I posted another picture on the thread about the huge 1 tusk Namibian elephant. Here's another view. We were touring Etosha with our PH when this big guy walked up unanounced to our VW van, got to 30 feet and turned left. As I was snapping pictures, Helmke was starting up the van and ready to get out of there. He said that only within the last 5 or so years had the Etosha elephants stopped chasing vehicles. This bull was in musth (?sp) and went over to sniff the cows, who were having none of him. I assume they're a little crankier when is musth, anybody know for sure. I'm glad we got some pictures and a little adventure without getting the van knocked over. Bob

I wonder who was the closest to him anyway ! Hey !



Christer do you remember this elephant had some problems with his limbs it always clicked when he moved and even when he didn't move at all !

Christer, next time you stand eye to eye to the you will have your 470 NE ready?

Happy birthday!

/Martin

NitroX,

Yupp. Elephants turn over (and crush) cars all over southern and eastern africa. It is just kept quiet so the tourists don't get scared away...

The worst sand incident we had in Botswana was where the tyres just barely got a grip while the charging cow eventually was only a few meters away and chased us a couple of hundred meters with her ears flat. She meant business!

Another nasty encounter was in near Ugandas Murchinson Falls. We had gotten a bit lost on a neglected, overgrown track. The bush was too dense, and the track too narrow to turn around. In fact, we were sort of plowing thru the bush which was often about 20 cm narrower then our Land Rover on each side... The only way to go was to continue pushing forward, as we knew from our map and GPS that we'd hit another bigger track after a several kilometers. Then we hit a patch which was a bit less dense. This was unfortunatly occupied by a herd of cows and calves... Mommy elephant did not appreciate us visiting them in this usually secluded place. The nearest cow started the flapping of the ears rutine, thinking we'd retreat. Unfortunatly for us this wasn't possible because of the dense bush/ narrow track... We waited a bit to see if they'd calm down, or move off. Which they of course didn't. With no other option than going forward, we "slid" past them in what was as carefully and quietly as a Land Rover can be... The most irritated cow didn't think this was good enough, and after a bit of a mock charge thought it would be much better to give chase for real... I have rarely been so happy that our Land Rover has a hefty steel front bumper and protection over the headlights! As the track narrowed down again, bushs and small trees were breaking and flying all over the place since we were going as fast as possible. With the cow in tow for what seemed like an eternity! In realtime, the chase was probably about a minute or two. My wife was not a happy camper, and I have to admit that I was pretty tense myself... Even when the cow gave up, I kept the speed up for some time until we reached a more open area.

It was interesting to see the differances in elephant behavior depending on which country or area they were in. The ones we saw in Uganda were generally kind of sour.

As to the huge bull that farted into our tent window from only a meter away, I guess that didn't put them any higher in my wifes book! But then what could she expect when the tent is the same hight as an elephants ass!

I guess I'm lucky though. Many wives veiw elephants as cuddly, big-eared Dumbos, while mine wants me to hunt elephants!

Erik D.