a male baby elephant and his mother. The mother elephant casually continued splashing herself with mud while her calf was already covered in mud. The calf caught my attention when he stopped splashing mud over himself and started leaning forward slowly. It looked like the baby elephant was attempting to rub his forehead in the mud. That idea did not go so well for the baby elephant. While leaning forward to get his forehead in the mud, the elephant calf suddenly slipped and fell, face first into the mud. Like lightning the baby elephant got back onto his legs, looking a little flustered and embarrassed at the same time. The elephant calf immediately turned around, slowly climbed up the bank and went to hide in the nearby bushes. Again, this behavior gave me the impression that the elephant calf felt a little embarrassed by his face plant into the mud. I felt sorry for the little one but at the same time found the whole incident funny. Immediately I could relate the incident back to the scenario when you fall flat on your face in public, quickly jump with the hope that no one saw you, then slowly making an effort to disappear while acting as if nothing happened. I left the scene with a smile on my face and I was filled with the greatest admiration for how much of the behavior of the baby elephant could be related back to our own human behavior.

While it is true that size does matter when involved in pushing and shoving, the right attitude on the other hand can make a huge difference, no matter the size of your opponent. Watch how a baby elephant shows that a determined attitude can go a long way, even when size is not on your side. It was during a late afternoon safari in the Kruger National Park when we came across a herd of elephants. As a safari guide you know that it is always wise to switch off your vehicle and observe. Elephants are almost always active and spending time watching a herd of elephants will mostly deliver some sort of entertaining behaviour. It was a large herd and the elephants were scattered all around us in smaller groups busy feeding. A sudden movement to my left drew my attention to two young male elephants, looking very busy. Suddenly the young elephants had everyone’s attention when they came smashing through the shrub. The one elephant still looked like a baby elephant while his older brother seemed considerably larger in size. Even though it might seem that the two young elephants were just fooling around, these displays are part of a young male elephant’s life. From an early age, young males establish a hierarchy through these ‘play fights’ that includes head butting, pushing, ramming and shoving each other with the head. Due to elephants being the largest land mammals on the planet, dominance in the hierarchy is established through size. It was so adorable to watch the young elephants going about their battle of pushing and butting each other around with their heads. What stood out the most about the events unfolding in front of us was how tenacious the baby elephant was, showing a real fighter attitude even though he was outsized by his brother. The smaller elephant stood his ground, pushing back as hard as he could. Near the end of the video the baby elephant even mock charged towards his bigger brother, giving him a fright in the process. After that, the bigger elephant brother decided that enough was enough and finally pushed his annoying little brother one last time for a good distance till the baby elephant finally realized that in the elephant world size really does matter.

This video shows the adorable moments between a lioness and her playful cubs, teaching them the important skills of fighting and hunting in a playful manner. It was just before four in the morning when we decided to follow up on lions that was roaring nearby our camp in the Kruger National Park. While lions are the most feared predators in the African wild, they are also the laziest and sleep the most of all animals. Therefor to see lions in an active state one needs to brave the early hours of the morning or late hours of the night. If you find lions during the day, they will most likely be lying down, resting or sleeping. We ventured out in the direction of the roars. It didn’t take us long to find a pride of fifteen lions. The sun was about to rise and most of the pride members were up and about. The pride had seven cubs and they were the most active. Our timing was perfect to film some incredible lion behaviour during the early hours of the morning. The pride was spread out around a watering hole with the cubs running up and down. Our attention was drawn to a lioness that decided to join her playful cubs for some early morning playful fighting lessons. The important and powerful skill of pawing came into play. The lioness would paw at her cub, the cub would throw a few quick paws at its mother before the mother would pin down her cub, gripping it in a hold for a short while before releasing again. The interaction between the mother and her cub was so adorable to watch. The whole play and learn scenario was perfectly orchestrated by the mother, teaching her cub the vital skills of fighting as well as hunting at the same time. The pawing, grabbing, pinning down, biting and getting up quickly are all important moves her cubs need to learn to survive out in the wild on their own one day. During the play session the second cub wanted to be part of the action, biting his brother’s leg a little and in the end thought he also can take on his mother. With two quick swipes of the paw the mother put her cub hilariously back on to the ground. We could see the lioness now was ready to take a break from her teachings while the cubs continued to run a round chasing each other. What a morning, seeing such incredible interaction you will only see if you are prepared to get out of bed very early in the morning.

