This is one elephant who was clearly going to need to clear his trunks after he dived into a waterhole and almost entirely vanished.
The mischievous elephant showed no fear of diving into the deep end as he soaked himself in water at the Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa.
On a scorching summer day, photographer Ayesha Cantor captured the hilarious sequence of photos.
The 50-year-old from Port Elizabeth said temperatures had soared, and the elephant was desperately trying to cool down.
“It was almost too hot to keep cameras out of the window and into the scorching sunshine, which is how I ended up unprepared and nearly missed the shots.”
“With over a hundred elephants of all shapes and sizes drinking, playing, trumpeting, mud wrestling, meeting and greeting, and a never-ending stream still coming — there was so much activity around the watering hole that I didn’t know where to look or point my camera, so I had it on my laps just taking in the scenery around us with my eyes.”
“A particularly huge guy went right by our vehicle, which was enough to grab a shot of him. He halfheartedly attempted another, and like he said, ‘That’s it; I’m going in.”
“You’ve never seen anyone recover their camera after it’s been dropped and point and focus so fast; I laughed like a hyena afterward; I was totally unprepared for such a scenario to play out in front of my eyes.
It was incredible to witness a land animal sink into the water and act like a whale, rolling over—completely submerged.
We’ve normally observed elephants playing in and swimming in the water, but not often to this extent.
While it’s thrilling to see other wild animals in the park, I still like the elephant the most.
“They’re such fun, lively creatures who are always up to something to amuse, laugh at, and love.”
