3 Elephant too close for comfort- final series of Zimbabwe images

[Dale D]

These are the last images of our recent Zimbabwe trip. The day before we left, our game drive took us to the edge of the great Zambezi River, where we spent several hours observing a quite friendly male elephant. He started out many yards away, but as he browsed every square inch of ground for apple tree pods, picking each one up with his delicate trunk and placing it in his mouth, he came closer and closer to us! Our guide and driver allowed him to approach, to the point where we could actually reach out to him. It seemed that he trusted us and we held our ground, as I was able to get the most detailed shots of his face and eyes. In these photos he is, indeed, as close to us as he looks! Elephants in this region are often seen standing on their hind legs to reach up for the apple tree seed pods, as shown in one of these images. It was an amazing experience.

Also pictured is a shot of us in our vehicle. Double click to enlarge image

I hope you enjoy them.

 

[nokk]

wow, nice photos of the elephants.

 

[Dale D]

wow, nice photos of the elephants.

Thank you. I have never been closer to an African elephant. I wanted to reach out and clean the mucus off of his eyes.

 

[macfawlty]

More great photos from the World traveler. That’s really, really close. The guides must know him to be friendly enough.

 

[Dale D]

More great photos from the World traveler. That’s really, really close. The guides must know him to be friendly enough.

Thanks Macfawlty:

Actually, all of the elephants in the Blue Forest have been given names. This elephant is Fred, and he is one of the ones that stands on their hind legs to grab the seed pods of the trees. They are all habituated (used to seeing humans).

Dale

 

[Nanny Ogg]

Beautiful images Dale. I like the monkey in the background of the first one. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Rchawks]

Stunning work!