Good deeds deserve to be highlighted and praised. On our visit to Elephant Havens this past Sunday, we got to appreciate the efforts that the team there are making to ensure that the orphaned elephant calves are taken care of and kept alive. We had underestimated the distance from Maun nor didn’t anticipate the terrain we would use to get there. We were supposed to have arrived there by 4pm but because we were about 30 minutes late, we had to rush in, followed the guide (Onks) as he told us about their cause.
They host five elephants, one bull and four cows. Apparently the first of the herd was rescued after its mother had died while it was still a few months old. It stayed alone for about 6 months, until it was joined by another calf.
It was interesting to watch the interaction between the elephants and the guides. Bonolo, Tshepiso and Mmamotse, some of three of the Setswana names they reacted to when told to stop or brought back from wandering off from where they were feeding.
. The most amazing feeling was the warmth and the softness I felt on the back of Tshepiso’s ear,something that I had never imagined,looking at the skin on its front.
Not too long afterwards, the elephants started walking (as part of what they have been trained to do), headed towards the structure that was built to house them and we also had to leave them to rest. It did seem that so much thought and consideration was done to make them feel home. Their hope and mine is that in the future, the haven can have enough resources to cater for more orphaned wild animals, not only elephants.
Such a short visit but so worth it. I will definitely go back sometime to see the progress and maybe I will get to find more rescued elephants, Mmamotse having had a calf of her own, or an orphaned filly or colt.
VIXEN ON THE MOVE 