david korte photographs

It is late afternoon. I had just arrived with Mary, Alice and Francesca, boating across the lagoon to the Shell Hut in Sette Cama in preparation for a weekend of fishing and friends.  I thought perhaps I would take a walk on the beach while waiting for others to arrive, and midway through the coastal scrub, I am surprised to come face to face with a large bull elephant.  It is browsing on the date palms at the edge of a clearing.  The wind is in my favor, blowing in from the sea, and the hiss of surf covers the sound of my footsteps.  It picks up on my movement, but I quickly back to cover, and after a few minutes it resumes feeding.  Alerting Mary, Alice and Francesca, we sneak back for a view, and spend many minutes with this large bull before it suspects our presence, sending us scurrying back to the safety of Shell Hut.