They Drank the Dang Cooling Pool

Camp Kalahari’s accommodations are primitive by some camp standards. We slept in large canvas tents situated on the ground with real canopied twin beds, screened windows, and plenty of room to move. The bathroom, off the back end of the tent, had hot and cold running water for the shower, a sink, and a flush toilet. However, there is no mistaking that we were in a tent with nothing but canvas between us and the wild world on the other side. It was thrilling! We just had no idea, how thrilling it would be.

When we were first shown to our assigned tents our guide showed us the trunk at the end of one of the beds that contained bug spray, an extra blanket, and a red horn to blow in the case of any emergency in the middle of the night. We were allowed to travel back and forth from our tent to the dining hut unescorted during the day but we were not allowed to walk anywhere after dark without a staff member. The red horn demanded the question, “So, what constitutes an emergency?” He responded with a chuckle that we assumed might mean it was up to our discretion. What could go wrong?

Setting the Stage

Elephants love palm nuts and there were plenty of palm trees in camp. They will lay their massive heads against the tree trunk and then push so that the palm sways to and fro, knocking the nuts to the ground. If they push too hard or the palm is weak, they end up pushing the tree over. There are lots of downed palms in the area.

When we arrived at the camp on the first day, we passed two elephants who had just finished drinking from the camp cooling pool—an extremely cold pool that one can dip into when temperatures soar. Apparently, even a log fence around the pool area didn’t keep them away. The previous week or so the elephants had been coming into camp and feeding on the palm trees during the night. They had pushed a palm over onto one of the solar panels, causing some damage. As for the pole fence surrounding the pool, they had merely stepped the massive fence.

On the second night of our stay, the elephants returned to camp to feast off a palm right outside Burt and Bill’s tent. Head thumping against the tree, nuts falling on the tent, elephant brushing the canvas side, being able to hear it breathe—all, collectively gave Bert and Bill a thrilling night. As Bert described it the next morning, she hopped into Bill’s bed and whispered that she had the flashlight to which Bill, no doubt lovingly replied, “Flashlight? How about the red horn?” After that close encounter, Kevin and I made a pact to be sure to wake each other up should one of us hear something outside the tent.

The last night, sure enough, the elephants returned. I could hear them approaching our tent on both sides. I whispered “Kevin, Kevin” and then grew silent as I watched the silhouette of one of them completely cover the screened windows on his side of the tent. The elephant’s tusks extended past the end of the tent! He was no more than three or four feet from Kevin’s bed. I was sure Kevin was awake and like me, scared to move or breathe and he certainly wasn’t going to answer me.

The elephant then turned so that his backside was to the tent. The backend of an elephant is enormous by any standard but viewed from below, it’s exceptionally large. It looked to me like he was doing “his business”. A foot closer and had there been no tent, Kevin would have been on the receiving end of a big pile of poop!! All I could think about was if the elephant backed up a foot more or decided to sit back (do elephants sit?) Kevin would be crushed. Nobody had prepared us for this moment. Like Bert and Bill the night before, I had no idea what to do. Was this a red horn situation? What if we blew the horn and it startled the elephants surrounding the tent and they stampeded? What to do? What to do?

Just as I decided to take my lead from Kevin and continue to lie perfectly still, I heard Kevin start to snore! I couldn’t believe that he was sleeping through this entire experience. I don’t know if the fact that there were elephants just feet from us or that he was sleeping amazed me more. Up to this point, his snoring was an annoyance. Now it was endangering our very lives!

I decided I had to act and crept out of my bed over to his. Quietly, I put my hand over his mouth so that he wouldn’t call out. I shook him awake and whispered, “Elephants! Be still.” Or, that is how I have been telling the story. In reality, I probably used the “F” word— maybe five times. Later, he said that he had been dreaming someone was trying to gag him.

Long night short, we lay there and listened to the elephants tear down the tree next to the tent for hours. As they moved off towards Bert and Bill’s tent, I recall thinking, “Oh thank goodness, they are heading over there.” Bill said he awoke during the night and heard them over at our tent and thought to himself, “Thank goodness, they are over at Susan and Kevin’s tent.” We make good traveling companions I think.

It turns out that there were a number of them in the camp that night that collectively, did quite a bit of damage. They knocked down a tall palm that landed across the entrance to the camp, they broke a pipe to get to water, and rather than stepping over the fence to get to the cooling pool, this time they knocked it down and then drank half the water from the pool. What was left of the water looked like the elephants had blown their noses in it making it a kind of slimy and bubbly soup. We declined to swim that day.

It was looking at the broken fence that gave us all a final chill. Tents are nothing to an elephant. The only reason that the elephants don’t bother the tents is that there is nothing in them they want. Kevin’s gummy bears and Bill’s chocolate-covered almonds apparently weren’t appealing.

As to the answer to our original question, “What constitutes an emergency?” the following morning the staff said the red horn was only for medical emergencies. Apparently, having nothing but a canvas tent between yourself and a six-ton animal does not qualify. Good to know!

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