Up close and personal with an elephant: Bakari bursts our bubble

I hate zoos. It’s a harsh statement I know. I don’t hate animals. I am as intrigued and in awe as the next person, especially when presented with the opportunity to get up close and touchy feely with a wild animal.

An elephant?! Wow. Two elephants. Even more amazing.  But as we plundered up the dirt road in our ‘too-low-for-this-terrain’ used BMW, I felt that queasy, cringe-y guilt. Animals in captivity.

We are headed to Indalu Private Game Reserve. They boast hundreds of hectares of land with everything from zebra to kudu and other buck, and even a family of rhinos. All the animals fend for themselves. The fences barely affect them, they are protected from poachers! All good right? So why the pit in my stomach as we chatted to the little blond Afrikaans Game-warden, in his khaki short shorts and big wooly socks peeking out from his dusty boots. 

 

“You will meet Bakari our 21 year old elephant and his mate who is 31. You can choose to ride in the open game truck and feed the animals at the end, or walk a kilometre with one of the elephants. 450 Rand for the ride and feeding, 900 Rand per person for the walk and feeding.”

So, money making on the backs of the enslaved animals.

Our visiting friend said out loud what I was feeling.

“Oh my God, the poor elephants! They have to do this 4 times a day, every day, for the snively tourists.”

“Like us!” I say. And we both sit there, hesitant, guilt ridden and disgusted with ourselves before it even begins.

We chose this experience! Because it will be so amazing to touch and feel and experience the energy and exotic presence of an elephant. So we join the other happy looking, expectant tourists, after we’d all emptied our pockets in the office. We WANT TO DO THIS. Right?

And the truck sets out, little Mr. Game-Driver about as excited as my friend and I. Another bus full of us faceless foreigners… yawn. The dust on the road kicks up obligingly. The ‘real experience’… not Disney. This is real people!

 

And then they come into view in the distance. Two giant grey, wrinkled, prehistoric beings accompanied by their two African human sidekicks. For a moment we are all mesmerized. In awe. An elephant?! Wow. Two elephants. Even more amazing. 

We are introduced as we hop down onto the red soil. The sun is intense and the heat is dry. I take a deep breath and approach Bakari. His skin is a bit crispy and so very rugged. But he is warm. My face sits at his elbow. His legs are ancient tree trunks. Beautiful. Terrifyingly so. But as I look up through his massive spider lashes all I can see is nothing. Dead eyes. He is truly broken. No wild energy I’ve seen as we drove through Addo Park some years ago and came randomly across families of elephants. My anxious fear is replaced by a deep sadness. And in creeps the guilt. 

Meanwhile Mr. Game-Guy is all business. He’s timed our walk, and hurry along as the next set need their turn. We’ve all paid up, after all.

It’s all just so contradictory. We are out here in the dusty savannah. There is an elephant 3 feet from me. This should be otherworldly. Instead, I sip my issued water bottle and squint against my embarrassment.

Sorry Bakari. Let’s walk now. And at the handler’s voice, Bakari is in slow motion. We are walking. With elephants. I join Mac up front and my friend and JW walk with the other elephant and his ‘controller’ behind us.

 

I drum up a chat with Mac – he’s from Zimbabwe. Grew up near a massive game reserve. He has a calm way about him that is comforting. He seems to have developed a relationship with Bakari. I have literally no idea what is involved in that. Is there abuse in the methods of control? Or just rewards for doing what the humans desire? Either way, Mac’s presence quells my anxiety. I rub Bakari’s leg in a lame attempt to have him forgive my part in all this. And then he stops abruptly. He shakes his massive head and his ears waft uneasily in the wind he’s created. I jump. I’m picturing this is it – he’s finally revolting. He’s going to trample us all and trumpet in defiant escape. He’s going to run as fast and as far as he can. Elephants on the highway! It will be in tomorrow’s paper. ‘Canadian tourists stampeded in freak accident on private Game Reserve.’

But Mac is all over it. He tells Bakari to chill with a strange commanding sound and we’ve all fallen back into line. We arrive on time and the feeding begins. Bakari hoovers up his allotted veggie chunks from our jumpy nervous hands and we are allowed photos in turns. He rolls those massively sad eyes and sighs audibly. But by then we want more of him. His gentle strength and crusty warmth. My friend literally grabs hold of his massive leg in a desperate hug. But alas, our time is over.

We are led to the hand sanitizing station.

And another truckload heads back to base as the elephants are led back down that same dusty road - to allow for the whole things to happen again in the next time slot…

We drive away in silence. Bakari has helped us forget the contrived scenario as he burns strong in our memory banks. Animals in captivity. We hold our judgement just long enough to savour that amazing experience.