The video shows the daring attempt of an elephant herd rescuing their baby elephant that fell behind during a deep and dangerous river crossing. It was during a recent trip to the Kruger National Park that I managed to film this dramatic moment. After our self-drive morning safari, we decided to stop for breakfast at one of the main rest camps. It was busy on the day with a lot of people at the specific rest camp. While sitting in the restaurant overlooking a huge river in the front of the camp, I noticed a herd of elephants in the distance that was getting into the river. At first, I thought the elephants were there for a swim but soon realised that the whole herd formed a single file and was busy crossing the deep and dangerous river. All large water bodies in this part of the world are crocodile and hippo infested. The river was so deep that the elephants disappeared under the water while bouncing back up the whole time as they make their way forward while crossing the river. It was a stunning sight right from my breakfast table on the deck overlooking the river. The elephant herd slowly crossed the deep river to the other side. Suddenly I saw two adult elephants hastily making a u turn and started swimming back. I was a little confused by this but quickly realised what was going on. I saw right in the middle of the deep river a tiny grey spot, which accidently got left behind during the daring crossing. Amazingly in such a big herd, the elephants quickly realised one was missing. The baby elephant was disappearing under the water before coming up for air again the whole time, trying to swim back to opposite side the herd went. A struggling baby elephant alone like that can easily become the target of a big crocodile lurking in the depths of the river. It was incredible to watch how the adult elephants motored their way towards the baby elephant. Finally, the elephants made it to the struggling baby elephant, and it was a mad scramble for the adults. I could see the way baby elephants do cross such big river was to somehow stand or hold onto the backs of an adult. The one adult elephant managed to get the struggling baby elephant onto its back and started to make its way to the rest of the herd. On several occasions the baby elephant would fall of the back of the elephant along the way, and they would turn around and try again. During the last bit of the crossing, it seemed the baby elephant couldn’t stay on the back of the adult elephant, and they pushed it forward under the water right towards the shallows. The elephants stopped in the shallow water, looking around as if they again can’t find the baby elephant. I thought that was it, that last stretch under the water was just too much for the poor little elephant. To the great relief of everyone in the restaurant that eventually gathered to watch the whole drama, the baby elephant popped out and showed its head and trunk before it got moved out to the river bank by the adult elephants. Incredible how the baby elephant survived the whole ordeal by not drowning or getting eaten by one of the many crocodiles in the river. Incredible wildlife moment indeed.

Baby elephants are just adorable and make for entertaining viewing. Watch this excited baby elephant’s hilarious behaviour while playing in the water. During a recent safari in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, we came across a large herd of elephants. We decided to switch off the vehicle and spend some time with these amazing creatures. The African elephant makes part of Africa’s big five list, the top five most dangerous and wanted to see animals, together with rhino, buffalo, leopard and lion. Not only are elephants the largest land mammals on earth but they also rate amongst the most intelligent. With all of these facts in mind, it makes sense to spend time with these fascinating animals. What made this sighting even better was the fact that the elephant herd was around a watering hole. Whenever elephants are near water, they always look at their happiest and can become very playful. Elephants are partial to bathing, swimming and mud-wallowing. An interesting fact about elephants is that they have sweat gland-free skins. Elephants have various forms of thermoregulatory exercises and the use of water is a very important way to cool themselves down during the extreme summers in the African bush. Applying a layer of moisture to the sweat gland-free skin traps a layer of cooler air close to the skin and also prevents excessive exposure of the skin to the harsh African sun. While we enjoyed watching the herd of elephants, drinking and cooling down in the water, my attention was drawn to one particular baby elephant the entered the water. Next to the baby elephant was its mother, busy spraying the underparts of her body with muddy water. It was an absolute scorcher of a day and the baby elephant looked very excited to be in the water. The baby elephant was slapping the water with its trunk in an attempt to imitate its mother’s way of getting a cool down. The baby elephant suddenly decided that there is a much better way to get the job done and dropped on its side into the muddy water. With most of its body covered by the muddy water, the baby elephant took it one step further and proceeded to dunk its whole head and face into the muddy water. This was so funny to watch. The baby elephant slowly returned to its feet, totally covered in mud. Once on its feet, the adorable baby elephant rapidly shook its head and trunk around in circles a few times, looking very playful and excited at the same time. The head shaking of this baby elephant was just hilarious to watch. Knowing how far these elephants had to travel in the severe heat to get a drink and cool down, we could only imagine the satisfaction and relief the baby elephant felt after being in the water. Looking at the baby elephant’s behaviour, it surely looked like it enjoyed every minute in the water. It was not long before the herd headed off, walking back into the very hot and dry bush. Even though elephants love spending time in and around the water, they cannot waste too much time playing around. Due to their size, elephants need to eat a lot of food and constantly need to be on the move in their search for food.

Baby lions are some of the most adorable creatures on this planet. This video shows just how cute they really are when three male lion cubs become playful, with one brother deciding it’s a good time to practice his hunting skills on his brother’s tail. During this time their mother was lying passed out in the background, taking a well-deserved nap. The African lion is known as the king, the one that rules the savannah plains of Africa. Lions are the top predators in Africa and feared by prey animals and man. While these fearsome animals leave you with an adrenaline rush every time encountered in the wild, it is a totally different story when one is lucky enough to encounter lion cubs in the wild. These adorable baby animals immediately make lions go from scary and dangerous predators to cute little furballs, creating a sight filled with heart-warming moments and a cuteness overload experience. During a safari in the Kruger National Park, we were fortunate enough to come across a pride of lions which included three adorable male cubs. We were totally amazed by our find and decided to spend time with the lions. Most of the pride was resting and the mother of the pride looked totally passed out with some of her feet up in the air. As youngsters do while their parents try to rest, the lion cubs became full of energy and decided it was time to play. One of the lion cubs stole the show and made for the funniest and cutest part of the playtime. While playing around, this lion cub decided it was a good time to grab hold of his brother’s tail, acting like he was catching something. Lion cubs love biting, pulling and chewing on things when they are young as it simulates the actions and skills needed for hunting live prey when they grow older. His brother’s moving tail made the perfect target and the pulling and biting continued all while mommy was fast asleep in the back ground. The lion cub looked like he was going to drag his brother around by the tail and it was so cute and funny to watch the whole time. The lion cub that had his tail in his brother’s mouth decided he had to get his tail released and in a playful manned started wrestling his brother for his tail. Soon the tail was released and the lion cub went straight for the other brother’s tail. This adorable type of playfulness continued for a few more minutes until the cubs lost interest in their game and went to lie down to rest. The large lioness never even opened one eye to see what was going on, from our arrival until our departure. She must have been totally exhausted. We left the sighting full of joy and a warm feeling of gratefulness for the one of the cutest moments ever in the African wild.

