Having an elephant mission to go on is always so much fun. This time we had discovered early in the morning that a female, name ‘Drachma’ had set foot in Buffalo Springs for the very first time. It was therefore important to get out and find her to see what she was up to and observe how she would behave in our presence.
When on such a mission however it is important to get there fast. We made the half hour or so drive to the other side of the river and I got in the back of the vehicle to make sure I would be in a prime position to take photos of her from all angles. This is generally a good move except when the mission takes longer than anticipated and the dirt tracks you are driving on have you bouncing about like a yo-yo, whilst at the same time dodging the spiky, thorned acacia attacking you from either side. The best thing to do I think is make like a rag doll and appreciate the hair-do you end up with at the end!
Despite the large size of the elephant, they are remarkably good at hiding and the excitement we had every time we saw a grey figure in the distance began to fade as we realised we were not going to find her. We did however find so many other families to enjoy along the way, including a few that had not been seen for quite sometime, giving the team relief to know that they were ok. Good old Drachma was far away in Ngara Mara by the next day and all I could do was wish her well and remember how much fun I had looking for her.