Close encounters

We were in Udawalawe National Park recently doing a game drive & it was all very peaceful at the beginning. Saw some elephant here & there.

Finally we came to a herd of elephants of about 20. There were some really small baby elephants & we knew it was not wise to linger there since the elephants are so over protective of their little.

We waited for about 5 minutes for photos & enjoying the mammoth animals in their natural habitat. Finally some female elephants got tired of us hanging around & she started trumpeting. We thought it was to scare us off. How wrong were we!!!

It was the call for Achilles into battle!!

We heard a roaring sound from the opposite side of the road & saw bushes & trees getting trampled. That exact moment of seeing a black giant rock running towards you through the wild, freezes your brain for a split second. Then you come to realize that you're in deep, deep sh*t.

The "Papa" elephant came out of the woods roaring & trumpeting & he was really, really pissed.

It knocked against the jeep at full speed & we thought the jeep would take a 180 degree spin. Luckily the 2 side wheels were in the air for a while & we were back on all 4 wheels in about 2 seconds.

All the 20 or so elephants started joining the party from all sides. Luckily the jeep was a very noisy one & we half scared & half out ran them. Finally when we were at a safe distance they calmed down.

It was one of the best adventurous experiences I ever had.