When it comes to baby elephants and mud, you can be sure it will be an entertaining sight, just like this little elephant strangely enjoying rubbing its own face in the mud. During those scorching hot days in the African bush, elephants do love to spend lots of time near water and mud as it helps them to cool down. Enjoying a mud bath after a drink and a splash of water is a common routine for elephants. Over and above cooling down, baby elephants also normally use this time for fun and play. This is where the real entertainment starts. It was during a very hot afternoon on a safari in the Kruger National Park, when we came across a big herd of elephants gathered near a watering hole. Just below the watering hole was a mud wallow. A few elephants were at the mud wallow already and I knew this was where the fun was going to be. While watching the small herd of elephants at the mud wallow, we suddenly noticed one baby elephant on its own, busy entertaining itself in the mud. This baby elephant was not rolling and splashing around in the mud like most others would do. No, this particular baby elephant decided it would be so much fun to take its own face and shove it in the mud. It was hilarious to watch this little elephant, rubbing its face through the mud, up and down. It even looked like the baby elephant got mud into its own mouth at one stage. Once the baby elephant was done with this hilarious looking behaviour, it got up, with its whole trunk and mouth covered in mud, and quickly ran off to its mother. This was such a funny short moment with such incredible creatures going about their business in their natural environment.

Watching elephants in the wild during an African safari is always a great experience. When these giants are in the vicinity of mud, you can be sure of great entertaining behaviour, especially when they perform awkward looking body movements one would only expect to have seen from a circus elephant in the olden days. It was during a safari in the Kruger National Park when we came across a large herd of elephants gathered around several mud wallows. The herd was scattered all over and our attention was fixed on a small group of large bull elephants, standing around a smaller wallow some distance away from the rest of the herd. It was a blazing hot summer morning and most of the elephants were splashing themselves with mud. The cool mud covering the elephant’s skin brings great relief from the heat. While watching the large elephant bulls enjoying their time in the mud, we noticed that the largest bull was missing his tail. The large bull’s body was almost completely covered in mud and he was just standing there, staring at the wallow for some time. Suddenly the big elephant bull looked like he was about to slip, but his movements became more intent and controlled. I was totally blown away to see the large old bull, slowly bending down onto his knees. I was totally confused by this incredibly awkward body position the bull elephant found himself in. Once on all fours, the elephant bull slowly stretched out his front legs, looking like he was enjoying a good stretch. The old elephant bull then dragged his stomach and hind legs through the mud before easily getting back onto his feet. The bull elephant then casually proceeded to stand next to the other bulls, slightly bumping them out the way, just to reiterate his dominance over them and the mud wallow. Everybody on the safari vehicle was in total awe to see how flexible and agile such a large and old elephant bull can be if he wants to. Whether the old bull just wanted a good stretch or maybe wanting to get mud into a few hard-to-reach places, we will only ever be able to assume and never really know. In the end we could only leave with the total amazement of such rarely seen behaviour out in the African wild.

The Oxpecker is one of the most fascinating birds in the African wild. These birds spend their time picking and consuming ticks and other parasites off their hosts in a win-win relationship known as mutualistic symbiosis. In this case, a bird gets its food and the rhino ends up with a good cleaning! Filmed in a remote area of the Greater Kruger Wilderness, South Africa.

This funny incident was filmed at a water point in the Kruger National Park. This video tells the story of a very temperamental and cheeky young elephant bull that believes a certain waterhole belongs to him. At the top of the hill, there is a concrete reservoir, storing the water for the below open water point. Over time elephants figured out they can drink straight from this reservoir as they are tall enough to reach inside with their trunks. So they have this one all to themselves. This concrete reservoir then feeds the open water point below, roughly a hundred yards away. This water is then accessible for all other animals that cannot reach over the wall of the reservoir. All of this did not seem good enough for this young bull elephant. As much as elephants love fresh water, just as much do they hate to share any water with other animals. Why is that? Well probably just because they can. You are the largest land mammal on the planet weighing close to five tons and drinks up to 150 liters of water per day. Why should you share? This elephant adamantly and full of cheek made his way from the reservoir, down towards some blue wildebeest standing at the water. Poor animals were just trying to have a drink at the open water point. One can hear the rumbling noise while he approaches with his head held up high. This guy was on a mission to show everyone who is boss. With a loud scream, followed by a trumpeting noise, he chases away the poor wildebeest before they can even have a proper drink. Then it gets even funnier. This cheeky elephant then takes a trunk full of mud and slings it towards the wildebeest, just to really show them what he thinks about them sharing "HIS" water. The last part of the video shows a few other elephants now joined the cheeky bull elephant. The wildebeest think about returning to the water in desperation. The elephant bull walks up to them again in a threatening manner, head held up high and ears out. Then, just as the young one did earlier, another elephant takes a trunk full of mud and slings it at the wildebeest in a comical manner. The wildebeest there and then decided they had enough of this harassment and eventually moved off, only to return later once the elephants moved on. Who knew elephants could get involved in mudslinging!

