A lot happened in October but the main drama occurred at the end of the month when an elephant raided the camp . . .

Wednesday, 26 October 2005

"It was good to see Kellie again and get her alone for a good chat. I managed to whelk out the background for her involvement here and some of the motivation. I think I might have the beginnings of a story anyway. It will be interesting to see how it pans out as this is one of those chapters that need to be right to be believable.

"Yesterday, an elephant took out the rear left window of my car. To the good he did it neatly and did not damage the car apart from the window itself, but it is an unforeseen expense and a bit of a problem. This particular elephant has developed a taste for meallie meal and has raided camps up and down river from here in search of this particular delicacy. His passion for the food overrides any fear he has of humans and he has raided various staff quarters at night while staff members have been sleeping within. Fortunately no-one has been harmed yet but it is a major concern for all of us responsible for workers who do not react calmly and rationally to his forays.

"There was no meallie meal in the car at the time. I had brought down supplies on Saturday and had the sacks on the back shelf where I also keep a lashing rope. Some of the residue must have got into the rope as that is what the elephant pulled from the car when he broke the window. He discovered that it was only residue he had been smelling and returned to exploring the vehicle with his trunk completely ignoring my shouts of remonstration.

"Finding nothing he moved back into the car park and stopped to listen to me. I stood there, ten metres in front of him, hands on hips, ranting. “What is your problem? There is nothing for you in the car. Now, get out of my camp!”  When I finished, the elephant, who could have picked me up and thrown me in the river on a whim, turned and ran off.

"I think Patros and Chrispine who had been hiding in the safety of the kitchen were impressed but they will not tell me that. Actually, apart from his habit, this elephant is quite placid but I did take a risk a bit beyond what I should have by standing out there in the open shouting up at him. Three locals have been killed this year by elephants.

"So now my wonderful car has a piece of black plastic taped to the space where the window should be.

"It is a worry too that he is going to come back and try again. He has pretty much raided all the easier places now. Community Camp, Cha Cha Cha, Nswi Fishing Camp, Chongwe River Camp and the Chongwe scout camps have all been raided leaving just CLZ and here at Nyala Tents with intact stores. Hopefully, he will head for less secure opportunities upstream as to get in here or at CLZ he will have to cause some serious damage, which it is certainly within his power to do."

Friday, 28 October 2005

"Radar came again last night. I have decided to call the elephant Radar because of his uncanny ability to sniff out meallie meal and his penchant for raiding camps for food.

"Last night he spent most of his time eating the leaves from the trees around my tent. It was only this morning that I discovered that he had eaten my aloe plant. The aloe was the single plant left from site clearing that I decided to preserve and look after. It was a pretty straggly sample that had had its fair share of attacks in the past and I considered this bruised and battered war hero deserved a second chance. It is a shame that it finally fell victim to Radar.

"I have asked Chrispine to replant a couple of the larger branches that the elephant took down yesterday. It may be that they will take root and grow and it seems a waste just to throw out five or more years of growth and a years nurturing just on the whim of a hungry elephant. Chances are that they will die in this poor soil but, it is not actually any bother and the guys have plenty of time to do it.

"In these dark nights without a moon, the spotlight is a mixed blessing. At least I can find out what Radar is up to but conversely he uses the light to spy out tempting treats as I move the beam across camp and has a tendency to gravitate towards it. That could be dangerous if he is feeling boisterous or bad-tempered as does occur sometimes. I think that it was my fault he spent the night at my tent for that very reason and shall cut down on its use tonight."

Saturday, 29 October 2005

"Radar did not come in the night. He came this morning. I was over at CLZ downloading my emails and trying to reload the website which has got into a bit of a mess. Chrispine came on the radio sounding somewhat panicked calling for help. On Ian’s advice, I picked up a scout from the Chongwe confluence before returning to camp and even though it took a while we got back to camp while the elephant was still there.

"He had almost completely removed the tin roof and was reaching around inside with his trunk. The meallie meal is stored in a locked metal cabinet and there is no way he could get at it without actually destroying the kitchen walls. With the supporting strength of the roof gone and left to his own devices, he could have done just that. The scout, also named Alex, fired off a round which got Radar’s attention. The elephant turned towards us but stayed where he was until Alex fired of another shot. Finally, the elephant got the message and started to shift across the camp, fortunately not touching the tents which were my main concern at that moment. A third shot chased him down the steps but it took two more before Radar was persuaded to leave and headed off toward Community Camp.

"I quickly drove round to Cha Cha Cha to reassure the safari guests there and let them know that their injured friend was being airlifted out straight away. One of the party had run away from Radar when he was at their camp before he came here and fallen badly cutting his nose and doing some damage to his arm, possibly a break. Boaz the Cha Cha Cha guide had just returned from CLZ where they had managed to call around the valley for a seat on a leaving plane.

"Then, since the elephant was heading for Community Camp I returned to Nyala to pick up Alex and we went in search of both Radar and any staff or guests at the campsite. I parked up in the main area and the two of us walked through the campsite back towards Nyala. It didn’t take long to find Radar. He was making a beeline for the staff compound.

"We took a semi-circle back round ahead of him but on our way found a Drifters vehicle and I stopped to warn them of the impending trouble. If Radar comes back tonight they could find it difficult because they have no radio over which to call for help. The scout and I then went on to the staff compound and found Radar already there but there was no sign of anybody. Radar was already sizing up the building and eyeing us. We backed off to try coming in from another direction and heard the elephant start to work on the shack’s light roof.

"Suddenly there was a shout from within. We were too far away behind some bushes to see what was happening but Boston had obviously been sleeping inside and surprised by Radar. Alex shouted to Boston that we were there and after a couple of exchanges he calmed down as we rounded the bushes and Radar faced the rifle again. This time he moved off at the threat and headed on to CLZ. Their store is protected by an electric fence.

"After checking that Boston was all right we went on to CLZ so that Alex could try and reach Command Control but, of course, being Saturday nobody was there. So I drove the scout back to his base and returned to Nyala to sort out the mess.

"The kitchen now is roofed with plastic sheeting that will not hold out wind or rain. I need to put new tin on top which is going to be another unexpected expense. This elephant is costing me a lot of money. I have also decided to build a separate meallie store away from the rest of camp. As a temporary measure I have shifted the meal into a trunk chained to a tree root over the edge of the gully which should at least give Radar a bit of a puzzle next time he passes by."

© Afrikeye 1999 - 2007 (certain items under permission of original copyright owner)

home  privacy about legal contact