Kenya – Amazing Close Encounter With A One Tusk Elephant
Close encounter with a one tusk elephant was the last thing I could have imagined that I would be lucky enough to experience on a safari in Kenya.
Amboseli National Park, formerly known as Maasai Amboseli Game Reserve was established in 1974. The park is located in the Loitoktok District, rift valley province of Kenya. It also crowns the highest peak in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro.
Travel Tips
How to get to Amboseli National Park?
It is easily a four hours drive from Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. You can drive to the park on the day you arrive. However, this depends on your arrival time. Generally, the tour companies try to incorporate a night stay in Nairobi upon arrival, so you start your road journey early the following day after a hearty breakfast at the hotel you are staying in.
Planning a night stay in Nairobi?
If you plan to stay a night in Nairobi upon arrival then I would recommend the Movenpick Hotel & Residences. The hotel is located in the heart of the Westlands area. This is a commercial, retail and entertainment suburb. In addition, the hotel also provides easy access to the city center and diplomatic district.
It is also in close proximity to Karura Forest, which is only 15-minutes by car and Nairobi National Park, which can be reached in 45-minutes from the hotel.
Did you Know?
The word ‘Amboseli,’ comes from a Maasai word meaning, “salty dust.”
Amboseli National Park is home to several animal species like; African elephant, wildebeest, giraffes, zebra, cheetah, hyena, lion, just to name a few. Along with the animals, there is copious birdlife for bird watchers.
Besides the lifetime safari experiences, the park offers spectacular views of Mount Kilimanjaro and it also gives the visitor an opportunity to meet the Maasai tribe.
During our seven nights stay at the park, we had experienced many mornings and evening safaris. The close encounter with the one tusk African elephant happened on one of those morning drives.
Cruising in our open-top safari vehicle, with my Fuji camera dangling around my neck, Swarovski sunglasses perched on my aquiline nose, I was searching the vast land for that unexpected adventure, when suddenly our sturdy, experienced safari driver brought the vehicle to a screeching halt.
The Warrior - Encounter with the one tusk Elephant
Right at that moment, I felt excitement in the air. Smack! In front of us, a few meters from our vehicle, striding out of the bushes, came the injured warrior.
My heart bombed against my chest as I saw the breathtaking site. My gaze quickly shifted towards our driver, John.
John, a jovial safari guide had turned into a commando. His eyes were intently focused on the warrior. One of his hand was gripping onto the bald head of the gear, while the other was tightly holding on to the steering wheel.
Without turning back, he whispered tensely in his heavy “SwahEnglish” accent, “Not a sound!” I am sure, we all must have thought to ourselves, “As if we would dare.”
The injured warrior with one broken tusk was staring directly at us. I thought he was looking right into our souls. I wondered if he had shed tears out of pain and was consoling his wounds in private before we showed up and invaded his solitary space.
Elephants are magnificent species. When they mean serious harm, they charge with ears held back against their neck and their trunk up against their chin. This fellow was already bruised so I think, he could not decide whether to charge at the vehicle or to walk away. If he did charge, he would without any effort wreck the vehicle, and lord knows what would become of the occupants.
For an animal that weighs anywhere between 1800 to 6300 kilos, he sure had admirable control over his body movement.
The Finale!
We seemed like two lovers who kept staring at the other, waiting in anticipation as to who will make the first move. Finally, the mammoth warrior decided to show us his superiority by charging at us. John with his amazing spontaneous response reversed the vehicle right at that moment.
To everyone’s relief, the warrior stopped in his tracks, gave us one final stare, raised his trumpet high and made a roaring sound to say, “Don’t mess with me!” That was when he turned around and “baby got back” buttocks waddled away.
I excitedly grabbed on to my camera and created a memory. To this day, I sometimes think of my injured warrior.
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4 Comments
Sab
Awwh ur blog really took me back to Africa ❤️
MSAInfiniteMonkey
Hello Sab, thank you for taking time to read my story. Hope to catch you again on my blog. Sending Love!
MSAInfiniteMonkey
Faiza A Abbasi
Beautifully caputures the spirit of a Kenya safari. Will surely return one day.
MSAInfiniteMonkey
Hello Faiza,
Thank you for your lovely comment. Brought a smile to my face.
Wishing you a fantabulous day!