We celebrate Heritage Day on the 24th of
September in South Africa. Heritage Day was formerly known as King Shaka Day in
honour of the legendary King Shaka Zulu. One does wonder, strict disciplinarian
that he was, what he would think of the morality of not only modern day South
Africa but the whole World!!
Why am I writing about discipline and morals on this Blog
you might well ask? Well, because I had a really special time on Heritage Day.
The Elephants surprised us with a visit to the Lodge. The visit came as a
surprise because the previous day Darlington had to drive all the way to what
we call East Kloof, some 15 kilometres away to find them! It is hot and dry in
the Eastern Cape at the moment and the Elephants enjoyed some time at a waterhole…and
this is where morals and discipline come in.
It is very dry in the Eastern Cape....on their way to water
Every time we have these ‘special moments’ with the
Elephants on River Bend where we are able to observe from close quarters one
understands that all Elephant behaviour is founded on a bedrock of discipline.
What a joy to watch the tiniest Elephant calf and the dominant bull in musth,
and all ages between cavorting in the same waterhole…to those of you familiar
with River Bend it is known as No Name Dam!
This sub adult male was the first to No Name Dam
We would do well to reflect on the words of Lawrence Anthony
in his incredible book ‘The Elephant Whisperer’. He writes…” “Every wild thing is in tune with it’s
surroundings, awake to it’s fate and in absolute harmony with the planet. Their
attention is focused totally outwards. Humans, on the other hand, tend to focus
introspectively on their own lives too often, brooding and magnifying problems
that the animal kingdom would not waste a millisecond of energy upon. To most people, the magnificent order of the natural
world where life and death actually mean something has become unrecognizable.”
He was soon joined by another...
and other members of.....
.... all ages.
Some of the babies were granted permission to get into the water
....others were not allowed and voiced their displeasure....
whilst still others thought it a good idea...but changed their minds.
We hope you enjoy these images taken yesterday…Heritage Day,
while others were out braaing or just enjoying a beautiful Spring day in the
Southern hemisphere. Our Heritage at River Bend includes the sheer privelege of being
able to share space with these incredible creatures, a legacy of one of the
greatest conservation stories that has ever taken place. May we do the same for
the Rhino’s!
TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION OF THESE IMAGES CLICK ON AN IMAGE TO SEE THE SLIDESHOW.
All Images the property of Michaelprice photos and River Bend Lodge and may only be used with permission.
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