Present

The Safari van rattled along as eyes darted from right to left, alert for African wildlife. Not mine, though. I sat contently gazing out the window, admiring the golden grasses that stretched across the infinite plains. A bump in the road slammed my head against the glass.

‘Elephants!’

Still rubbing, I poked my head out of the roof and followed the guide’s finger towards a herd of grey in the distance. Still so far, my heart sank when I saw the road wound away from them.

‘Aha!’

The guide found an off-beaten track, so the van rolled on as the rounded figures enlarged. And there they were: eight African elephants ranging from infant to Matriarch. Eight wrinkly collectables set up like Babushka dolls. I whipped out my 18.0 mega pixel SLR with 7.50x zoom. Through the viewfinder I framed the herd and balanced the sky and grass with a streak of cloud. I checked the LCD display to assess the composition. I pressed my face against the camera in another attempt to capture a perfect moment. I zoomed in on the oldest elephant whose ragged ears implied a rough history. I twisted the lens to focus, and jumped with fright at a deep-bellied rumble.

The camera dropped around my neck and I felt a wall start to crumble: a wall that separated my world from theirs. My camera remained abandoned as I stared, enchanted by their swaying trunks that wrapped around bundles of grass. I heard the roots rip from the ground. I watched baby nestle against mummy. I heard mummy coo baby. I replaced the lens cap as cracks began to form on a screen that usually represented a faraway place in a faraway land. I watched a breeze send golden waves through the herd, rippling on, strand-by-strand, brushing my cheeks and combing my hair.

‘Thar are two babies in this hard which makes those two muthars the most dangarus. They will do anything to protect thar young.’

I leaned against the roof opening with my arms folded under my chin. My eyes followed the herd as they moved, strolling past me from left to right. Their grace and proximity overwhelmed me, causing a laugh to escape my throat. The Matriarch’s huge head snapped around. The herd froze. The screen shattered. The wall fell crashing. The Matriarch stared me down.

Our worlds merged. We stood rigid, afraid to move, afraid to utter a sound. We entered a realm of vulnerability as we assessed our likelihood of survival. We acknowledged. We connected.

Finally, with a flick of a tail and a shake of the head, we moved on.