Murchison Elephant
Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda
My wife and I have had the genuine pleasure of spending time up close to elephants, both at Amboseli National Park in Kenya and visiting the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi. One thing that stood out: these are some of the most magnificent yet gentle creatures on our planet.
But sometimes they lose their patience.
Laura and I were on a lovely evening game drive in Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda. We found this bull elephant on the side of the road, munching away, minding his own business. I knew the shot I wanted to get, so I went to work.
And work it was. Three hundred shutter clicks later, I still didn’t find my shot. Then finally, finally, the elephant looked up at me and flapped its ears. It was the image I was looking for.
Suddenly, our van – you always stay in the vehicle on a safari – started moving. Why are we moving?! The driver explained: when the elephant flaps its ears, it’s about to charge you. I so appreciated that the driver knew what he was doing.
Out of the hundreds of captures of this elephant, just one was tack sharp. All worth it for that one shot!