The safari guide’s attempt to get a closer look at an elephant failed when the happy animal showered her with water from her own pool.
A herd of elephants were waiting by the pool at the RockFig Safari Lodge. Gail Saint-Amour thought it was time to go in.
She described it as a “once-in-a-lifetime” occurrence and was happy she had shot images when one curious animal stayed to play.
Lisa Saint was swimming in the outdoor pool at RockFig Safari Lodge in Hoedspruit, South Africa, when she noticed a group of elephants nearby. Her attempt to get a deeper look at an elephant failed when the joyful creature drenched her with water from her own pool. Clint, her spouse, is shown with her.
The animal swiftly turns its trunk towards the 38-year-old and sprays the fluids into her face while visitors behind her chuckle, and Lisa responds, “Thank you.”
The magnificent African elephant is seen “mesmerized” sipping water from a lower portion of the pool. Lisa, from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, stands shoulder-deep in the pool with her elbows on the edge.
The animal swiftly turns its trunk towards the 38-year-old and pours the fluids into her face while visitors behind her laugh and Lisa exclaims, “Thank you.”
The mischievous elephant came face to face with Lisa, ‘waiting for her reaction,’ but Lisa refrained from returning the splash to avoid ‘pushing her luck.’
Lisa considers herself fortunate to have witnessed such a rare occurrence. It was the first time she and her husband, Clint, a safari tour operator, had ever seen anything like it.
The video, which was shot on October 15, was shared with resort visitors and immediately went viral on social media, receiving millions of views without the couple even publishing it.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that before, and I’m not sure I ever will,’ Lisa remarked. It was incredible.
I’ve seen elephants that prefer to drink from the pool, but they normally move away as soon as humans enter the water since it’s too close for safety.
The other elephants had left, but this one remained, an inquisitive little stray who wanted to check on me.
He was staring right at me. I wasn’t afraid in the least. It started drinking, and that was all I expected it to do.
He filled his trunk with water and appeared to be cooling off, but then he pointed his trunk towards me and sprayed me in the face.
I merely said thank you since I believe it was just trying to entertain me. It was one of those occasions when I thought to myself, “I really hope someone was taping this.”
It probably just wanted to see how I would respond. I believe that if I had backed up rapidly, it would have scared him away. Therefore, I believe it was relaxed.
I was tempted to re-splash it and see what happened, but I didn’t want to risk it. Looking back, I’m grateful someone captured the entire event on video.
Lisa thinks the elephant stayed for another 40 seconds before rejoining his herd, and even the people who were watching were amazed.
When Lisa led a group of women to RockFig Safari Lodge, Clint, who owns Live Life African Safari Getaways, was conducting one of their trips with Lisa.
The businessman from South Africa relocated to North Carolina a year back and has been visiting safari resorts since he was a youngster, describing the meeting as “unique.”
“It was a very special experience, and the fact that it occurred to Lisa made it even better,’ Clint, from Durban, South Africa, said. It’s something I’ve never seen before.
“Wow, that actually just occurred,” I thought. My wife was in the right location at the right moment, and she chose to sprinkle it with water.
Fortunately, she has a lot of experience with safaris and is fairly calm in those situations, so she was simply taking it at the time. It was a strange occurrence.
