Page 66 - Dark Matter Women Witnessing

Little ones were frolicking, one pushed down into the mud, a pod gathering

around it. Older ones were above on the ridge, eating. When they passed us

they came closer and closer, making eye contact. Sometimes they lined up in a

semi-circle, staring. We were not peripheral. We were somehow incorporated

into the herd, their ways openly and deliberately displayed, including what the

guides had never seen before, a female nursing two babies. What distinguished

this moment from those in the past was that the elephants were not only allowing

us to look at them, they were looking at us. “They are interested in you,” Eric

said, puzzled.

Then it was the last hour of the last day we would spend at Mashatu. Our plane

would be leaving that afternoon. We were awed by having been received so

openly. We couldn’t, however, leave without the last ritual of finding a place

away from the usual animal trails, without visible snakes, animals, predators, to

enjoy a stretch, a pee, and a late morning cup of coffee and pastry, outside the

truck. Lounging around, relaxed and joyful, we saw elephants climbing up the hill

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