The African elephant is Africa’s largest land mammal and a big male can weigh over five and a half thousand kilograms. At the same time they are most likely the most intelligent and intriguing animals that roam this planet. With this in mind, most people would never think that such a massive creature could actually perform delicate stunts with incredible agility, precision and style. Adult elephants are everything but clumsy and their ability to break into places where they should not be is astounding. Breaking into camps in the Kruger National Park, South Africa is one of their specialties. Gone are the days of elephants performing tricks in circuses. This video shows that wild elephants do not need any training from humans to be able to achieve their own stunts. The video is from a security camera located at the security gate of a private camp in the Kruger National Park. The camp was empty for 2 days and management thought it good to take all staff to town for a few hours. They left the camp unattended for four hours. On their return they did not notice anything out of the ordinary until they suddenly saw a number of trees snapped in half. Flowerbeds were destroyed and a great deal of greenery eaten. They immediately knew an elephant was in the camp and went to check the fences. Elephants have the ability to break through electric fences with great ease. None of the fences were damaged and the crew ended up back at the security gate. There the security guards noticed the tracks of the elephant at the gate. They immediately made their way into the control room and checked the recorded footage. To their amazement this bull elephant clearly knew that no one was home. He walked up to the gate and curiously touched it with his trunk to inspect it. Then the big bull elephant proceeded to step over the security gate one foot at a time. The boom pole of this gate stands at 1, 3 meters high and the elephant stepped over it without touching it once with any of his feet. The crew was stunned with the ease this guy made his way into the camp. Besides planting new trees and flowers, they could only laugh and make sure next time they always leave some people behind in camp to check the gate!

The video shows a three-legged elephant that was first seen a year and a half ago, amazingly still surviving in the African wild and doing fine. During a safari in the month of April 2021, we came across the unusual site of an adult elephant walking on only three legs. https://rumble.com/vfmzn7-watch-how-male-elephant-amazingly-manages-to-walk-with-only-three-legs.html. Not only were we stunned to see that the elephant managed to be mobile on three legs, but also by the fact that the elephant managed to survive for that long out in the African wild. One major factor I could tie to his success of survival is that this male elephant on three legs was part of a massive herd even though he straggle behind most of the time. During early November 2022, I was leading a safari in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. The Park boasts a healthy population of over thirty thousand elephants, and you get to see many big herds and individuals during a safari. During this specific safari we came across several big herds of elephants. Watching these incredibly intelligent giants going about their business is always a great experience. We decided to stop at a watering hole to observe another large herd of elephants busy drinking during the heat of the day. Suddenly I saw one elephant walking funny in the distance and I couldn’t believe my eyes. There he was! The same three-legged elephant without his tail, still with his protective herd. In a nineteen thousand square kilometre wilderness area, among thirty thousand plus elephants, there was the same elephant from one and half years ago. What are the chances. I told my group of tourists the story and everyone was happy to know that the elephant was still doing great and carrying on with life in his herd as normal. The elephant is suspected to have lost his leg in a snare many years ago. Amazingly he has lived past fifteen years of age. With his determination to survive and with the support and protection of his family, this brave elephant bull will hopefully live many more years to come. I hope to see him out there again one day. Respect.

The white rhinoceros is one of Africa’s Big five animals as well as one of the continent’s most threatened species to date. The white rhino generally looks like a dangerous animal not to be messed with but on certain occasions these amazing creatures can surprisingly be just as funny and entertaining to watch. The video shows how these intimidating looking creatures can become playful while having a little fun in the mud. It was during a late afternoon safari in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, when we came across the magnificent sight of six white rhinos at a watering hole, busy drinking and wallowing in the mud. It was incredible to see so many rhinos together at once. The magnificent horns of these rhinos are the first striking feature that grabs your attention. The horn of a rhino is the only weapon of defence it has in nature and unfortunately their horns have also put them in a terrible battle for survival against constant human poaching. Watching these incredible animals going about their business in the wild was such a privilege. The group of rhinos were enjoying themselves in the mud, cooling down after a long hot day while getting rid of some pesky insects and flies on their skins. After a mud wallow, it is common practice for a rhino then to go find a rubbing post such as a tree or a rock, where they can scratch off the caked mud while getting rid of any last remaining itchy spots on their bodies. My attention was drawn to one male rhino deciding that he was not going to even leave the wallow to find a rubbing post. The male rhino looked at his brother, having a relaxing lie down in the mud, and started scratching his face against his brother’s backside. The male rhino then proceeded to lie with his head on top of his brother while pushing forward and backwards, scratching his neck and shoulders against his brother’s backside. Just as the rhino got comfortable with his newly found rubbing post, the brother rhino decided this was not working for him and quickly got back up from his resting position in the mud. The rhino looked a little annoyed with his brother bumping and scratching against him while he was enjoying his own mud bath in peace. It was really funny to watch such formidable creatures having a comical moment in the mud before they headed off again into the bush and disappeared.

