ALAN MCSMITH SAFARIS
  • HOME
  • WHY & WHO
  • WHERE
  • SAFARIS
    • UNCUSTOMARY >
      • Umlani specialist elephant safari
      • UMLANI safari
      • OKAVANGO WILDERNESS trail
      • DESERT ELEPHANT safari
      • ZAMBEZI LEGEND safari
    • CHARTERED
    • RESTORATIVE >
      • OKAVANGO LEADERSHIP TRAIL
    • SPECIAL DEPARTURES >
      • Umlani specialist elephant safari
      • Okavango wilderness trail
      • 2022 Private Wilderness Experience
      • Sound safari with Derek Solomon
  • SPEAKER
  • MEDIA
  • ARTICLES
    • MATES, GREATS & ELEPHANTS
  • ELEPHANT VIDEO
  • CONNECT





​ALAN McSMITH articles

Tracking Kilimanjaro the super-tusker. Part 3 - please listen

6/13/2021

0 Comments

 
​Many folks ask me why I do what I do, and the answer is simple: to share wild wonders that science cannot uncover.

A recent encounter with well known Kruger elephant Mondzweni is a case in point (video below). While we sat and kept our distance, the great bull deliberately approached us. His choice. There was no aggression. Only curiosity. Only dignity. The connection crossed the line between what logic suggests and what empathy truly allows. He mirrored our intentions.

Elephant are like this. Call it what you will; a unique sense of presence, a special sentiency, intelligence, complexity. An elephant encounter often defies any rational explanation. They awaken in us something primitive, humbling, inspiring and fundamentally crucial for our own sense of well being.
Just as they are keystone to an ecological circuit, they are keystone to a greater awareness. An awareness of a sacred attitude toward all life and living.

So, the next time you hear of a poached elephant, or a majestic bull shot as a trophy, or see an ivory-carved trinket on a distant mantlepiece, it should become personal.

Thank you to Michelle Henley and Robin Cook of Elephants Alive for sharing this gift of an encounter, and for the privilege of raising the bar of elephant consciousness together.

Thanks Aida for the photo (www.intomywildafrica.com)
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Photo credit: Christin Winter
    Picture

    Author

    Wilderness is not a place, it's a way of life. And then there are elephants.

    Archives

    July 2022
    June 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021

    alanmcsmith.com
  • HOME
  • WHY & WHO
  • WHERE
  • SAFARIS
    • UNCUSTOMARY >
      • Umlani specialist elephant safari
      • UMLANI safari
      • OKAVANGO WILDERNESS trail
      • DESERT ELEPHANT safari
      • ZAMBEZI LEGEND safari
    • CHARTERED
    • RESTORATIVE >
      • OKAVANGO LEADERSHIP TRAIL
    • SPECIAL DEPARTURES >
      • Umlani specialist elephant safari
      • Okavango wilderness trail
      • 2022 Private Wilderness Experience
      • Sound safari with Derek Solomon
  • SPEAKER
  • MEDIA
  • ARTICLES
    • MATES, GREATS & ELEPHANTS
  • ELEPHANT VIDEO
  • CONNECT