Whosit! Stop it! … please, will you stop leaning against my 4×4!’
I’m very sure Whosit must be confused as to whether her name is Whosit – or Stopit, since I’m forever combining these two words whenever I’m around her. The ‘Afterword’ of my book ends with Whosit pushing down hard on my windscreen, with me threatening to give her a smack. Some readers no doubt thought ‘yea, right, as if that would really happen in the wild’…
Those tourists who have since met Whosit with me on the unfenced Hwange Estate (close to the Main Camp entrance of Hwange National Park) have no doubt. And all leave enchanted by her and her incredibly friendly family – the ‘W’ family, all of whom have names beginning with this letter; all born wild, all living wild and all free to roam wherever they choose.
Whosit is now 14 years old. Our relationship gained intensity after her younger brother, Wholesome, was killed by a neck-snare in 2004. Whosit’s heartfelt reaction to her brother’s death singled her out for me as being a particularly special young elephant. (Go to www.sharonpincott.com and select the video tab to watch a portion of this footage.) When she delivered her very first calf in February this year it was an exciting time. I wrote about the impending birth in Getaway magazine (see the February 2010 article on my website), and then received emails from readers eager to know if her baby was a boy or a girl. For a while, I had no clue! Another elephant in the W family named Whoever (so called given no identifiable ear notches and therefore she became ‘Whoever that is’) gave birth during the same week. So there were two babies of exactly the same size – one male and one female – who lovingly shared mothers. Whenever I looked for Whosit she had either no baby, or two – one suckling from each breast. Whenever I looked for Whoever she also had either no baby, or two – one suckling from each breast! So it took me some time to work out who belonged to whom. As it turned out the baby girl belonged to Whosit and the boy to Whoever. Still today these two little rats – Wish and Wishful – are rarely apart. When Wish decides to give my 4×4 a bit of a shake, Wishful is usually nudged up right behind her, his face up against her butt, helping to ensure it’s a memorable one. The first time they did this I had no idea what was going on. I was looking around at Whosit-height for the culprit but, strangely, could see no-one touching my 4×4. When it shook again I looked down, rather than up, and there was Wish and Wishful just below bonnet-level, looking extraordinarily pleased with themselves.
Tourists need not be concerned though; they’re not so bold with the game-drive vehicles! It is, though, one of the reasons why no private self-drive vehicles are allowed on the Hwange Estate. All tourists must book a drive on a licensed game-drive vehicle, with a registered guide. You can do this at Ivory Lodge, Sikumi Lodge or Hwange Safari Lodge; all of these lodges offer game-drives around this private estate.
As well as Whosit and Wish, and Whoever and Wishful, there’s the beloved Whole – who is a gentle soul, once so forlorn-looking following the death of her young son in 2004. But in 2006 she gave birth to the loveable Winnie, and is due to give birth again soon; perhaps late this year. It’ll be a lovely time, and one I look forward to with great anticipation. Next on the ‘very friendly’ list is Wilma who is a massive female, with calves Worry, Wasabi and little Wang always in tow. And then there’s Willa, who with her trunk regularly hovering high above my head, never fails to remind me of one of those huge, gushy, slobbering dogs. Whole and Wilma both come enthusiastically when I call to them, promptly appearing at the window of my 4×4. Willa just comes regardless – from 50 metres away without any encouragement whatsoever.
I talk, they rumble; I sing, they sleep; I reprimand, they look the other way… It’s a bit like a marriage I suppose – only better! It’s a humbling relationship between (wo)man and free-roaming beast. And you can share in a piece of this magic too.
A Canadian tourist, who recently stayed at Ivory Lodge, asked to spend the whole day amongst the Presidential Elephants, with me accompanying her game-drive. We were lucky to stumble across the Ws – Whole, Whosit, Wish, Wishful, Willa & co – who then graced us with their implausibly close presence for the next 4 hours. They were indeed awfully keen to just hang out with us, as we were with them. So enchanted was this lady (on her second visit to the Hwange Estate) that we didn’t get to munch on our packed lunch until 3.30pm – and then it was with adorable jumbos still all around us.
‘This is the best day of my life,’ she proclaimed. And we both smiled, remembering that she’d declared exactly this the previous day, after we stumbled upon a completely different Presidential family – the grand matriarch, Lady, and all of the affable ‘L’ family – and were fortunate to be able to spend extended time with them too.
‘Okay then, this is another best day of my life,’ she beamed.
I was also recently on a ‘Touch the Wild’ game-drive vehicle. Touch the Wild’s main lodge on the Hwange Estate is Sikumi Lodge (part of the Rainbow Tourism Group), and I was accompanying its enthusiastic new management couple and their Dutch guests. Once again it was the ‘W’ family who graced us with their incredibly close presence, choosing to eat grass from right beside our vehicle’s tyres – apparently much tastier when ripped from there! And they, too, were all completely blown away by the trust and grace of these unbelievably calm wild elephants; Zimbabwe’s flagship herd.
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