George was ecstatic as he boarded a plane to Botswana for a safari tour with his wife Claudia and their two children, Lucy and George Jr. George had always wanted to observe elephants in their natural environments, not in zoos. His infatuation with the largest land mammal began when he was very young, when his parents took him to a zoo for the first time as a 7-year-old. There, he observed and got attracted by elephants. Following that, George would frequently accompany his parents to the zoo in order to observe and get close to the elephants.
Years passed, and George became a working adult with his own family. Despite this, George's interest with elephants did not fade, and he would frequently bring his wife and children to the zoo to witness these majestic creatures. Although George could view the elephants whenever he wanted, he was dissatisfied because he could only see them in enclosures and not in their natural habitats.
In reality, one of George's greatest wishes was to witness elephants in their native habitats, but in order to do so, he needed to fly to another continent - Africa. However, getting to Africa is more complicated than simply purchasing plane tickets. No, there were several factors to consider, such as money, equipment, time, and so on. As a result, it took George years to realize one of his dreams of witnessing elephants in the wild.
Due to his excitement, George couldn't sit still on the plane and would frequently stare out the window, as if doing so would make the plane arrive at their destination faster.
Claudia couldn't help but tease her husband when she saw George acting like an eager child. "Relax, Africa will not flee from you, you know?"
Hearing his wife's teasing, George could only scratch his check sheepishly. "I can't stop myself. I've waited years for this," he reasoned.
"However, you should calm down. Look at the children; they're more calmer than you." Claudia reminded.
George was able to relax himself thanks to his wife's reminder. However, because the flight from the United States to Botswana took more than 20 hours, George could only distract himself by conversing with his wife and children or watching films on his laptop while on board.
After what felt like an eternity, the plane finally arrived in Botswana in the evening. Outside the airport, George noticed an African man holding and raising a sign with his name on it. Sanga was the guide who had been assigned for them by the tourist agency that George had called ahead of time.
Sanga drove George's family to a guesthouse that the tourism organization had reserved ahead of time, where they were informed that the safari tour would begin the next day. He suggested that they get some rest so that they could enjoy the tour.
The next morning, George and his family, along with the other tourists, were led to the Chonbe National Park. They witnessed the wild animals that they had only seen on television or in zoos. George was touched by the amazing sights and couldn't stop shooting pictures. His wife and children are enjoying the tour just as much as he is.
Soon after, the group came across a large herd of elephants and stopped the jeep so that the tourists could snap pictures, but urged them not to approach too close and avoid scaring the elephants, as startled elephants could be very dangerous.
The tourists got out of their vehicles and got as close to the elephants as they could without frightening them. When George saw the elephants walking freely in the distance, he was moved and wanted to have a closer look, but he remembered their guide's warning.
"Dad! Dad! Look! Elephants! "There are so many of them!" George leapt up and down, pointing to the grazing elephants.
"Dad, Mom, can we take a closer look?" Lucy inquired, apparently as eager as her brother.
“I’m afraid you can’t,” Claudia replied. “Did you forget what the guide said earlier?”
The children were disappointed that they could not get close to the elephants like in the zoo but could only obey their mother.
George, like the two kids, was also feeling a little regretful but can’t really do much about it considering the warning of their guide that startled elephant can be very dangerous, and could only take pictures at a safe distance.
George moved around to get a better angle while remaining a safe distance from the herd. But, as he was photographing, he observed a baby elephant had separated from the herd and was approaching him.
Soon after, the baby elephant appeared in front of him, looking at him with interest. George, on the other hand, was overjoyed at the unexpected encounter and couldn't help but attempt stroking the animal, but as he was about to place his hand on the baby elephant, he heard a loud trumpeting sound.
George hastily turned to the source of the sound and, to his astonishment, saw a massive, adult elephant charging at him, seemingly in rage. George, surprised and afraid, could only gaze at the charging elephant with wide eyes. Realizing that he wouldn’t be able to avoid the charge, George could only close his eyes, waiting for death
However, no matter how long George waited, the anticipated pain never came. George slowly opened his eyes and was startled to discover a gigantic elephant glaring at him. George fixed his gaze on the elephant's eyes, and the elephant fixed his gaze on his. The elephant was the first to break eye contact many seconds later. It turned back and headed towards its herd, with the young elephant.
While George was staring at the adult and baby elephants without moving, his wife, the guide, and another tourist approached him.
"George, are you all right?" Claudia asked her husband, her voice trembling.
When the elephant charged towards George, she and the other tourist could only cry in fear. Everyone believed it was all over for George when they saw the enraged elephant charging at him. To their surprise, the elephant suddenly halted in front of George and stared at him for several seconds before turning around and leaving with the baby elephant.
Nobody, not even the guide, expected something like that to happen. Even for a guide, it was his first time seeing a newborn elephant approach a person.
Fortunately, the mother elephant merely did a false charge to scare George off, so he was not injured.
Following that incident, the guide apologizes to George for what occurred. George cannot be blamed because he did not break any rules yet was nevertheless put in risk. After all, everyone saw that it was the baby elephant that approaches George first and not the other way around.
Although George was terrified, he wasn't really harmed, so he graciously accepted the apologies and asked the guide to continue the tour, which the guide readily accepted. The tour resumed as if nothing had happened.
Several days later, George and his family went back to the United States, bearing many memories, the most important of which was his experience with the baby elephant and its mother. Although the encounter startled him, it did not become a trauma. On the contrary, it became an essential lesson for him and solidified his passion for elephants even more. While on the plane, George vowed that he would return to the continent one day to reconcile with the elephants.