It’s not every road trip you find your traffic lane blocked by a wild elephant. But that’s exactly what happened to us when driving in Southern Sri Lanka, on our way from a safari in Yala National Park
I was sitting in the back seat when my driver started braking and gesticulating about the road obstruction ahead. After a glance, I quickly grabbed my camera and started snapping away — not ideal photography circumstances, but that’s often how it goes.
There blocking our lane stood an elephant, interacting with passengers in a small bus in the opposite lane. I’m not sure what was going on — whether he wanted some food (most likely), or just to interact with the people.
I have a lot of respect for the power of nature, including that of wild elephants. Their trunk might be able to delicately pick up a peanut or grape, but it can also rip your arm off. Fortunately, nothing happened.
We decided it best to just cautiously drive by when our first opportunity, leaving our pachyderm friend to watch us pass.
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