Zimbabwe: Mana Pools NP – Boswell the Elephant
Many people come to Mana Pools National Park hoping to see the grand old elephant named Boswell, the most famous elephant in Zimbabwe and perhaps in the whole world, a YouTube star. This massive bull elephant has learn to reach out for fruits on tall trees by standing on his hind legs and grabbing the juiciest pieces from the top with his trunk. It’s a show more spectacular then you can see on a circus. Most of the time people spend days searching for Boswell, often leaving empty-handed. Earlier this year a team of rangers spent five full days searching the Mana Pools for Boswell to collar him. And yet, somehow we got lucky to spot him on the second day of our game drives. Boswell marched solemnly toward Zambezi with nearly two dozen other elephants following him in the distance. Boswell is truly huge with humongous tusks. He came to a tree right next to water and – voila – stood up and grabbed fruits from the top of the tree! Absolutely surreal! Many other bull elephants tried repeating it, but none managed. Once again, luck on our side, especially when you are the only tourists in the park! Boswell is though to be over 30 years old.