African elephants are the world’s largest land mammals. The video shows that you need nerves of steel when meeting a giant elephant bull face to face. With no tourists around at the moment, I decided to head out on a self-drive safari, exploring a remote wilderness part of the Kruger National Park. Going out in the wild is always an exciting experience as you never know what you will encounter around the next corner. Even though a safari can be filled with excitement and great sightings, one of the first and foremost things to keep in mind is that the animals you encounter on any African safari are wild, can be very dangerous and even lethal. These wild creatures demand the utmost respect at all times. As a safari guide that mostly lead groups of tourists that has never been in the African bush, it is our responsibility to always keep safety in mind and show respect for wild animals at all times. Different animals react in different ways and as a safari guide, you are trained on how to deal with various situations that involves dangerous animals. The one blanket rule in the African bush is to always keep a safe distance between you and the wild animals. There are times when things can actually take an unexpected turn. While I was driving around in the wild, I came across a large watering hole. In the distance I saw one lone bull elephant enjoying a drink of water before splashing himself with mud in order to cool himself down. I scanned the surroundings and didn’t see any other wildlife nearby. I decided to spend time watching the large bull elephant going about his daily business. Once the elephant bull was done at the water, he slowly started walking in the direction of my vehicle. Originally there was a safe distance between me and the male elephant but with him slowly walking towards me, that distance very quickly shrunk. It would have been suicidal to start the vehicle and make an attempt to get away while the male elephant was approaching. Any sudden behaviour or noise can possibly aggravate the bull elephant, which is something I definitely did not want to do. I had to fall back on my experience and did my best to remain calm and stay very still. This is easier said than done as your natural instinct tells you to get away immediately. The bull elephant ended up right in front of me, towering over my vehicle. It was extremely intimidating to have the bull elephant’s face right in front of me, while sniffing at me with his trunk. With over five tonnes standing right in front of me, not knowing what the animal’s next move will be, it became an absolute heart racing experience for me. The bull elephant then slowly moved to left front of the vehicle. On the front of the vehicle is a seat normally occupied by a scout that helps with spotting and tracking wild animals during a safari. Luckily on this day I was alone. The bull elephant then proceeded to use that seat as a rubbing post, slowly scratching off the mud still stuck on his trunk. After scratching his trunk against the vehicle, it looked like he was moving away to my relief. The relief inside of me quickly disappeared when the massive elephant decided to turn around and have a go at the vehicle with his tusks. The elephant bull bumped the vehicle slightly with his tusks before giving the vehicle a slight lift. The bull elephant was clearly very curious to test his abilities against that of the safari vehicle. This elephant’s behaviour was totally unpredictable and I knew that he could very easily flip my vehicle over. With all of that going through my mind, I used a steady and firm tone of voice to mumble my disapproval of what he was about to do. Luckily my mumbling worked as the elephant stopped banging the vehicle with his tusks and finally pulled away. The elephant bull remained close to the vehicle for another few minutes before he eventually moved on, leaving me in peace. A huge sense of relief fell over me while my heart rate was still going through the roof.

Together with the Ethiopian wolf, the African wild dog is the rarest carnivore on the African continent. These fascinating creatures live a nomadic lifestyle, covering massive distances on a daily basis while hunting together as a pack. This makes it incredibly difficult to find them and you will be very lucky to spot any African wild dogs while on safari in the African wild. During a recent safari in the Kruger National Park, we were treated to a once in a life time sighting when we came across a den where a pack of African wild dogs were breeding. Finding these animals in the wild is an incredible experience but we were totally stunned when we came across their breeding den sight. The pack of dogs were resting in the nearby shade while the mother was nearby the den. These den sights are usually located in old burrows inside termite mounds. We stopped at a safe distance and waited, hoping that the puppies would show themselves. After waiting with great anticipation for a good twenty minutes, the mother wild dog suddenly got up and walked straight to the entrance of the den. We could hear she was calling softly and the next moment a whole bunch of the most adorable puppies came bursting out of the burrow. They were super excited to get out and very energetic at the same time. There were sixteen puppies and they were about 3 weeks old. During their first few weeks of their lives, wild dog pups are only allowed out of the den around three times a day during which they get fed and have time to play, getting some exercise at the same time. This limited time out of the den is for their own protection as their play time outside is usually chaotic and noisy, potentially drawing the attention of other dangerous predators such as hyenas which will kill the pups without hesitation. Once the puppies were let out the den, serious play time ensued. There were puppies everywhere and it was chaotic. Some were running up and down, many were chewing on something, be it a branch or their brother’s tale. One pup even fell down the burrow while chasing another one and a few spend the time wrestling and biting each other in a playful manner. We could see these puppies had the time of their lives and so did we. There was just so much interaction between all the pups at once, we didn’t know where to look. This was definitely one of my most remarkable sights ever in the African wild. To see such rare creatures and their young interacting in their natural environment was just a priceless experience.

