It was the morning of 31st December 2011 at Amboseli National Park when Ayesha (my Daughter) and I went on for the last day of our safari trip to Kenya. It surely was one of the most memorable trips of my life, and this particular event added some adventure to it.

An elephant herd was crossing the safari path that is a very common attraction for tourists. What usually safari drivers do, whenever they saw an event happening anywhere in the game park, they started communicating it to other vehicles patrolling the area and that’s how they gather to enjoy the show. In this particular event, we were the very first to realize that a big herd is about to cross the road and hence our vehicle (Hiace Van) was in front of the one side and on the other side we had another big queue leaving a sufficient path in between for the elephant to cross.

If you are a follower of National Geographic, Animal Planet, or BBC HD documentaries on Wild Africa, you probably know that elephant herd is led by a dominant matriarchal female that dictates their movements and shows off if necessary. During interaction with other species (like Human) the leader ensures safety of the herd and can go wild, and same was happened to us.

While the crossing was in progress, the leader occupied the road and was standing in the middle of the path, while showing her aggressiveness to the spectators at both ends.

Suddenly she got annoyed for some reason and started running towards our vehicle. It was indeed a shocking moment for someone not expecting it at all. I immediately stopped taking snaps and hide myself under and Ayesha who was capturing it through movie camera followed me. Our driver (Mr. Peter) who was a very cool fellow but in normal circumstances also got worried and as reaction started the engine to make a move in worst case.

However we were lucky enough as the noise of the engine somehow convinced the angry lady to step back and followed the herd that was safely away by that time.

Though the attacks of wild animals are rare in the well-developed Kenyan sanctuaries by it could happen. We saw many vehicles that were open from all sides while tourists were shooting Lions pride nearby that could lead to an unpleasant incident. So, my advice is to please consider your safety and never be so excited and complacent while on the safari.

Thanks.