HISTORY & TRAVEL
behind. After all we were probably up around 12 feet
on the back of the elephant and I sure wasn’t going to
relinquish my grip on Keelyn to climb down and get
it. Only for us being alone in the middle of a jungle
was I not mortified by the situation and the carry on
between my wife and her mother! The debate went
on for several minutes with no end in sight. I kept
watching the elephant trainer who basically didn’t
speak English, he simply looked forward the whole
time, smart man!!
Then the most amazing thing happened. Believe it or
not, just when I was sure that we would spend the rest
our safari arguing over what happened to the fallen
nappy, the elephant reached out with its trunk and
picked it up. She flung her trunk over her shoulder
and handed it directly to my wife. My wife, Nana and
everyone fell silent in disbelief. I told my wife, “I think
she’s handing it to you” and my wife reached out and
grabbed it. The nice elephant immediately let it go
and the nappy was back – crises diverted. Now this
might be a bit of a long winded story with many details
you wouldn’t normally include in an article on travel,
but all I can say is that it taught me something very
important about elephants. They are very intelligent
and conscious creatures and I gained so much respect
for the animal at that moment. I then told the elephant
thank you and off we went.
Here’s the hero herself!
My wife after the nappy ordeal:
Remarkably from that moment on my wife was
completely relaxed and calm, she too understood
that the elephant was a peaceful and smart creature;
As did Keelyn who took the opportunity to fall asleep
and get a great rest while her dad tried to hold the
limp noodle child in his arms and snap photos of what
was left of our trek riding on an elephant as it swayed
back and forth through the jungle.
Regarding people who poach elephants illegally, they
should be tried for murder as far as I am concerned.
Elephants are amazingly intelligent and conscious
creatures.
63
1961 Magazine Fall 2016