Tembe Elephant Park is one of the top travel adventures I have ever done! It is home to South Africa’s largest elephants, the tuskers.
Considering the amazing places I have been – this speaks volumes for Tembe Elephant Park. I mean it beat out all my other adventures including diving with sharks – without a cage! That is some pretty stiff competition.
Tembe Elephant: Home to The Largest Elephants in Africa
In the early 1900s, the great tuskers were commonly found throughout the African continent, but now less than 40 remain in all of Africa because they’ve been hunted for their huge ivory tusks. Tembe is home to some of them, including Isilo, the largest elephant tusker in southern Africa!
But there’s more to Tembe than elephants!
(Don’t worry, we’ll get back to the elephants). Tembe is home to the Big 5 and the highly endangered wild dogs (which I didn’t see since they were hanging out in the opposite end of the 300 square meter park). What I did see though were three lions.
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The male was off on his own a bit, while the two lionesses appeared bored and uninterested as our safari jeep pulled up. It’s incredible how interesting lions can be, even when they’re doing absolutely nothing! Fortunately, one of the lionesses decided that we deserved a little action and starting cleaning the other lioness:
Apparently this worked up her attitude as she got up and started to stalk…nothing. At least that’s what I thought at first. Then I slowly saw it, an antelope almost totally camouflaged in the tall grass.
Related Reading: Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Park: Game or Self-Drive?
Watching a Lioness Hunt
I couldn’t decide whether I wanted her hunt to succeed or not. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t. She then made her way back and moved onto a much easier target – the three safari jeeps full of slow-moving un-camouflaged tourists.
She stared us down and parked herself less than 5 meters away – never taking her eyes off of us.
One lady in the jeep behind us was so scared that she hid under her jacket on the floor. I was in complete and total awe. There was nothing from stopping the lioness from attacking our safari jeep, yet she didn’t.
Having said that, there’s no way I would have been getting out of the jeep to take a bathroom break!
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Sometime later, our jeep moved on, our guide whispering something into his radio to another guide. They had spotted something else and were moving up. I was annoyed and wanted to stay with the lions.
What could be more incredible than observing lions, seeing a lioness hunt and being stalked by a lioness?
Getting Up Close & Personal With Tembes Elephant Herds
I lost track of how many there were, but there were over easily over 20. As luck would have it I got to see the large herd crossing the road as they moved into the forest for the night. Incredible!
And then something even more incredible happened! I got within 10 meters of not one, but two baby elephants And get this: they were only three days old!
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Yes, I was THIS CLOSE to two-three day old baby elephants…in the wild!:
All This in 3 Hours
Anyone who has ever done a safari knows that there can be periods of long waiting, often hours of just seeing the odd antelope. Our luck in Tembe was incredible!
Visitors to Tembe Elephant Park can sign up for two jeep safari drives daily. Animal enthusiasts craving more can make their way down to the watering hole and a hide where visitors can spend the entire day observing everyone who comes to the watering hole including bird, antelopes…and of course some of Tembe’s 200+elephants!
Be sure to check out the 24-hour webcam of the watering hole in Tembe Elephant Park. After viewing it for less than 30 seconds I started planning my trip to Tembe!
Despite seeing elephants in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Park in South Africa and lions in Hlane Royal Park in Swaziland, I left Tembe in complete amazement.
My only regret is that we stayed for just one night. That was waaaay to short! Fortunately, I can (almost) transport myself back to Tembe via the webcam.
As I write this I’m listening to hundreds of birds chirping at the Tembe watering hole. I keep getting distracted though as I keep toggling back and forth in hopes of seeing my good friend Isilo…or a leopard!
Tembe Elephant Park is:
- located ~2 hours north of iSimangoliso Wetland Park (which I also highly recommend, especially the Hippo Safari and a chance to view endangered Samango monkeys)
- a community-owned full-service game reserve
- plays an important role in elephant tusker conservation
- definitely worth staying at least 2-3 nights
- runs sustainably, with minimal impact on the environment
- limits the number of guests to achieve sustainability and minimal interference to wildlife.
Accommodation at Tembe Elephant Park
There are several options for accommodation in the park. You can stay at the Tembe Elephant Park Lodge which is a 3-Star lodge that is a tented camp for a real African experience. Enjoy breakfast every morning while taking in the smells and sounds of the South African wilderness.
Another option is the Royal Thonga Safari Lodge which is a 4-Star. If you prefer a touch of luxury while exploring then this is a perfect choice. The rooms are equipped with mosquito nets (which you need in summer) and each have an indoor and outdoor shower. The lodge also offers tours into Tembe Elephant Park and to other areas in the vicinity.
I love following your African safari adventures. It’s long been my dream to visit reserves just like this one. Hopefully one day soon! In the meantime, I need to check out the webcam!
@Jennifer – Thank you! It was a dream of mine as well and it finally came true last year. Re: webcam, warning, it is highly addictive!
Wow, you went really up close! That definitely counts as a major adventure!
@Zhu – Agreed, the best one I had all year and that’s saying a lot!
Now that sounds like a park worth visiting. I love those baby elephants – 10/10 on the cute factor. I hope they end up leading a very long life. Good to actually catch the lions in action. When I was in Tanzania we didn’t catch that kind of action; instead we got the full on action of mating. Very cool but not the least bit private with all of our jeeps around. I
I’ll put this park on the must see list!
@Leigh – Agreed and the elephants are very well protected at Tembe. Lion mating must have been interesting, maybe they were exhibitionists 🙂
This comment would have been up about 15 minutes ago, but I’ve been distracted watching an elephant at the watering hole. Beautiful animals. It must have truly been an amazing experience, although I get the feeling that I would have been hiding under my jacket as well if that lioness looked my way.
@Steve – Haha, that watering hole is the cause of a lot of my procrastination :). Re: hiding under your jacket, at least you wouldn’t have been the only one.
I have to admit overwhelming feelings of jealousy. This is a remarkable experience. I would park out for the day at the waterhole though
@Nathalie – That’s exactly what we did in between the morning and evening safaris. I just couldn’t get enough.
Seeing those baby elephants is priceless – I’ve only seen one at the zoo and she wasn’t that young…awesome!
@Andrea – Agreed, it was the experience of a lifetime. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Such a great 2012 for you. I wish you a even better 2013. Love the photos.
@Laura – Thanks so much!
What an incredible experience…although, I might have been a little freaked out driving by the lion…
@D.J. – It was a little freaky, especially since she was so close and we knew she was hungry after her failed attempt at the antelope.
Yeah, this looks AMAZING! I would love to see lions and elephants up close like that, as long as they don’t pay any attention to me!
@Ali – The lioness was definitely paying attention to us, but couldn’t tell if she had her eye on a particular target or just the whole lot of us.
Lovely Laurel! Those elephants are absolutely adorable and it’s wonderful that you got to have such good luck and an incredible experience. 🙂
@Cheryl – Thank you, I was soooo lucky that we saw everything that we did in such a short period of time.
This sure is an incredible experience, Laurel.
I love watching animals in the wild, especially elephants as they’re so huge and so light on their hoofs. I guess I expected to hear a herd as it approached but even when it was really close, I heard nothing. That was freaky!
@InsideJourneys – Me too, I could watch animals for hours. I was surprised at how quiet they were as well – not what you would expect for such big animals.
Amazing, Laurel. I just love going on these adventures with you. What a thrill to see Tembe’s beautiful residents — in action!
@Cathy – Thanks so much. I love, love Tembe….just in case it wasn’t obvious 🙂
That’s awesome! I LOVE elephants! I see why this was your top one.
@Sonja – Me too, especially baby elephants!