There is an elephant at my window!
Over the past few weeks, I have written a few blogs about elephants in our yard. Well, I was in stitches this morning when I found out there had been an elephant at my window during the night…! And he went through a lot of effort to get there too! Let me tell you what I think happened last night…
After lots of nagging, the maintenance department finally came to put all our fences back up last week. Which is great, because both Alex and Jack managed to escape from the yard a few days before. Double trouble these boys of ours!
Earlier this morning, I was talking to Steven on the phone. He is in Pretoria for his B-Tech contact week and I wanted to wish him good luck with his exams. The only place we have decent signal around the house, is at our gate.
While we were chatting, I had a look at all the animal tracks in the sand in front of the gate. I actually joked to Steven: ‘it looks like our naughty elephant has done a patrol of our fence last night.’ Because apart from hyena and jackal tracks, the big round elephant tracks were clear to see right along side the fence.
Well the joke was one me, because I was spot on! When I got back to the house, I noticed the top two strands of the fence at the back of the house were bent. And there were ellie tracks all over the garden again.
I had to actually laugh out loud. Naughty, naughty elephant! I managed to find what the elephant was up to by walking from the gate, along our fence. This elephant must really like our yard. It walked all around the yard, hugging the fence. I can only imagine how it must have been testing the fence with his trunk or with his foot. He must have been quite disappointed to find the fence was up and quite stirdy…
So our garden invader walked the length of our fence and then came past the flats around the back. He had a nice feed on the apple leaf tree in the courtyard there and then a good poo. Then he probably noticed the fence at the back of our yard has a post missing. And that is where he came over.
He must have done some serious acrobatic moves, lifting his legs really high to scale the fence. If only I had been awake to see that! It would have been so entertaining to watch. The only damage there is to the fence is the two top strands are bent down. He probably could not hold his tummy in enough! So there is an elephant belly shaped indentation on the top of the fence now.
At one stage during the night the elephant was right by my bedroom window, feeding on the magic guarri bush that is there. And I slept through it all! What a pity. I would have been able to see him nicely in the moonlight. I am an incredibly light sleeper. If one of the boys so much as sneezes during the night, my mommy sense wakes me up. I guess I don’t have that kind of instinct when it comes to having an elephant at my window!!
The other blogs I wrote about the elephant that likes to come visit us are ‘A naughty overnight visitor‘ and ‘Elephant in the yard – another fence down‘. Please check them out by clicking on the links provided.
They can be INCREDIBLY quiet for such huge creatures. We had one come right up behind us one evening at Mana Pools while we sat chatting (I was “WORKING”) and we only realised he was there when he rumbled or some leaves he was chewing dropped – some small noise or other, We could only just see him in the gloom. He hung around for a few minutes and then he was gone…magical creatures.
Yes there are! And for such huge animals they can disappear quickly too! Even on broad daylight! Oeh Mana Pools is very high on my wishlist of places to go!
Great write up as always. I wish I could know what he was thinkng peeping through your bedroom window.??
Haha me too! I like to think he actually tapped the window with his trunk… Hey Oosthuizen… wake up!! hahaha
Elephants are so very clever!
Dina, I am sure this elephant was careful not to break the fence because we just had it fixed! Amazing…
Love your blog Linda, it’s so entertaining, having lived in the bush myself I relate to it. Thank you so much ?
Ah thanks Lynn! Where did you live if I may ask?
I live in Pretoria, lived on the Caprivi Strip for a number of years, loved the Bush life.
Oh Lynn now that is a part of Namibia I have not been to. Would love to explore there one day!
Linda I was there in the late 1980’s still quite untouched. It is a beautiful place, close to the Delta, Savuti, Moremi, Vic Falls and so many other gorgeous areas, worth a visit .
We did a wonderful camping trip to all those areas, but ufortunately could not fit in the Caprivi 🙁 Would love to go back to all of it another time!
It must have been quite an adventure living there!
Thanks again Linda …. yes I know elephants are silent. They just appear out of nowhere and disappear as silently – except when breaking branches.
Just finished reading all your posts -loving the anecdotes! I did the Metsi-Metsi and Sweni trails a few times and Rudi was always our guide. He was attacked by a lion about 12 years ago whilst doing a trail – I read about that in a newspaper here in London, where I currently live. I wonder if he still does trails? His wife was a vet, based in Skukuza. Anyway, keep the posts coming, I’m loving them ?
Hi Renata! Rudi stopped doing trails shortly after his lion attack about 10 years ago. Steven was doing metsi Metsi at the same time, you must have just missed him!
Oh Linda your story reminds me so much of the days that my parents were managing Letaba Camp. “Letaba” the elephant was a regular visitor and their fence needed to be fixed on a weekly basis!!!
haha yip, that sounds very familiar! ;-))))
You’re going to have to name your regular visitor. Love the picture of him standing over the braai, what a magnificent animal. Love your blog it transfers me back to the 17 years we lived in the bush!!!
Haha yes I agree! It will have to be an african name for ‘he who goes silently at night’ or something like that! 😉
Yes that would be a perfect name for him Linda.
Nemajambo in Shangaan? I just asked someone here. My knowledge of the Shangaan language is very limited;-)
Nemajambo – sounds very fitting. It reminds me of when my kids were babies in the game reserve and learning to talk. They called the elephants ….. jumbo’s!!
Thank you for sharing with us.
Pleasure Jan! Thank you, for taking the time to read my stories!
I love this blog, read it the first time this morning and I am hooked! We stay close to the park so we are regular visitors and the bush never cease to amaze and calm me! Thank you for sharing your life in Kruger with us!
Hi Lalie!
I am glad you found my blog! And that you enjoy our stories!
It is great that a little visit to the best place on earth is never far away from you!