I’ve always liked elephants, lucky enough to see elephants from a very young age. Either in Asia or in Africa. West and East. They’re the strongest animal on earth. And though dangerous, are a peaceful bunch. On the verge of extinction. Above: a “rubbing” of a bas-relief in Angkor that we bought on site this past January. Now framed it graces the staircase. The original bas-relief is probably from the 12th century.
Amboseli, Kenya, 1988. Most sensational literature talks about the “big males” when elephants actually are organized as a matriarchal society. Females rule.
Colombian elephant. Provides energy for a few blocks in Bogotá.
Murchison Falls, Uganda, c.1969. This is one of the sources of the Nile.
Cambodian elephants at a trade fair, Phnom-Penh. c. 1905. (I wasn’t there! 🙂 Source: Vues de l’Indochine, a wonderful photo album of a time long-gone.) Note how long the tusks were, when one is now accustomed to see Asian elephants with small or no tusks at all.
Tsavo national park, Kenya. c. 1969. The elephants there are red, because or the red earth. Most likely laterite. Rich with iron-ore. Hence the colour: the iron is just “rusty”. Elephants “bathe” frequently in earth to eliminate parasites.
Bangkok, this past January. This is the Royal palace I believe. (Mental note: take more notes while traveling)
Angry elephant, on the Nairobi-Mombasa road. We may have come too close with the car. Oops.
My Lord Ganesh, Penang, Malaysia. 2017. Ganesh or Ganesha is the son of Shiva and Parvati, he is the God of Wisdom. We might use some of his help worldwide…
Nairobi-Monbasa road, c.1969. The road at one point crosses Tsavo National park. Elephants have right of way.
Elephant necklace. India, mid 20th century. Craftsmanship at its best. Sorry about the ivory.
Royal elephants, Luang-Prabang, Laos. c.1920. In La France Lointaine.
Singapore zoo, December 2017. I used to love zoos. I now have more mixed feelings. But the Singapore Zoo is very well put together. Animals have space and do look well taken care of. At the end of the day, zoos may eventually be the only place where our grandchildren may see formerly wild animals.
Or at the back of a car? My Lord Ganesh again. May wisdom prevail.
To be continued…
Equinoxio 
A fine elehant parade, Brian. And some of them your recent discoveries?
Thank you Tish. Yes, the most recent discoveries during our trip to Asia. Almost a year ago now! 🙂 Kwaheri sassa.
Symbole de puissance, de paix et de sagesse … et pourtant maltraité. Étrange que la colère ne lui soit pas rattachée. Parce qu’un éléphant en colère, ça déménage. Mieux vaut y assister à bonne distance.
Merci, Brieuc.
Ma soeur détestait les éléphants. Elle en avait une peur panique. Le fait est qu’une charge est impressionante!
A + Gilles.
Elephants are beautiful. We saw several at the Portland, Oregon (USA) Zoo. This zoo does a terrific job of rescuing elephants, breeding and educating the public on elephants. Zoos can be very beneficial as they do allow people the opportunity to see up close and learn about animals that many of us would never see.
I agree. Most zoos are very active in animal preservation. And giving people the opportunity to see animals they’d never see otherwise.
Thank you for this, I share your passion.
Pleasure. There will be another post. (Too much material for only one post) Cheers.
That’s the best part i feel, you can spread it out and focus on the flow and detail
One tries… 🙂
A great series!
Thank you Peter.
We are still lucky to see herds of elephants in SA, but in the past years there has been a deadly onslaught on these animals. I don’t know what it is with humans, really!! Wonderful post, Brian!
Dankie Dina. I do envy you to still be able to see them. I’m not sure for how many more years. I’m sorting and cataloguing my Kenya pix and think about how things have changed. Huge slums around Nairobi for one thing. The encroaching of Parks by humans in desperate need for land and food. Tsss.
So enjoy your parks while you can.
Tot ziens.
We are keeping an eye on our parks, because it brings in a lot of revenue. But all around the parks people are living right up to the fences. The water usage of the rivers is also a problem and some rivers going through the Kruger, have dried up for the first time. Together with drought and population explosion, these are factors that really worry me.
Same thing happens in East Africa I’m told. Human settlements are growing. Sometimes encroaching on the parks. And wildlife is eating crops… Worrying indeed.
Lovely images. Elephants are indeed a majestic and impressive site, and the calves impossibly cute (I recall a visit to an elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka). But in the way that we humans anthropomorphise, I cannot help but be attracted to the way they often look as if they’re smiling.
