An Abundance of Elephants

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Geo: -24.7705, 26.3247

After work today I spent about two hours at the hide. At first it was very quiet. A young adult elephant came down to drink right across from the hide – so I had a good view of him. A few minutes later he walked away. There was also a terrapin and a Grey Heron enjoying the waterhole on this spring afternoon.

During the next hour I did a lot of reading as there were no animals to watch. Finally animals arrived!

It was a large breeding herd of elephants, there were about thirty of them. They quickly walked straight to the edge of the waterhole and began drinking. It looked like they were very thirsty. This herd had lots of little ones which are fun to watch as they are a bit uncoordinated. As they started to finish drinking they slowly walked into the wetlands. Here they threw water over themselves and had a little roll in the mud.

They then walked back to the waterhole to where the water is freshly pumped into the waterhole. Some of the elephants enjoyed a roll in the sand, another one swam in the middle of the waterhole, while others rolled in the mud. At this stage the elephants were spread out all over the wetlands/waterhole area. Slowly they started to walk off into the bush after having been here for about half an hour.

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Photos

01 Drinking
An elephant drinking water from the waterhole.

02 Heron
A Grey Heron that is about to be disturbed by elephants.

03 Terrapin
A terrapin on the edge of the waterhole.

04 Walking By
An elephant walking by the edge of the waterhole.

05 Drinking
A breeding herd of elephants drinking water.

06 Drinking
More of the herd drinking water.

07 More Elephants
More elephants enter the area.

08 In the Water
The elephants are walking into the water as they drink.

09 Elephants
The elephants enjoying the water.

10 Rear End
A rear end of an elephant.

11 In the Wetlands
A pair of elephants in the wetlands.

12 Having Fun
A young elephant jumping on another's back.

13 Moving Off
Some of the herd is starting to move away.

14 In the Water
A couple of the herd standing in the water.

15 Drinking
Elephants still drinking water.

16 Walking Away
The herd is being led away by the matriarch.

17 Moving Away
The elephants are moving away from the waterhole and towards the wetlands.

18 Elephants
More elephant activity.

19 Drinking
An elephant drinking from the waterhole.

20 Arriving
Other elephants arriving at the waterhole.

21 Walking
This elephant is walking to the freshly pumped water.