Well Hello There Fellow Travelers And Hivers!

I found photos of the most enjoyable vacation I ever had all tucked away and forgotten about on a little 4gb memory stick in the back of my closet, believe it or not but I almost threw away the damn thing last week!

I just had idea of checking it, perhaps it still had photos on it of mums that she might have wanted. It did and at first I thought it was only photos mum might want, then I went further and further and I came down the photos we took on holiday just after I finished school. Now that was ten years ago, I can't even believe I'm getting that old!

Hey, I'm still in my twenties okay! Very young indeed, who can agree? 😂😂
Jokes aside we are getting pail, frail and lazy!

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I'm telling you, if I didn't come across these photos I might have forgotten all about that vacation forever! How can one forget such enjoyful moments? Why are we always rooted to remember the worst things that happen to us? Bunch of folly I'll tell you!

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Now before I jump into this, this was very long ago and my memory isn't all that refreshed around everything that happened. What I do remember is that it was amazing! I wish I was a little more grown up back then to appreciate it even more, nature and everything within it has since become a great deal more beautifull for me. You know when you're young you are arrogant and dismissive of most stuff, you don't really appreciate the beauty in everything, certainly not as much as I do now.

These photos were all taken at the Knysna Elephant Farm in South Africa, Western Cape.

I have to sit down with the Betty and arrange a trip to this wondrously beautifull place! I mean after all it has been ten solid years and experiencing this now after all these years would be especially amazing.

I can hardly remember it looking so beautifull back then!

If I remember correctly we spend three days at the Knysna Elephant Farm it was also the very first place we visited on our vacation.

What a nice start to something so amazing right!

Well I was under the notion that they would just put us on the backs of the elephants and have us gone as soon as possible to fill in the next batch of people wanting to experience riding an elephant. Oh yes we rode them!

But they weren't chasing money at all, I think what they we're trying to achieve was to give us an experience as much as the elephants although I think they cared a lot more for the elephants than they really did for us. Which is great in so many ways!

With that said we felt more than welcome at the park, the park members even stuck around while we were braaing. Which really says a lot. I think they were trying to get to know the people before letting them ride the elephants.

For those of you who do not know Knysna which might be everyone reading this post. Knysna is basically one giant rain forest in South Africa. Almost like the Amazon Rain Forest just a great deal smaller. Also one of the amazing things about South Africa is that we have all the biomes in this great country of ours!

From snow to deserts to forested up rain forest all the way to flatland fields!

If there is one thing I deeply and dearly want in life, it would be to come set up a little wooden tree house in the middle of the Knysna Rain Forest. Although they would never allow me to but imagine waking up smelling that absolute fresh air and the smell of wet greens and earth below you, hearing the birds chirps! It would be a life changer for sure, no better way to connect with yourself and everything around you than to experience such.

As I mentioned earlier they didn't just plop us on the back of these enormous beasts, no no.

They wanted us to get familiar with them and they with us, which I don't think is all that bad since they can trample you to death and not even know it themselves. Although this didn't lessen the excitement and the craving to ride them! BTW riding them was a great deal scarier than I thought it would be but it was well worth every step the elephant took!

Look at him parading in like he is the king of all the elephants!

After the elephants were allowed to roam freely for a few minutes, only then were we allowed to approach them. Which makes sense since they have to feel at ease in the environment they are in right?

I didn't object to this at all, I really wanted myself as a whole when I left here! Laughs!

Notice how they bundle around the younger elephant to protect him/her, really quite fascinating creatures! I almost want to go as far and say they are even smarter than most people nowadays.

I have to give it to mums, she was the first brave enough to dare get close enough to touch them! The moment she touched their thick leather hides she gasped for air and I knew then and there that I also need to gather enough courage and just take the steps needed.

I mean after all elephants are calm and peacefull of nature and only attack or defend when they absolutely have to or feel threatened enough. They had no reason to not want us there, right?

We were the last of their worries to say the least, they had wide open fields and more than enough food to eat. Why be bothered with us at all!

On a side note, I think they enjoyed the attention a lot more than we enjoyed giving them attention!

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This one especially enjoyed the attention that mums gave it! It looks like it wants to fall asleep.

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We spent a great deal of time with them before they were left alone, it was really a breathtaking experience and nothing has come quite as close to feeling alive than I did on that vacation! Well except for bungee jumping but that, well that I won't easily do again I'd rather go skydiving but bungee jumping really makes you think that you might frikkin die!

Do try your best to look out for the second part of this post next week, in that post I'll share some photos of where we mount and actually ride the elephants! Scary but even more breathtakingly amazing experience!

I do wonder if the Betty will have the courage to mount one of these up and ride them! @misshugo what do you say? Perhaps next year we can tackle such an adventure?

Well, I thought it good to add a little tribute section to the amazing tour guide we had. Now I can absolutely not remember what the bloaks name was, it has been ten years but I can remember that he was beyond friendly and always had a smile on his face and never lacked the knowledge to all the questions we had! He even told us about incidents that got someone killed by an elephant one year, but the bloak was intoxicated and went to challenge the elephant during the night, since then they restricted the amount of alcohol that could be consumed at the park. None the less it was a one time incident and I had no intentions of challenging something far bigger and stronger and with skin as thick as my arms.

Back to the park ranger, one can see he has no ounce of fear in him. I'm pretty sure the elephant sees him as one of their own!

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Dated 27/05/2023

To everyone who made it this far into my post Thank you for the read and the support.

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_{Connecting the people of #HIVE across South Africa. #hive}