Even though I consider myself to be a fairly outdoorsy person, I don’t really like camping. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve gone camping plenty of times and had some fun, but I just don’t get it. We do the same things we do at home except there’s no kitchen, it’s either too hot or too cold, there are a lot of bugs, and for some strange reason we have to sleep in a tent.
I suppose that since I live in the country, camping just isn’t a big deal for me — if I want to go for a hike I can walk miles around the back fields or drive a short distance to a National Park. If I want to cook outside instead of using the modern conveniences in the kitchen, there’s a grill and a fire pit outside. And if for some strange reason I want to sleep outdoors, instead of the comfort of my bed, there’s a hammock on the front porch.
But, there is something to be said for camping in a new and strange place. I suppose that if I were visiting an area that is stunningly beautiful like Zimbabwe, Africa, I would want to spend as much time outdoors as I could. That type of trip warrants staying in nature as much as possible, so as not to miss one second of the beauty and nature that are all around.
Even on a trip like that, I wouldn’t expect to get up close and personal with many animals. In fact, I think that there are plenty of dangerous animals in Africa that I wouldn’t want to get very close to, at all. I am fascinated by elephants, but I know that meeting one in the wild can be quite dangerous, as elephants can be territorial and may even charge a human.
But, the visitors to the Somalisa Tent Camp in Hwange NP, Zimbabwe, got a very personal visit with some of the local wild elephants and they didn’t even need to leave their camp. The elephants came up to the campers on their own so that they could share a drink from the nice, cool pool where the visitors are lounging.
It’s hard to imagine what it must have been like to be this close to these majestic animals. I’m sure that it was the experience of a lifetime. I may not have been able to be there in person, but this amazing video is the next best thing.
Watch the elephants in the video below!
