5 November 2009

Sunlight came softly through the green foliage and shade cloth windows of my tent as the raucous morning proclimations of spurfowl (formerly frankolin) roused me from my slumber.  Lucid images of lusty elephant intercourse lingered in my mind.  A rich, moist earthy fragrance filled my lungs and danced in the air around me.  Last  nights thunder storms enlivened my dreams, moistened mother earth and sprinkled sparkly dew drops all around. 

The elephants were also feeling invigorated and while I was greeting Jabu I noticed that a segment of his lower left molar (the last part of his 4th molar in a  series of 6 sets) was missing. Throughout most of an elephants life time, the teeth migrate forward along the jaw line and break off in segments at the front of the mouth.  On his other 3 jaw quadrants he has small sections of M4 (molar number 4) remaining, so the lower left  is the first quadrant with exclusive use of M5.  I was anticipating that this would happen soon but was hoping to take a photo of it before it fell out. Oh well, what the hell, next time I'll try to be more on my toes. 

While the elephants were foraging I returned to the tent to get some medication for a minor nail infection on Jabu's left front foot. When I came back the tension was palpable and the trio had heads held high plus trunks and ears extended.  In a panic, a wild breeding herd came thundering through the thicket in front of us. The panic was contagious and our three  proboscidean pals also bolted but in the opposite direction, heading back towards camp.  In short order they stopped running, however, and oriented back towards the commotion. 

A wild elephant bull then came bursting through the bush perhaps running from the same disturbance as the breeding herd, or maybe he was  chasing them.  We were all standing in a defensive huddle for some time, listening to trumpets and wild crashing through the bush, and finally our elephant friends started to calm down.   Thembi was the most uptight and took longer to relax.  While standing there feeling part of a tremendous team, I looked up to see a big silver moon still hanging high in the pale blue sky, and the angelic form of a wattled crane came flying by...... and as I write this my  spirits soar as do a pair of fish eagles overhead.