I’m writing this blogpost to share with you one of the most memorable sightings I’ve had here in the Dinokeng Game Reserve.
My day starts early, at 4 AM. I woke up and checked the weather forecast for the day. On this particular day, the forecast was perfect … sunny skies and little to no wind. I had a big group of guests that wanted to do an early morning game drive in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the elephant herd.
I made my way down to the lodge to prepare for our drive. I planned my route and chatted with guests while they drank up their morning coffee. Because we were setting out to look for elephants, I planned to drive the riverine area as it has a high concentration of foliage which elephants love to feed on ― tons of acacias and buffalo thorns ― which are some of the elephant’s favourite choice of fodder. In fact, it makes up about 65 percent of their diet.
We set out for our morning safari. At first, we came across other species like kudus, some giraffe, which is always a winner with guests, and of course impala.
We travelled a short distance more, and I came across the track of an elephant bull. Not the herd but a large bul. From an eco-tourist point of view, makes for great viewing. They are large and for the most part pretty docile.
I decided to follow the track for some time. We followed the spoor for about twenty minutes when all of a sudden the track left the road and cut into the veld. At this stage, I employed a technique called speculative tracking. I managed to loop around the block only to pick up the track again.
Before long we got a visual of the enormous bull ambling down the road towards the vehicle. I decided this was our shot at an incredible encounter, so I monitored the body language and behaviour and decided he had a pretty relaxed demeaner.
This was it ― our shot at something spectacular. I switched off the vehicle and let the magic happen.
To find out what happened next, click the video link below. And remember to follow us for more incredible content!