The Travel Essay

It happened one day when I was resting in the shallow waters of the large river. For several days I had been trying to get at an impala that had come to drink from the bank. I was hungry, and the water levels would soon rise when the rains came. In desperation I waited in the waters, watching several sable and kudu grazing in the grass verge along the riverbank.

As I lay gazing at the impala a herd of elephants descended on the river. They splashed themselves and drank with loud gulps. There were several baby elephants among them. One of them came further into the water and started to thrash his trunk around. In a sudden moment the trunk hit me squarely in the face and I was thrown aside. I regained my balance and looked at him with annoyance. He squirted water and tried to stamp on me. I lashed out with my tail and it threw him off. As he fell in the water I bit his trunk. I did not mean to hurt him, only to frighten him away. But he started to pull his trunk violently and it got stuck in between my teeth. Blood squirted out and the waters turned red. I was so scared of the blood in the water that I let go of him. He led out a loud blare and his mother and cousins rushed to his help. One of the older cousins stamped on my tail and it felt as if I would be squashed to death.

In the melee that followed many elephants rushed into the water trying to get at me. I extricated myself from the elephant that was stomping on me and slunk into deeper waters where they could not reach me. My tail was squashed and there were some broken bones. With much difficulty I swam to the other shore, away from harm’s way. I clambered up the grass on the bank and lay exhausted in the sun. I had to go without dinner again.

We are crocodiles and we have been on this earth far longer than the elephants. But everyone, elephants, people and all the other animals find us distasteful. This is really being unfair. We are actually fish eaters but sometimes meat is easier to get and that is why we wait to attack impala or kudu. Elephants are not tasty and we don’t attack them for our meals. We love nothing more than sunning ourselves on the river bank to dry out our scales and watch the world go by. Often hunters would come and catch us. They cook our flesh and make handbags with our skin. How would you feel if they did that to your family so often? That is why we try to frighten everyone away with our cunning looks and ferocious mouth.

In some parts of the world, people pray to us. In Egypt, in ancient times, we were considered to be sacred. Even today in places like Palembang there are people who can talk to us and seek our favours. We have divine powers, it is believed. But here in the African bush we are hunted by vicious people although in some villages they treat us with respect, feeding us chickens and goats.

So I am really sorry that the baby elephant was mauled badly. I often see him drinking water with the huge hole in his trunk. If he had not pulled so violently I would have let him off gently. But it is too late now. He has to live with his disfigurement and I with the sadness of having hurt him. The next time you see us on the river bank please remember that we are also god’s creatures. We may look ugly but we can also be friendly and helpful. Life has been unfair to us for so long. Maybe you can help by trying to see us in a different light.