Elephant Sanctuary

The Elephant Sanctuary is near the Hartebeesport Dam about 30 km west of Pretoria.   They have 5 young (less than 5 years old) elephants that were supposed to be sent to a zoo in Germany but were recently rescued from that life.  The two of us arrived around noon only to find that we were the only people there for the afternoon tour and that we were to have our own personal guide.  First we were introduced to each of the elephants. 

Here Craig, the owner, is showing us the elephant teeth and tongue.

After the brief introduction the elephants began their exercise hike of about 15 km while we were taken on a short tour of the property.  Below is a cactus looking plant that has a regular tree trunk.  The milky sap from this tree is poisonous and is used by the bushman to spike their hunting arrows.

And here is my favorite plant, the Quinine Tree.  It is used to make the anti-malaria drug.  Unfortunately it does not grow in the malaria areas.

After the hike we returned to the elephant pen where the elephants got a bit rambunctious.  They must have known that feeding time was near.

We fed the elephants some apples and Eukanuba elephant chow.   It was interesting to discover the many uses of the elephants trunk (snorting, blowing, vacuuming, handling, feeling, sucking and blowing water, ...)

We also learned that the Elephant plant, know as the Amarula Tree, provides the elephants with fermented fruit which gives them a high.  The Amarula fruit is also used by South Africans to make a cream liqueur (like Bailey's Irish Cream) as well as Amarula Beer.

Back to "African Journal"

This page was last updated on .