xausa
AH enthusiast
My relating of my experience in Kenya failed to mention the previous two weeks spent on the banks of the Tsavo River near the border with Sudan. They were spent driving down the dry river bed, looking for the few water holes left for the elephants to congregate at. When we came to such a hole, invariably deserted, we dismounted the vehicle and started analyzing the tracks. If we found promising ones, like the ones described above, we would shoulder our gear and start out afoot.
Unfortunately, when we finally caught up with the elephants, they were invariably big ones with small ivory and we still had the treck back to the vehicle before us. I felt as though I had "paid my dues" several times over when luck put us on the spoor of the one tusker I eventually took. When I say "small" ivory, I meant to say no larger than the pair I already had taken.
On one occasion I had been given the "go ahead" by my PH and was sighting in on the elephant, when my guide stopped me, claiming that closer inspection revealed to ivory to be no larger than what I already had. At that point, I was hot and tired enough to no longer care, but I appreciated his intervention later when the old fellow with only one tusk materialized.
Unfortunately, when we finally caught up with the elephants, they were invariably big ones with small ivory and we still had the treck back to the vehicle before us. I felt as though I had "paid my dues" several times over when luck put us on the spoor of the one tusker I eventually took. When I say "small" ivory, I meant to say no larger than the pair I already had taken.
On one occasion I had been given the "go ahead" by my PH and was sighting in on the elephant, when my guide stopped me, claiming that closer inspection revealed to ivory to be no larger than what I already had. At that point, I was hot and tired enough to no longer care, but I appreciated his intervention later when the old fellow with only one tusk materialized.