Alphabet Photography Project E is for Elephants

Alphabet Photography Project E is for Elephants #alphabetphoto

Week 5 of PODcast‘s new linky The Alphabet Photography Project! What to come up with for E? Exploring, endearing, endeavour, eggs, Easter?  I very nearly picked Egypt.  I’ve been fascinated with Ancient Egypt since I was 8 years old and was very lucky to spend time there over 20 years ago. But there is another lifelong passion beginning with E that won through in the end – our Alphabet Photography Project E is for Elephants.

I’ve adored Elephants for as long as I can remember.  When I was really small my parents took my brother and I to London Zoo.  We went many times subsequently.  But I remember that first visit for one thing.  My first look at an Elephant.  The love affair began.  That such an enormous animal can be so tender and caring has always fascinated me.  I could watch them for hours.

I have a collection of ceramic and wooden elephants that I’ve collected from Africa, Sri Lanka and Thailand.  One of the few possessions I have from my Dad’s Mum is a little white China Elephant.  I can’t draw or paint to save my life, but I have a cross stitch Elephant picture that I sewed years ago.  I just love them.

When I visited Sri Lanka 20 years ago, we visited an Elephant orphanage.  It was an amazing place; I had the opportunity to feed a baby Elephant.  It was a real treat.  We then followed the herd down to a nearby river for their daily bath.  It’s an experience that will stay with me forever.  It was just magical, watching these big beasts having fun in the water.  I can remember feeling quite terrified as they all bounded up the hill right next to us.  They are so massive, one wrong move and we’d have been squashed into the dirt.  The adrenaline was certainly pumping that day.  My photos from that day are up in the loft.  One day I must get them all scanned onto discs, all pre-digital, and there are 1000’s of them.

7 years ago I was on the verge of signing up to a conservation project in Kenya, tracking Elephants as a volunteer.  But I met Daddy P and it’s one of the few things I regret in life; not just going anyway.  He’d have still been here when I got back.  Now life is very different and I can’t just up and go for a month!  One day though I will spend time in Africa with my Elephants, one day.

So in the meantime, I enjoy my annual visit to Whipsnade Zoo and seeing their group of Elephants.  It’s wonderful to see the new babies and watch them grow each year.

I know you are meant to have one photo but I couldn’t choose between these two, so forgive me for cheating!

group of elephants

Elephants at Whipsnade Zoo

I then asked Monkey which was his favourite Elephant photograph – he decided to take a totally different angle and picked this one from last week’s trip to Legoland!

Lego Elephant

Our Alphabet Photography Project E is for Elephants, I hope they can be left in peace in the wild, where they truly belong for many, many years to come.

 

12 thoughts on “Alphabet Photography Project E is for Elephants #alphabetphoto

  1. Elephants are beautiful animals. I have a few elephant things myself but settled for my own name which begins with E: I went Egypt a few years ago too but the Sharm part x

  2. Elephants are amazing animals aren’t they. I was lucky enough to go to Kenya a few years ago and watching them from the balcony of my hotel is one thing I’ll never forget – as will the memory of the elephant that charge our vehicle – scary stuff!

  3. What a wonderful post Mary, so glad you picked elephants – such an amazing story. The elephant orphanage sounds amazing and although you missed the conservation project, you’ll get to do it one day I’m sure. I’m a big believer in making things happen when the time is right (doesn’t always work but if we don’t try we’ll never know!). Love the photos too – and Monkey’s of course. Great post, thank you so much for sharing with #alphabetphoto

  4. What a lovely post. I can’t believe I didn’t even think of elephants (they’ve featured reasonably heavily in our lives since OH and I got married in Sri Lanka and rode on an elephant. We went to that orphanage too and I have been lucky enough to see them several times in the wild in Africa. They are magnificent and amazing creatures.

    1. Wonderful place to explore isn’t it. We went to the nature reserve in Sri Lanka too and saw elephants walking in the mist – lovely experience. Would love to see them in Africa.

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