Themba the Olifant

Olifant is the Afrikaans word for elephant. Why am I defining this word, you ask? Well, this past Saturday we got to WALK an elephant. Trunk-in-hand. What did you do?!

Can you believe it? We got to touch, feed, and walk a 13-year old male African elephant named Themba at the Elephant Sanctuary in the Hartbeespoort Dam area of Brits, ZA. Being next to such a huge animal (with no fences in between us) was an unforgettable experience. We interacted with elephants for TWO AND A HALF HOURS. Oh yeah, I also got sloppy elephant trunk kisses from him! It was a-mazing.

{our first glimpse of the elephants}

The Touch:

For the most part, elephant skin feels just like you think it would – tough and leathery. I think it feels a bit like a pencil eraser. The “elbows" and "knees" were very rough and calloused and looked like tiny rock pebbles had been glued to his skin. Themba’s trunk felt rubbery and his tongue felt like a cold piece of meat! Not at all like ours. By far the biggest shock was his ears – they felt like very, very soft leather.

{feeling Themba's belly}

{Themba's ears are so soft!}

{Themba was smiling for the camera}

The Feeding:

We fed the elephants some pellets, which they LOVED. They couldn’t get enough! When you feed the elephant via their trunks, you drop the pellets directly into the trunks; you don’t hold the pellets in your hand and expect them to suck it up. The handler tried to get Mat to eat some pellets after he asked what was in them. Mat politely declined. Ha!

{stretching his trunk for pellets}

The Kisses:

Themba kissed me with his trunk! He put his trunk on my face and blew air out. It was such a cool feeling!!! I didn’t realize until afterward that my face was covered in dirt. Mat may or may not have gotten little jealous that the elephant smooched his wife J

{my face is priceless!}

{post-smooch}

The Walk:

We were instructed to walk in front of Themba and hold our right hand backward in an upward C shape. The handler also said to “keep walking and don’t stop even if the elephant takes its trunk out of your hand.” Themba, the smartest olifant in the world, placed his trunk in my hand so that I was holding the tip of his trunk. I thought I would be scared because, let’s be honest, he could crush me at any second but he was very gentle and walked calmly behind me.

{how cute is Mat's face!!!! he was so happy!}

We also learned a lot about elephants:

 -  Their ear canal is in front of their large ears. I always thought it was behind. Oops!

 - They have super long eyelashes

 -  The trunk is 100% muscle (no bone, no cartilage)

 -   Unlike Asian elephants, African elephants have two finger-like features at the end of their trunk to help them pick stuff up

 -  Tusks are used to dig for food and water, rip bark from trees, and males use them to fight

- Like humans, they are either “right-tusked or left-tusked” and favor one side the most

 -    They can eat up to 300 lbs of food in a day and spend 18-20 hours eating and drinking

 -     They only sleep 3-4 hours a day and it is typically not consecutive hours

 -     They are endangered and, sadly, are STILL poached for ivory

 -    They are highly social and form deep family bonds. Females often “adopt” abandoned elephants into their herd

 -    The oldest female leads the herd. Males are kicked out of the herd when they are around 14 years old and they lead a nomadic lifestyle until breeding time comes around

-     They are extremely intelligent and they have a better memory than humans (maybe not Sheldon Cooper’s memory…)

I hope you enjoyed seeing our Elephant Sanctuary experience. If you ever come to South Africa, this is a MUST DO adventure.

Love,

Jess & Mat