Never make an elephant mad

Never make an elephant mad
                        

Sitting here on our front porch in Kentucky, taking in the soft breeze again, reinforces why we call this Sanctuary Hill.

We painted the old steel wheel from an old piece of machinery and mounted it on our shed with big white letters, “Sanctuary Hill,” surrounding it to honor his blessings on us. We also (finally) paid a young man to climb up and thread the rope through the pulley on our flagpole to be able to honor our country with its flag and Christ with the Christian flag.

So where were we? Oh, yes — in South Africa (in a tour van) surrounded by wild animals.

It is Tuesday, April 27, and I write in my journal, “Having a hard time, No. 1, believing that all of this is real and not just a documentary on YouTube, and No. 2, relaxing enough to enjoy what is actually transpiring in front of us.” I try to write down everything we’re doing so I can share with y’all. Along with the logistical side of our trip, I finally had to put all that aside to focus and relax.

That particular day I kind of lost track of all the species of animals and birds we saw. We spent the night at a camp in the Kruger Park and slept in a small, thatched-roof bungalow. During our dinner out on the terrace, we were attacked by a swarm of big bugs that had been nesting in the trees, so we had to move inside. After all, we are in their territory and not the other way around. Still kind of gives you the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it.

One thing I ate there that we were told was a standard staple in their diet was Pap, pronounced like “pop,” which is simply corn meal prepared many different ways. We would call it “mush” at home, but because it is readily available and really cheap, it is used in lots of meals.

Our guide, Pete, has a sense of humor as ornery as mine, so we kept him laughing. I asked him why he kept calling everyone a “donkey.” I didn’t think that was very nice. He told us “donkey” in African means “thank you.”

Also, as we were driving in the park, there was a lot of elephant “droppings” on the road. I told him those were the largest “road apples” I ever saw. He, of course, had never heard of “road apples,” so when I explained it to him, he said he would always remember us as the ones who introduced him to the term.

On the way out of the park, we crossed the Latava River. Pete explained to us that in 2017 a torrential rain that lasted for several days produced a massive flood that destroyed a lot of animals and land. It since has taken many years to recover from that disaster.

We were just about to leave the park when a baby elephant ran out on the road in front of our van, followed by his mama. Well, we thought this was awful cute, until, as they went off the right side of the road, Pete evidently got a little too close and the large mama elephant turned around on us and began trumpeting and chasing after us.

Now, first let me tell you, if you’ve heard an elephant scream on television, it’s not as bone-chilling as in real life. Add to that the fact female elephants are one of the most dangerous animals in Africa — I knew of two guides and read of many who have been killed by female elephants.

Needless to say, Pete hit the gas pedal and sped away before she could catch us.

So our tour of Kruger National Park was well worth the time and money, which set us up perfectly for the safari ahead, which we will discuss in our next article.

As I have said, you don’t have to travel thousands of miles to enjoy God’s creation. Just sitting here on our porch typing and listening to the birds and the wind brings me his peace.

Love y’all.


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