Mana Pools Elephant and Zambezi River

It’s mid- morning at Mana. Sometime around August 1994. Hot, probably over 40C, so we’re sitting in the shade with ample supply of water and a good book. There’s always movement and sound. Small herds of impala moving and grazing. Warthog alone or with families going about their business, whatever that may be, tails straight up in the air. the sound of birds and monkeys around and in the trees.

Every now and then the quiet is punctuated by a crash as an elephant pulls a branch off a tree, or a couple of animals disagree about something and snort, bark or growl. Its a slow, relaxing world.

Have a drink, put on a hat, grab the camera and I go for a stroll, to see what’s there for a photo.

And here’s an elephaaaant grazing off the lush wet vegetaion in the riverbank mud

He knows I am there, but he’s not worried, just keeps on snacking. I get this beautiful photo. Generally elephants are cool as long as you don’t harass them and get away when warned.

A couple of quick facts

Elephants consume over 200 kg of mixed vegetation in a day, along with up to 100 litress of water. So Mana Pools, on the banks of the Zambezi, with its lush vegetation is a reall good habitat for them.

Elephants have six sets of molars, one replacing the previous et as they wear down. Once the last set is gone they will starve to death, being unable to eat. Eating the soft vegetation from the river, as this elephant is doing will reduce wear, especially once the last set of teeth are wearing out.

Photo Notes

Our days of living in Zimbabwe predated digital photography. This image is part of my Memories Project, to scan all of the old negatives and transparencies I have. This is a scan of a slide, probably shot with my old Nikkormat and a 200mm lens on who knows what slide film (probably Fuji Chrome).