Driving around in the bush while on a safari in Africa, you get to experience the wonders, sounds and beauty of a unique natural world. Encountering wild animals in their natural habitat always delivers a fascinating and unique experience. The African Elephant is a huge favorite among tourists. While elephants are the largest land mammals on this planet, they are also among the most intelligent. Elephants are mostly very entertaining to watch and amazingly, humans can relate with so many of their fascinating and amusing behaviors. During a recent safari in Kruger National Park, we stopped to watch a small herd of elephant busy enjoying a mud bath. Spending time in a mud bath is the favorite pass time activity of any elephant, young and old. Not only does the mud cool elephants down during hot days, it also serves as a very important and healthy scrub, getting rid of itchy ticks and parasites stuck to their skins. Our attention was quickly moved to a young male elephant standing in the mud. To our amusement, this young male elephant decided that today he was going to shove his whole face into the mud. The young elephant was leaning forward, before he suddenly planted his face straight into the mud. Looking very awkward, the young elephant had his bum in the air while using his back legs to push forward, shoving his face even deeper into the mud. The young male shoved his face up to above eye level. The young elephant stayed in that odd-looking position for a few seconds before lifting his face out of the mud, looking like it was having a royal time. This young male elephant was very adamant to get his whole face covered with mud, clearly indicating that pretty much his whole face was itchy and he had to get rid of his itchy face quickly. This behavior put a smile on everyone’s face, while relating to the times when we as humans also have those days when we just feel like sticking our own faces into the mud, just for very different reasons than that of the young male elephant.

When a large elephant decides to charge a vehicle, it is always a really scary situation. When a baby elephant decides to mock charge a safari vehicle, it turns out to be one hilarious moment as shown in this video. Elephants can be intimidating during any safari due to their size and many a time there has been incidents where big bull elephants get physical with tourist vehicles, ending up rolling or trashing these vehicles like it is nothing for them. Keeping a safe distance from these giants is always a good idea. While on the other hand, the smaller elephants are, of course the funnier and more adorable they are. Just watching baby elephants going about learning from their parents and then applying their skills, is sometimes some of the funniest moments ever on a safari. This video shows just one of those hilarious moments spent with a baby elephant in the wild of the Kruger National Park. While on safari in the park, we stopped to watch a herd of elephants standing in the road some distance ahead of us. The road was blocked by elephants and we decided to sit there and watch these elephants until they decided to move on. It was a breeding herd and there were a good number of baby elephants in the herd. The herd eventually slowly started moving along the road while one particular baby elephant remained standing, swinging his trunk around, looking all cute. The next moment this little elephant lifted his head and ears in true ‘angry elephant’ style, charged towards the vehicle a few meters and stopped. This was a typical mini version of what a big elephant bull would do when angry with a vehicle. Then the funniest thing ever happened. The baby elephant hilariously lifted its front feet off the ground, standing on its hind legs before charging towards the vehicle again. The baby elephant stopped a few meters in front of the safari vehicle before turning around like lightning, running away like the wind. Everything happened so quickly and it was like the baby elephant went from extremely confident to really scared in seconds when it realised that the vehicle is still a little big. We couldn’t believe the incredibly funny behaviour we witnessed and how unexpectedly it all was after just sitting watching elephants standing in the road.

When hearing the word tortoise, the first image that pops up in my mind is that of a notoriously slow-moving creature, with the ability to carry its own home on its back while mostly seen alone. When you find three tortoises together and the tensions are high, it is amazing to watch these creatures do battle in real ‘speed’. I was driving along a main road in the Kruger National Park when I spotted small odd shapes in the distance of the road. As I approached the small strange looking figures in the road, I quickly realised it was three leopard tortoises together. It is not uncommon to have to stop and wait for a single leopard tortoise to slowly cross the road, but to find three tortoises together was an amazing experience and a first for me. I quickly realised that these three tortoises were not busy crossing the road. I stopped a few meters away to see what this gathering was all about. The one tortoise was climbing onto another tortoise and the third tortoise right behind them. To my total surprise, the third tortoise suddenly decided to spoil the moment and bashed into the much larger tortoise, pushing it off the back of the other tortoise. It was all suddenly clear what was going on here. Its extremely hard to determine the sex of a tortoise by just looking at it from the top. Based on the behaviour I witnessed, it was clear that I was looking at two males and a female leopard tortoise. The large male that’s been pushed off did not take well to a much smaller male busting his moment. I even thought to myself that this smaller male either had some serious confidence or he was just plain silly. The large male tortoise lost all interest in the female and zoned all his focus onto the smaller male, retaliating with a full bulldozing attack. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The large male lost it and kept pushing and bulldozing the younger male around without stop. The female decided she was not going to hang around for this fight and without the males even noticing, the female got away at great ‘speed’. The males continued with their battle, with the large male clearly in charge until suddenly the smaller male tortoise realised that he had one advantage over the large male. He was smaller and ‘faster’ and finally decided to set foot and attempt to outrun the larger male. It was so hilarious to watch two tortoises running down the road and chasing each other at great tortoise speeds. It was the fastest I have ever seen any tortoises move in my life. Even though the smaller tortoise was lighter and faster, it seemed the larger tortoise managed to make better ground with his bigger strides. I was a bit disappointed not to have seen the end to this battle as both disappeared into thick grass where I am sure their battle continued. One of the most amusing and unexpected sites I have seen in a very long time

