Wallowing with kings

When we first got to shake trunks with the elephants at the Wallow we were on a raised wooden deck that reduces the size discrepancy between us puny humans and the world's largest mammal.

But coming down to their level on the ground, I felt dwarfed - an African elephant is roughly twice my height and 100 times heavier. The elephants at Wild Horizons Wildlife Sanctuary appear to be calm and disciplined and Marianne and I felt relaxed around them.

After the safety talk and introductions had been given, we moved to a loading ramp. Climbing up a ladder, we stepped off this platform into a saddle with seats and back rests.

Our elephant handler, 27-year-old Sydney Nyoni, sat at the front, I was in the middle and Marianne was at the back for our two-hour safari.

Who's the boss?

While we were waiting to start the safari, the massive bull on which we were seated decided to push over a sapling, pitching us around slightly in the saddle.

At that moment, I realised we were at the bull's mercy - if he didn't want us on his back, we wouldn't be up there. African elephants are bigger than the Indian elephants that have traditionally been used for transport in Asian countries and elephant-back safaris would be too dangerous if these gentle giants were unwilling to carry passengers.

One of the baby elephants on our walk was getting accustomed to carrying a passenger as a slender man mounted it and rode on its back with just a blanket.

Riding high

During our safari, the elephants moved at a loping pace and riding through the bush on them was almost soporific.

Sitting so high gives you a regal outlook on the world below and you can imagine why emperors and warriors wanted to ride through their domains on these powerful pachyderms.

Sitting on elephants, in the bush you can get close to the wildlife, much like you can on horseback.

I'm sure that elephants also walk more quietly than Marianne and I did when crashing through the bush on foot during a snare patrol in the Victoria Falls Private Game Reserve. On that patrol we saw not a single animal. But from the back of the elephants we saw buck, birds and other animals, such as warthog. We walked through mopane forest and grasslands alongside the Masuie river and crossed the river back to the Wallow as the sun set.

Elephant ethics

"The use of any animal for the pleasure of human beings will always be a contentious issue," Wild Horizons acknowledges upfront in promoting its elephant-back safaris, saying the company faced this dilemma in 1994.

"The use of elephants in the tourism industry was imminent and if we could set the bar high, (we hoped) others would follow suit.

"Orphans from culling operations were a fait accompli and if a decent life could be found for them we wanted to be part of it."

The funds raised through elephant-back safaris help to support their rescue and conservation.

Rearing one baby elephant a year costs about $6000 (R48000) for food and supplements, excluding the costs of staff, transport, bottles and so on.

The wildlife team feels that the elephants under their management have adapted well to the sanctuary. Bulls have left the sanctuary and "returned of their own free will; females have produced calves sired from wild bulls"; and adults have nurtured orphans.

Sylvester the cheetah

Another recipient of the sanctuary's care is Sylvester the cheetah, right, who moves like mercury. He's fluid and graceful as he strolls across to meet his fans at the Elephant Wallow. A cheetah ambassador, the 22-month-old Sylvester is becoming famous, collecting Facebook friends around the world.

Sylvester was hand-reared after his mother and four siblings were killed by a lion when he was two days old. Without his mother's training, Sylvester is unlikely to survive in the wild.

Here he gets food, exercise and care, interacting with guests and school children so that they learn about this endangered species. We got to stroke this sleek cat while he lay on the deck, apparently in his element and at ease with strangers.

To support Sylvester, e-mail sylvester@wildhorizons.co.zw or visit www.facebook.com/pages/Sylvester/

Contact details

Wild Frontiers: Phone 0879413892 or 0729277529; e-mail reservations@wildfrontiers.com or visit www.wildfrontiers.com

Wild Horizons Wildlife Sanctuary: Phone +26301344571; e-mail info@wildhorizons.co.za or visit www.wildhorizons.co.za.

• Keeton and Schwankhart were guests of Wild Frontiers