Stretching into the weekend

Witnessing an elephant extend his fantastic trunk into the low branches of an ana tree is a sight in itself. To be able to watch the large bull lean back onto his hind legs, allow his front two feet to leave the floor and to see his trunk stretch further into the branches until it has located the perfect branch of ana seeds is the sighting that makes a 05:30 start completely worthwhile.

An elephant’s preferred breakfast, ana trees produce seedpod fruits which somewhat resemble dried apple rings. Highly nutritious and adored by game, they are very often stored as fodder across Africa.

Guide and guests allowed the Zambian sun to rise behind their backs as the elephants placidly ate the pods fresh off the tree. The only noises were the subtle honks from the hippos in the river and the crunching and snapping of branches produced by our elephants. Absolute bliss.