Baby elephants can be adorable and hilarious at the same time, like shown in this video. This adorable baby elephant decided to plonk itself face first into the mud before making the most hilarious attempts to get back onto its feet again. When you on safari and come across a large herd of elephants, it is a good time to stop in the distance and watch. You will almost always see the most interesting behaviour in any large breeding herd of elephants out in the wild. Breeding herds of elephants consists of females and their young. There is also a good chance that there will be a few baby elephants in such a herd which always make for entertaining viewing. We did just that when we came across a large breeding herd of elephants. We stopped in the distance under a shady tree with the elephants spread out in front of us. It was already hot during the late morning and some of the elephants enjoyed splashing themselves with mud and water at a small watering hole. There were a few baby elephants in the herd and one particular baby elephant caught our attention. The baby elephant was standing around at the edge of the mud wallow before it suddenly went straight down into the mud, face first. This baby elephant clearly decided that plonking itself down in the mud will be a lot quicker than spraying itself with the mud. The baby elephant looked really funny with the one side of its face resting in the mud and its backside up in the air. The baby elephant eventually went to lie down on its side, enjoying the cool mud on its body during the heat. Things then became hilarious when the baby elephant decided it was time to get back onto its feet. The baby elephant attempted to use momentum by lifting its body and kicking in the air, moving from side to side and up and down for a number of times. This adorable baby elephant’s attempts to get back up was hilarious to watch. Eventually the baby elephant gained enough momentum to get onto its knees. The baby elephant paused for a bit before finally getting back onto its feet, looking so cute and funny with the one side of its face and body plastered with mud. The baby elephant ran off to its mother and we left the herd with great joy, being overly entertained by the adorable baby elephant.

Boys will be boys, a saying not only applicable in the human world but also very true in the world of elephants. The video shows how two young, playful elephant brothers are just being boys when they start a trunk wrestling match, testing each other’s strength. Watching elephants during an African safari is always a great experience. These intelligent giants can display an incredible number of different behaviours at any given time, making them rather unpredictable sometimes. Spending some time just to watch a herd of elephants going about their daily business can be rewarding and many times very entertaining. It was during a recent safari in the Kruger National Park that we came across a large herd of elephants. There was a good number of young elephants in the breeding herd. With so many youngsters around we decided it could only be entertaining to stay and watch for a while. It was not long before my attention was drawn to three young bull elephants standing together. I realised they were sizing each other up and it was not long before two of the young male elephants decided to start a trunk-wrestling match. From a young age, even-sized elephant bulls will engage in such trunk-wrestling contests to start establishing dominance. These contests never turn violent and will mostly consist of pushing and shoving each other around until one decides to give in and walk away. Like two typical young boys, the elephant brothers started pushing and shoving each other around using their trunks. It was so amusing to watch how these two young elephant brothers locked their trunks during the interaction. As real boxers will do in a fight, the two young elephants took a few pauses in between every now and then to catch their breath before they would continue wrestling. The two playful elephant males continued pushing each other around with no clear winner standing out. Suddenly the one young brother elephant decided he had enough and pulled out of the contest. The other elephant brother triumphantly raised his trunk in the air, claiming the win. We left the herd with smiles on our faces and highly satisfied with the entertainment provided by the two young elephant brothers.

This video shows how incredibly playful baby elephants can be with this cute baby elephant jumping and sitting on his bigger brother, making it difficult for his brother to get up in the most hilarious ways. Baby elephants are so cute and watching these animals going about their daily business can be very entertaining. While big elephants can be intimidating, their offspring on the other hand has the ability to put a smile on your face with their clumsiness and playfulness. Baby elephants love to play and a lot of times we as humans can relate to the behaviour of these incredible creatures. I was alone in a remote wilderness area of the Kruger National Park when I found a large breeding herd of elephants. There were many baby elephants and I decided to spend as much time with them as possible. The elephants were standing near a watering hole and some elephants even enjoyed a mud bath in a nearby wallow. There were two particular baby elephants that stood out for me and I started filming their behaviour. These two baby elephants looked busy, with one rolling around on the ground and the other running up and down. While the one baby elephant was lying on the ground, busy scratching the mud from his skin, the other baby elephant saw an opportunity to play. As his brother was about to get up, the baby elephant jumped on top of his brother with his front legs, trying to hold him down and not allowing him to get up. Things got more hilarious when the baby elephant turned around, trying to go and sit on his brother’s head. The baby elephant repeatedly pushed his brother down with his backside, clearly not wanting his brother to get up, purely for fun. The brother elephant after a while decided that having his brother’s backside in his face was not fun anymore more and managed to slide from out under his brother and back onto his feet. Watching these two male baby elephants brought back many childhood memories of the fun and playful days had between brothers. I left the elephant herd with the saying ‘Boys will be boys’ ringing in my head and a big grin on my face.