I guess all babies are cute, regardless of the species. 🙂 Sri Lanka? That is an exceptional place. Where I haven’t been, my parents did, but I wasn’t born yet. How did you like “Ceylon”?
I guess babies are designed to make us want to look after them – ourselves in miniature, an appeal to the ego?
Sri Lanka – no one can know or truly comment on a place after a mere holiday, particularly not one with the complexities of politics it has but yes, inevitably, beautiful, fascinating, sometimes grubby – as any town or city partially will be.
Yes, there is a genetic programme for sure to lure us into taking care of babies. 🙂
And yes, Sri Lanka’s situation is still complicated… Sadly.
Your photos are gorgeous
Thank you. A good subject makes an easy photo. 🙂
🙂
I think elephants are wonderful animals…
… and Ganesha was the first God I met in India
They are. 🙂
So you have been to India? My land of birth and the land where my family lived for almost two centuries. (Green with envy!) I need to schedule a long trip to India.
Where did you go?
It was my only travel to India, a few years ago. It was wonderful
We were three women and visited Calcutta, Chennai, New Delhi and much more
Sounds like a good programme. 🙂 I had to look up Chennai up. Tamil Nadu. Quite a difference for the North right?
Yes, but every place was so chraming…
I’m sure it was.
Was fortunate to see many in the wild in Africa, then captive in SE Asia. I read that some have genetically transformed to have no tusks in reaction to ivory poachers. Amazing! Loved your post
Thank you. Glad you did. I was raised in Africa, West and East, so elephants have a special meaning to me. Hadn’t heard about the genetic transformation. I don’t know what the solution is. There were ads at the Canton airport last December warning against ivory buying, but that’s probably a drop in the ocean.
(Where have you been to in Africa?)
Be good.
We were in Botswana and South Africa, both beautiful
So I am told. Still have to “go South” in Africa. 🙂
One day.
Take care.
I adore elephants, and with the ivory….they didn’t know back then what they do now….. so forgiven for that one 🙂
Thank you for that Kim. 🙂 My heart rests at peace. (I also have several “antique” ivory artifacts which I’m not giving up) The interesting thing is that in all those centuries of using ivory for art, the elephant population was not in danger. It’s only in the second half of the 20th century, that poaching sky rocketed, and still does.
I used to have a Lord Ganesh mask. It hung for years in my D.C. apartment. Not sure where it lumbered to. On another note, adult grandchildren just flew to Philippines for a wedding and from there to Thailand to ride elephants. Ah, youth.
Let youth enjoy youth. 🙂
A mask? I love masks! Have a few in my library. Hope you find him one day.
Now D.C.? I didn’t know you’d lived there? (Were you a Senator in one of your many lives?) It’s a pleasant town. I like it.
Be good, “Juanita”.
I lived in D.C. for three years before I set off for Hawaii/Georgia/New Mexico where I met Cliff. And while I worked with many internationals, teaching English, I was never a Senator!! LOL. But I did get a book out of it…that’s “From Ocean to Desert” which is now at publisher. I miss your posts. Write more!!!
LOL indeed. You certainly have been around.
Let us know when the book is out.
I post once every week. On Tuesday around 12 central. Except this week where I couldn’t do Tuesday and posted on Wednesday. Cheers.
Love your photo of an elephant munching on straw.
It’s a good one. My father’s actually. (I only had a lousy Instamatic camera but had fun). The place is magical, by the waters of the Victoria Nile, near the source of the Nile, which so many explorers searched in the 19th century. 🙂
Colin really enjoyed the elephants!
Oh. You looked at the post with him? Great. My youngest reader! 😉
(I have more elephants on hold)
I did this time and showed him specifically because it was elephants. He pointed and made all kinds of noises!
Trumpet noises? No limit to their curiosity. I love it. 🙂
Very cool. I like elephants a lot, too, but never know where to go to meet them.
I think it is easier in Asia? Otherwise, you need to go to East or South Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, botswana, South Africa. 🙂
Another ball game.
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Moi aussi, j’aime les éléphans
Peut être grâce à Jumbo 🙂
Jumbo? Probablement. Tu n’as jamais été en Afrique j’imagine? ce sont des animaux étonnants. Un peu effrayants de près. (Ma soeur en avait une peur bleue. La panique totale). Les animaux terrestres les plus forts et les plus puissants, comme je le dit dans le post: “on n’emm… personne et personne ne nous emm…” Sauf l’homme. Il en rest encore 500,000. Il y a encore un peu d’espoir. A bientôt Amélie.