OVER many years of wandering around southern and central Africa with a tent, I have a rich store of precious memories, ranging from amazing and wonderful to downright wacky and even weird. For a month or so I have been doing a virtual walkabout in the land Down Under. Now, safely back on South African soil, I’d like to use my Tent Travels blog to revisit some of my favourite African memories, starting with a recent, happy one, involving some rather special pachyderms.
Coming home from our extended stay in Australia, Bill and I found ourselves hankering for a bit of African bush so we headed off to one of the most wild and wonderful corners of South Africa. Once an undiscovered gem, Tembe Elephant Park is suddenly finding its way onto the wish lists of many adventurous eco-travellers. It is, however, tucked away in a remote corner of KwaZulu-Natal, right up against the Mozambique border, and you need a sturdy 4X4 vehicle to cope with the extremely sandy roads. It is still quite possible to spend a whole day there without seeing another vehicle except, perhaps, at the main, Mahlasela Hide, situated close to the entrance.
Tembe was established in 1983, to protect the traumatised elephants, war victims that used to travel between the reserve and Mozambique. It was only opened to the public in 1991 but we discovered it soon after that and have been visiting it fairly regularly since then, usually camping at neighbouring Ndumo and doing day trips to visit the ellies. At first we were very wary of the unpredictable, still traumatised Tembe elephants, but they have calmed down amazingly over the years and are now rather a happy. laid-back bunch. Lion and, recently, wild dogs have been re-introduced to the park and leopard sightings are increasing so there is plenty of excitement when you visit this untamed spot. We were delighted to be back in one of our favourite wild places and spent a day exploring the two swamp roads and watching the big-tusked bachelor boys drinking at the water fountain – the fresh water inlet to the pan at Mahlasela Hide. Tembe boasts some of the biggest tuskers in southern Africa.
The next day we were out and about in the park early, travelling through the sand forest sections, ticking off some interesting birds and doing a little tree hugging. Then we stopped for an extended lunch break at the main picnic site. Like many other sections of the park this beautiful little spot holds many happy memories for us. For years the picnic tables were set out underneath a giant pod mahogany tree, an absolute beauty who regularly showered picnickers with her bright blossoms in spring.
One year, we noticed the old tree seemed to be ailing and the next time we visited Tembe, she was just a ghost of her old self. Only a couple of her massive branches were putting out new leaves. Then, after we left Tembe that time, a fire swept through the area and the poor old tree did not have the strength to survive the flames. On our next visit, all that was left of her was charred stump. However, the picnic tables had been moved to a spot next to the old site that was ringed by what I like to think of as the old tree’s daughters. Over the years we’ve watched these newcomers grow into substantial trees and the picnic spot is still a gorgeous little beauty spot.
On this, our most recent visit, Tembe was looking quite green, thanks to some recent rain, but it had been in the grip of the drought still affecting our province and rainfall figures for the park were still drastically down. It had been s sunny morning but as we packed up after our leisurely lunch, the sun slid behind a cloud that had suddenly appeared and the temperature began to drop quite drastically. As we drove off to take a look at Ponweni hide, we noticed a few drops of rain on the windscreen then the rain picked up momentum and we had to rush into the hide to keep dry.
A small party of elephants was in attendance at the waterhole – a big female and three or four younger ones. The ellies kept on lifting up their trunks like periscopes and we wondered who or what they were expecting. They took a drink in a clear little pool then walked over to a muddy section of the pan. They were obviously enjoying the rain but there was an expectancy about them that seemed to distract them from the matter at hand. Suddenly they rushed forward joyfully to greet a fairly large breeding herd of ellies of all sizes and ages, including two very small and absolutely cute babies. There were joyful greetings all round, the newcomers took a drink then all the elephants retired to the muddy corner to play in the mud and the now pouring rain. Even the babies were soon covered in a thick black layer.
Elephants, usually so dignified, can be so delightfully, crazily, clumsily undignified and silly. We spent two wonderful hours with those wonderful creatures, watching them play and splash, tumble and slide in the gooey black mud. In Africa, rain is always a blessing. And what a blessing and a privileged it was for us to share this uproarious celebration of rain.
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