The African elephant is the largest and heaviest terrestrial mammal in the world. They are extremely intelligent and incredibly powerful animals that alter their surroundings to the benefit and sometimes to the detriment of whole ecosystems. Due to their size, elephants have to feed constantly, even through the night, consuming up to three hundred kilograms of food per day. With such a big appetite comes a great thirst. Elephants must drink daily to facilitate the digestion of the large quantities of coarse plant material that they eat. Elephants will take in over a hundred litres of water per day. Elephants do love water a lot, not only for drinking but also for bathing and swimming and finding elephants near water in their natural habitat is always a very entertaining and amusing experience. With this in mind, elephants also become very protective about the water they claim belongs to them and are known to chase off animals like buffalo, warthogs and zebra, especially when water sources are dwindling during the dry months. It was during the middle of a hot day in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, when I came across a large herd of elephants standing around a man-made waterhole that are pumped twenty-four hours a day. This waterhole is one of only a few places in a vast area where elephants can find water. Due to this fact, things can become a little overcrowded and sometimes tense, leading to some very amusing behavior. I was busy filming the herd of elephant standing around and drinking from a trough where the first fresh water was coming from. I suddenly saw a huge splash of water flying through the air and decided to focus on what was going on. Confused at first by what I saw, I quickly realized that a large bull elephant was actually swinging his trunk around in circles like a hosepipe before releasing a big spray of water in to the air. In front of the bull elephant was a baby elephant and the water smashed straight into it. The baby elephant looked flustered and slowly turned around to start moving away. The young elephant hardly had time to move away when the bull elephant swung his trunk through the air, splashing the baby elephant full of water again for the second time. This now started looking like more than just a coincidence. The young elephant moved away and went to stand next to its mother, looking to hide from the shooting water coming its way the whole time. Being thirsty and rudely interrupted by this elephant bull, the elephant mother slowly moved forward to the water for a drink, but the bull elephant was having none of it and for a third time swung his trunk in the same direction, spraying both the mother and her baby. It was clear that the cheeky elephant was not prepared to share the water with too many other family members and made it clear not everyone was welcome at the water while he was there. It was so funny to watch how cheeky this bull elephant actually was and the manner he used his trunk as a hosepipe to spray those he did not want near the water. I also felt sorry for the young elephant and its mother but it was not long before the cheeky bull elephant stopped with his nonsense and actually allowed the mother elephant and her youngster to have a drink. Once again, watching elephants near water turned out to be a very entertaining experience.

The video shows two huge elephant bulls starting a fight in the middle of the road which escalated so much that it became unsafe to be anywhere near the angry bulls. Elephants are the largest land mammals on this planet and mostly not angry with one another. When two massive elephant bulls do become angry at one another, it is over ten tonnes of elephant that locks into battle. Elephants normally do not fight. Males are disciplined from a young age by older elephants, and they learn respecting those who are older and wiser. On the rare occasion two older males will be on equal terms on every aspect of life. That is when fighting becomes the last test to establish dominance. The two elephant bulls in the video were really going at each other, bumping, and pushing each other around, even smashing through and destroying a whole tree in the process. The elephants came charging down the road and that was there where everyone in the vicinity decided to get away very quickly.

Finding baby animals on a safari in the African wild is always a special experience. During a recent safari in the Kruger National Park, I managed to capture this heartwarming moment between a baby elephant and its mother. It was early morning in the African bush. We headed out on our safari just before sunrise and it was not long before we came across a large breeding herd of elephants, slowly feeding alongside the road. The large breeding herd was made up of mostly female elephants that are all related. There were also many sub adults and baby elephants in the herd. To see the largest mammal on the planet in baby form is just adorable. We decided to switch off the vehicle and spend some time watching the herd and the many baby elephants. One particular baby elephant caught my attention and I focused my camera onto the little one, looking less than three weeks old. During their first three weeks of life, baby elephants are still very unstable on their feet. Keeping up with the herd while making their way over the rough and uneven terrain of the African bush is one of the many great challenges a baby elephant faces at the beginning of its life. The video shows how the month-old baby elephant suddenly stumbles over a small bush before falling flat on its side. The unexpected fall left the baby elephant looking totally confused with what just happened. The mother elephant was there immediately with her trunk to support her baby. The baby elephant was lying on top of the small bush and was struggling to get back up onto its feet. Like a true toddler, the baby elephant suddenly uttered two loud screams, throwing a quick little tantrum, looking for immediate attention and assistance. The mother elephant immediately responded by using her foot and her trunk to get her screaming baby back onto its feet. The baby elephant managed to stay on its feet, while still looking a little uneasy. The baby elephant proceeded to drink on its mother. It was not long before the whole herd of elephants disappeared into thicker bush. Everybody on the safari vehicle had a big smile on their faces and this sighting was by far the biggest highlight of the day. We were overwhelmed by the cuteness of this baby elephant and to see how caringly the mother elephant responded to her screaming baby.