SHARING THE ROAD WITH GIANTS. Driving Safely Around Elephants and Hippos

Angus Wingfield
Jul 10
6 min read

Updated: Jul 13

For me, I think there are few experiences that compare to encountering a wild elephant emerging from the bush or a hippo out of the water moving between a river and its grazing areas. These are often the moments that stay with us long after an our journey, overlanding adventure, walk, or safari has ended. They're also the moments that demand our greatest attention.

Over the past twenty years of taking many and varied groups to southern Africa, I must have spent of thousands of hours talking to experienced guides, experts and conservationists, and absorbing as much as my dyslexic brain can absorb, as well as hundreds of hours driving thousands of miles on our overlanding adventures. One lesson has remained consistent throughout all of this and that is that wildlife almost never wants conflict with us. Most difficult encounters happen because we put an animal in a situation where it feels threatened, trapped or pressured.

So understanding their behaviour is one of the most important skills we can learn if we choose to take people to these wild locations.

Waiting For Elephants

Elephants are incredibly intelligent and incredibly aware of their surroundings. In most situations, they would much rather continue with their day than confront a vehicle. The key is allowing them to do exactly that.

Some signs that an elephant is relaxed

Continue feeding or walking at a steady pace.
Swing its trunk naturally.
Flap its ears gently to cool itself.
Show little interest in your vehicle.
Cross the road confidently without hesitation.

If we see this behaviour, we have likely given the animal enough space. Good job!

Some signs an elephant is becoming uncomfortable

Stopping and staring directly at our vehicle.
Its head lifting high while she or he has a look at us.
The trunk curling inward rather than hanging naturally.
Ears held out stiffly or spread wide.
Repeated head shaking.
Walking directly towards your vehicle instead of continuing its original route.

These are often signs that you've entered its comfort zone. It happens but can be avoided!

Recognising a Bull in Musth

One situation that deserves our special attention is encountering a bull elephant in musth. Musth is a natural period of time in male elephants were testosterone levels are 30 to 60 times greater than usual. A time when bulls are wanting to mate, they become more dominant, competitive and far less tolerant.

Signs a bull is in musth can include:

Dark streaks or wet patches running down the sides of the face from the temporal glands, located between the eye and ear.
Constant dribbling of urine, often leaving the inside of the back legs wet.
A confident, purposeful walk with its head held high.
Less willingness to alter its path or move away from vehicles.
Often moving quite fast and with purpose.
I think bulls in musth smell like creosote or railway sleepers. Clearly, never get so close you can smell him, but if you smell creosote in the bush, it's unlikely to be someone painting their garden fence!

A bull in musth isn't automatically aggressive, but is much more unpredictable than normal.

During my trip last month with an amazing group from the Salvation Army Housing Association, we came across a bull in musth, we never approached him, we stopped early, backed away quietly, and left him alone to be stroppy and frustrated.

What to do when we come across any elephants

If an elephant changes its behaviour because of your presence:

Overlanding preparation: We plan to keep 30 meters between each vehicle in the convoy. Leaving plenty of room for the elephant to choose its own route.
Stop and remain calm.
Reverse slowly if necessary to increase the distance.
Don't rev the engine or using the horn.
Never try to squeeze past an elephant, even if you think there's enough room.

One of the biggest mistakes drivers make is accidentally blocking an elephant's path. Elephants like to know they have options. Removing those options can quickly cause them stress. So, relax and enjoy the moment!

Understanding Mock Charges

A mock charge is often designed to get you to move away. As mentioned earlier, it could involve loud trumpeting, head shaking, ears spread out wide and a short run towards the vehicle before stopping. Even young elephants do this which is very cute and a lovely moment. Sub adults and adults we take more seriously.

If an elephant charges we should never ignore it of course and:

Reverse smoothly if it's safe to.
Avoid sudden steering or panic.
Give the elephant more space.
Once it relaxes, continue only when it has clearly moved away.

The objective is not to "stand your ground." It's to remove the pressure you've placed on the animal.

Driving Around Hippos

Hippos often surprise people because they are associated with water, but they spend much of the night grazing several miles from rivers, pools and floodplains. So people can unknowingly encounter hippos after sunset while travelling between camps or when camping close to water.

Some signs a hippo is relaxed

Continues grazing without paying much attention to us.
Walks steadily towards or away from water.
Keeps its head low while feeding.
Carries on following its chosen route.

If we can observe like this, then we are in the right place! The comfort zone...

Signs a hippo is becoming agitated

The head lifting repeatedly.
Staring directly at us.
Frequent yawning. This isn't tiredness, it's a warning display showing the size of their jaws and teeth.
Snorting or repeated grunting.
Turning its body to face you.
Beginning to move more quickly towards the water while watching your vehicle.

Hippos prefer clear routes between water and grazing areas. If your vehicle blocks that route, a hippo is very likely to become very stressed very quickly.

What you should do

Stop well back from the hippo. 50 - 100 metres.
Allow it to continue on its path.
Never ever drive between a hippo and the water!
Never approach a hippo on foot. Why would you? But people do!
If driving after dark near rivers, reduce your speed and remain alert.

Unlike elephants, hippos don't give us many obvious warning signals before reacting, so giving them plenty of space is always the safest option.

Avoiding problems before they start

The safest wildlife encounter is the one where the animal hardly notices we are there.

Drive slowly, especially in areas with dense vegetation.
Look well ahead and scan both sides of the road.
Never crowd any animal for a better photograph.
Always leave an obvious escape route for the animal and yourself.
Be patient. Waiting a few minutes is always better than forcing a situation.
If in doubt, 'please' reverse, back off, wait, or find another route around.

I have never once heard anyone say around a campfire, "I really wish we had driven a bit closer to that stressed elephant or hippo." But I have heard people say "We probably got a little too close..."

We never know what's just happened

Perhaps one of the most important things I have come to realise over the years, is that we never know what has just happened in the life of any animal just before we arrived.

An elephant may have been chased away by a dominant bull only minutes earlier. It may have calves hidden in thick bush, be protecting a family member, be in musth, or might be aware that lions are in the area. This applies to every single animal we encounter. We can't see what has happened before we arrived, but those experiences can influence how animals respond to us.

That's why I always believe it's better to stay well within an animal's comfort zone rather than testing its limits, and our goal should never be to see how close we can get. The goal is to witness natural behaviour without changing it.

Respect creates better wildlife encounters

The best wildlife sightings I've experienced have not come from getting closer, they have come from giving animals the time and space to behave naturally.

Elephants and hippos aren't looking for confrontation but they will readily confront us if we are not thinking... They're simply trying to feed, protect their families and move safely through their environment. When we understand their behaviour and adjust ours according, it's a win win.

When overlanding, we are privileged to explore some of Africa's great wild places. That privilege comes with a responsibility to drive with patience, awareness and respect. If we do, we will not only keep ourselves safe, but we will also help to ensure wildlife remain undisturbed for those who follow us.

Angus