Elephants are my favorite animals. Not because they're so cute or intelligent, but simply because baby Envy was given an elephant plushy after she'd lost her teddy bear. Later on, I discovered elephants are cool for many, many reasons, but it all started with a plushy. I won't let any opportunity to see the real deal slide. And Botswana gave me more opportunities than I ever could have dreamed of.

Just 86 kilometers from the Victoria Falls lies Chobe National Park in Botswana. It's known for its enormous elephant population. In 2014, Botswana put a ban on elephant hunting. The country practically became one big elephant sanctuary, as all the surrounding countries didn't put a ban in place and elephants crossed the borders on all sides. Too many elephants, if you ask the Botswanan government, so the ban was lifted in 2019. But in my opinion, "too many elephants" isn't a thing. I not only wanted to do the game cruise through the park that was included in our tour, but also a game drive that would last almost all day and would cost a lot of dollars extra. But honestly, the alternative was to sit and wait by our stinky tents all day. So we went on a game drive through Chobe. It was the best decision we made that week.

Big jeeps with open sides picked us up from our campgrounds and brought us to Chobe. The ride was pleasant, the breeze was welcome, but it all changed when we entered the park. No more asphalt, no more roads, just soft sandy tracks. Although I didn't see any animals for a good twenty minutes, I loved the park already. The jeep shook from left to right, sometimes very nearly getting stuck in the sand. I was as excited as a little kid in the backseat of their parents' car pretending they're on a rollercoaster (which I honestly still did that day; growing up is overrated). Suddenly, the driver slammed the brakes. He'd spotted an antelope.


Granted, an antelope is not as exciting as an elephant, but it was the first antelope we saw and we collectively lost it. I'm pretty sure that antelope was the most photographed animal of the entire trip.
Our driver laughed. "Now you all take pictures of the antelope. End of the day, you won't even look at antelope anymore."
I couldn't believe that. The antelope was beautiful. It'd be a crime to ignore these creatures - unless an elephant showed up.

Our game drive continued. After a few minor freakouts over more antelope and guineafowl, we reached a hilltop from where we could see the Chobe river. That's when we spotted them. Elephants, way off in the distance, an entire family of them. I got goosebumps all over, felt like the luckiest girl alive. I didn't think my day could get any better, but it did. We drove down to the riverfront to get a closer look. And then they were everywhere. Elephants as far as the eye could see.


It was midday, which meant that the elephants of Chobe were all coming down to the river. Entire families were crossing it. I was so happy I almost cried. There were hippos, crocodiles, storks, kudus and a giraffe as well, but the elephants stole the show. They were literally everywhere, completely unbothered by our presence. I choked up. Never in my wildest dreams had I expected to see so many wild elephants in one place. I grabbed my camera, but after a dozen pictures, I put it down again. This was not something I wanted to experience through camera lenses and screens.


Ten meters from our jeep, an elephant family was resting in the shade of a tree. A tiny baby kept pointing at us with its trunk. When we drove on, another family rushed past us without batting an eye. They came so close to us that it felt like I could touch them if I just reached out (which you should only do if you want to risk your life, so don't). My emotions got the better of me when I spotted a tiny baby elephant running down a hill, panicking slightly as he spotted our jeep, then rushed to its mom. I will never forget the moment when we drove back to the entrance and the enormous head of a fully grown elephant, angry and spooked by our roaring jeep, emerged right next to us from the bush. We swerved, almost got stuck in the sand, but the elephant luckily left us alone.

All around us, elephants were on the move, but as long as we treated them with respect and kept our distance, they paid us no special attention. I felt so small and insignificant in my jeep next to these friendly giants. They gave me a newfound respect for nature. They made me realize what my place on this planet is and how I should be making sure that they have a future.


I was firmly on cloud nine when we left the national park, only to return half an hour later by boat, on a so-called game cruise. Most of the elephants had left the river banks already, so I spent my time photographing buffaloes and the sunset. It was a perfect calm ending to a perfect exciting day. I found myself still with tears in the corners of my eyes over the sight of elephants far off in the distance. That night, I went to bed happier than I'd been in ages. Botswana might not be happy with its elephants, but I was. The problem isn't that there are too many elephants in the country, the problem is that there aren't enough safe places in surrounding countries. Shooting, hunting, killing them won't help. But as I crawled into my sleeping bad that night, I didn't think too much about it. My head was too full of beautiful memories. And as I fell asleep to the sound of hippos grunting and wheezing in the Chobe river, I dreamed of all the elephants of Botswana.