Knysna Elephant Park, South Africa
As we explored the Western Cape’s famous Garden Route, we based several days in the town of Knysna. During that time, we headed to Knysna Elephant Park which was about a 25-minute drive from town. It was important to us to find a sanctuary where the needs of the elephants were maintained. Knysna Elephant Park was established in 1994 by a husband and wife team that includes relocated animals, orphaned calves, ex-circus animals, and elephants saved from culls up in the northern Kruger areas. When we pulled up, we were all excited and anticipating what it would be like to be near such a large animal.
Upon arrival you were offered big buckets of delicious looking fruit to purchase to feed the elephants. Next, we viewed a short video of how the park was established and the treatment of the elephants. Finally, we hopped onto our tractor that would bring us to see the elephants. It wasn’t a long ride, but we could already see zebras and and few elephants wondering about.
When we pulled up, the elephants were waiting for us at a bar, and we brought up our bucket of yummy treats. We each took turns feeding them, and they ate so quickly it felt like their trucks turned into vacuums! They were also fighting over the fruit with their friends next to them. It went so quickly, we were all laughing. Zach had a huge smile on his face that I was priceless!
We broke up into groups and “Big Mac” was assigned as our guide. He had a huge smile, a great sense of humor, and he immediately warmed up to Zach. His one main rule for us was to always stay with the group and never wander off alone. He also warned against standing behind or between two elephants or bending over in front of them.
We met Thandie first who was a teenager and the youngest elephant in the sanctuary. They put hay in front of her to eat, so she would stay there while our guide told us about her personality and we we had the opportunity to pet her. But, when she finished eating, she just turned around and left. It was so funny…she had enough of us! He said that they are conditioned to come over when people come with food, but when they are done, they are not interested. We were happy to see this behavior as the animals are not forced to do anything and free to wander as desired.
Up next was Sally who was one of the first elephants in the sanctuary. She had only one tusk which most likely had been cut off for money. Her skin felt like leather and she had extremely long eyelashes. (Talk about the sweat glands) We learned that their life expectancy was related to their teeth. Big Mac shared that they get six sets of teeth throughout their lifetime, and once the last set wears out, they will die from starvation or from a natural predator.
While we were in Cape Town, I actually purchased a paper back book entitled, An Elephant in My Kitchen by Francoise Malby-Anthony who is a conservationist in South Africa running the Thula Thula Game Reserve. It really gives you an insight as to what is happening to these beautiful creatures, and I loved learning about their strong and nurturing personalities.
Today was a special one!!! These animals are amazing, and you have so much more appreciation for them when you learn more about them and also have the opportunity to see them trunk-to-trunk! We are looking forward to seeing them in the wild on our safari coming up soon!
