Born To Be Wild

A trip to the wilderness helps Charmaine Tai realise just how worthy it is to trade off insignificance of self for the magnificence of the world.

- Charmaine Tai

The Lion claims its spot at the borehole, lapping up the murky water. It ignores the incoming elephants, despite their rumblings. The parade has every intent to lay claim to the borehole. The matriarch makes eye contact with the king of the jungle, who, at the last second, retreats. Then it happens all too quickly, and at the same time.

An elephant calf falls into the water. Its mother cries out in distress, and half the herd turns their backs on the lion, rushing to the calf’s aid. The lion pauses and calculates his next move. Should he attack?

Call it a coincidence, but a troop of baboons appear, and like hecklers at a stand-up comedy, start barking to incite a reaction. Some are beneath a tree, while others use termite mounds as a vantage point, enjoying the open-air performance. It’s unlike any symphony orchestra I’ve attended, with nature playing the uncoordinated conductor.

The lion’s pride must have heard the commotion because his peers approach to offer back-up.

The elephants form a barrier between the calf and the pride. The odds have shifted.

What the herd has in numbers, the pride makes up for in agility and aggression. The calf could be fatally harmed.

But this scenario must have happened before because after the unrehearsed flash mob, the main acts disperse almost as quickly as they’ve gathered.

My host, Tendai, gets out of the safari vehicle. “Do you want a slice of lemon in your soda?” he asks me, unfazed by the spectacle we had just witnessed.

It’s just another day in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe’s largest reserve.

An Uneventful Start

The prospect of witnessing a NatGeo documentary in real life marks a stark contrast to my journey to Jao Camp in Botswana.