Once again, I had fallen behind the safari through the forest, searching out some detail in the canopy above. Ange suddenly appeared at my side, whispering an urgent “Allez! Allez! Elephant venir!”
The silence of an elephant in the forest is astounding. An elephant materialized from behind one of the massive trees not more than 30 meters from where I stood. The detail I had seen in the canopy no longer held any interest as we gauged the intention of the elephant and searched our exit strategy. Not yet aware of our presence, the elephant turned onto the trail before us. Suddenly it froze, as it noticed us moving out of its way. The elephant’s focus honed in on our position and with a snort and flap of ears, feigned a tentative mock charge before crashing off back into the forest.
david korte photographs 
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