At the Spa with the Elephants
I had a couple of hours to rest before my guide, Pilipili and I, headed out again to photograph elephants in Amboseli National Park. Drifting in that zone between sleep and wakefulness something called me back. The afternoon was quiet — no sound of birds or animals rustling outside my door. Disoriented, I propped myself up on my elbows and peered through the screen. An enormous red brown head rose out of the thick grass. I didn’t realize I had a view of the far end of the water hole from my porch. A massive bull elephant was silently enjoying a mud bath directly in front of my door. I quickly slid my feet into a pair of sandals, grabbed my cameras and raced back to the main lodge.
I crept across the lawn and slipped onto a lounge chair a few yards from the electric wire that separated me from water hole. The bull hauled himself up from the depth of the wallow and casually sauntered off into the trees. Refreshed, he looked like he had been dipped in chocolate from head to tail.
I regretted I hadn’t stayed after lunch for this show. As I reviewed the few images I captured, I noticed movement out the corner of my eye. Coming down the path was Craig, identifiable by his colossal tusks and a right-angled tear in his left ear. We faced each other across the water hole. After a pregnant pause, he calmly proceeded to go through his spa routine.
Step one: Suck up a good slurp of mud
Step two: Spray over body — repeat
Step three: Slide 6 tons of elephant into the bath
Step four: Ahhh … enjoy the soak
The entire process was soundless except for the splash when Craig sprayed mud across his body. Unless you were looking, you would not know that the largest mammal on earth was enjoying a bath a few yards away. There was a sense of peace, calm and pleasure that hung in the air as Craig slowly stirred the growing pool of chocolate pudding coating his massive body in dark, red brown mud. Finally, with a huge heave ho, he hauled himself out and ambled into the bush.
As Craig disappeared into the trees a third bull came down the path! It felt like the bulls had chosen numbers in the forest to decide who got to bathe first.
The next bull proceeded to go through the same ritual as Craig; survey the bath, suck in mud for a first coat, spray, repeat, slide into the mud hole, enjoy, spray more mud, exit. There were no wet towels to hang up, just a growing soupy edge around the water hole. A group of zebras arrived during the elephants’ spa session. They surveyed the scene but there was no clean water to drink. After the big boys’ baths there’s just one massive pool of liquid muck. Enjoy more Heartfelt Stories on my weekly blog.
