A Thanda Safari waterhole drama in four acts!

Act 1

A herd of Cape Buffalo arrives at a waterhole and the mud-bathing Elephants get so alarmed that they run from the water protecting their young.

Act 2

The Elephants realize that the new arrivals are no real threat but are rather small ‘cow-like’ things. So some of them return to the water and chase the Buffalo around.

Act 3

While the Elephants and Buffalo run around a group of Nyala, a family of Warthogs and many different birds arrive to get their share of the water.

Act 4

Only two Elephant bulls remain to suck the pipe which supplies fresh water to the waterhole. Everything has calmed down and all the different species share the place!

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Elephants in front of Thanda House

A few hours ago I saw three Elephant bulls approaching the waterhole in front of my home. I drove down to them to take some picture of their mud-bath. Only a few meters away they ‘tusked’ more mud up to throw it onto themselves. I love watching Elephants!

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Sanding …

Sanding while walking, with a bit of attitude! This morning on Thanda Safari …

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Just after sunset …

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LITTLE CUTIE …

… one of Thanda Safari’s youngest Elephants.

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A bit of attitude!

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WATER AND TUSKS!

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Having an itch on the belly …

… and attending to it in an unusual way 😊

Interesting facts: Elephants have prehensile penises. It is quite hard for for such a large animal to get into the right position for sex. So the required navigation and rhythmic thrusting work is done by the male member itself. A side benefit is that it can be used for scratching and swatting flies. And it is quite painful to watch as it is occasionally dragged along the ground. When not in use it is fully retracted into the body.

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The LARGEST and the SMALLEST!

I was very lucky to get this shot of Thanda Safari’s largest and smallest Elephant crossing the road together.

We tracked Ellies from the early morning throughout the day and we finally got them in the open around three in the afternoon.

A very enjoyable Long-Nose-Day!

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