When All is Well with the World—An Elephant Lullaby
Filmed by Alison Coates, and transcribed (with edits) below.
On my first night in Sarara Camp in Northern Kenya there was a British couple who had been there for a couple of nights. When you visit and stay at these lodges, quite often, you’ll sit and eat together in the evening with other guests. I sat with the woman who managed the camp, who was delightful, and the two other guests. We chatted away. The woman guest was crazy about cheetahs. She said, “If I could have a cheetah, I would have one.” I had a major disconnect with her because I couldn't imagine anyone who would take a wild animal as a pet. It was a bit of a strange dinner and I did not need to linger with them.
I went off to my magical cottage, crawled into bed, pulled the covers up around my chin and listened to the sounds of the night. I only have daytime images from the cottage so you will just have to imagine it at night, in the dark, with a sky full of stars.
As I lay in bed, I heard rumbles in the dark. I knew what they were. That's how elephants talk to each other. They have a deep rumble that comes from their belly and other than their body language—trunks and ears and use of their body—it is one of the main ways they communicate. Trumpeting is how many of us understand how elephants speak. It’s a loud blast that they make from their lungs through their trunks. It is quite intimidating. But, most of the time they just kind of rumble at each other.
I could hear deep rumbles. There'd be a rumble… grrrrr …well, it's not a growl… I can't do elephant rumble. And then there'd be a pause and then there'd be another rumble, which was in a different tone. I realized I was listening, I was eavesdropping, on a conversation. I got out of bed and I went onto my porch and I looked down. There was a light on the water hole. And there were two bull elephants, kind of like old boys at the pub, just hanging out in the dark.
The wife and the kids had gone home to bed. These guys were going to hang out at the water hole and drink as much as they wanted to and just enjoy each other's company, have a bit of an elephant rumble.
I watched them for a bit, and then I crawled back into bed. I have to say, it was probably one of the best lullabies I ever had. To drift off to sleep—I was very tired—it had been a long and a very exciting day. It reminded me of when I was a little kid. You know, when your parents are down the hall and you might be able to hear the tone of their voices. It felt very safe because they were there. You wouldn't hear what they were saying, and it really didn't matter. You just knew that all was well with world and life was good. That's what it was like.
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