Book a call with a safari expert

phone icon

Client reviews

5 star icon
safari experts, since 1991
Book a call with a safari expert Book a call
Client reviews Client reviews
×
SEARCH OUR STORIES
SEARCH OUR SAFARIS
Africa Geographic Travel
Benny the elephant © Water for Elephants Trust
Benny the elephant and Mike, a special relationship based on trust. © Water for Elephants Trust

Editorial comment: Please do not try to approach elephants during your travels in Africa, or to forge bonds with elephants. The situation described below is unique, and based on a specific set of circumstances and characters.

When the dry season sets in and water is scarce, barriers blur and relationships are forged out of necessity. One such relationship is that of Benny the elephant and Mike the human.

Summer 2015 was an especially harsh dry season in Botswana, and elephants would arrive each day in their hundreds at the small waterhole at Elephant Sands lodge and campsite in northeast Botswana. Such were the queues of thirsty elephants that some would wait for up to 18 hours for their turn for life-saving water. Some elephants would even be so frantic for water that they would break down lodge walls, pull up pipes and push over water tanks meant for tourists.

And then came Benny.

Benny arrived with fanfare, trumpeting loudly and venturing a bit too close to campers. Elephant Sands manager Mike Toth repeatedly chased Benny away, but he kept returning. Realising it was water he was after, Mike filled up the water trough near one of the campsite bathrooms. The newly named Benny came to drink, and let Mike spray him with water, from a safe distance.

This became the routine over the next few days, with Mike filling up the trough and Benny coming to drink. But then Benny did something strange and extraordinary –  he pointed to Mike with his trunk then rubbed his injured foot three times.

A few days later the festering wound had split open and Benny was visibly feverish, and so Mike decided to phone the vet. Benny was tranquillised and an emergency operation was performed to remove a piece of wood lodged in his foot.

Emergency surgery for Benny the elephant © Water for Elephants Trust
Emergency surgery for Benny the elephant © Water for Elephants Trust
Emergency surgery for Benny the elephant © Water for Elephants Trust
Removal of infected tissue from Benny’s foot © Water for Elephants Trust
Emergency surgery for Benny the elephant © Water for Elephants Trust
Keeping Benny cool during the operation © Water for Elephants Trust
Foot injury for Benny the elephant © Water for Elephants Trust
Foot injury on the mend, after emergency surgery © Water for Elephants Trust

For days later, Benny was back. Recognising his old friend, Mike walked right up to him and gave him some water. Over the coming months, Benny would arrive at camp, seek Mike out (often waiting patiently while Mike attended to his daily duties) and the two would go through the routine of greetings and provision of water, with Mike doing an assessment of the injury and of Benny’s recovery. The greetings and personal contact increased as the two came to trust each other. Mike always made sure that Benny initiated the first contact.

Over time Benny became more protective of Mike. On one occasion, while Mike was giving Benny water, a large bull elephant came in-between the two. Benny seemed to recognise the danger of another wild elephant so close to his human companion – he grabbed Mike’s hand with his trunk, pulled him away, and backed up into the large intruder.

Benny the elephant and Mike Toth © Water for Elephants Trust
Benny the elephant and Mike share a special moment © Water for Elephants Trust

This friendship has endured since then, with Benny returning every dry season to wait by the lodge for fresh water and his old friend.

Mike Toth and his family have established Water for Elephants Trust, to provide much-needed borehole water for elephants and other species in the arid Kalahari of northeast Botswana. For more information and exceptional photos, read this feature Water for Elephants.

To comment on this story: Login (or sign up) to our app here - it's a troll-free safe place 🙂.


Africa Geographic Travel
African safari

Why choose us to craft your safari?

Handcrafted experiential safaris since 1991.

Travel in Africa is about knowing when and where to go, and with whom. A few weeks too early/late or a few kilometres off course, and you could miss the greatest show on Earth. And wouldn’t that be a pity?

African travel

Trust & Safety

Client safari payments remain in a third-party TRUST ACCOUNT until they return from safari - protecting them in the unlikely event of a financial setback on our part.

See what travellers say about us

Responsible safari

Make a difference

We donate a portion of the revenue from every safari sold to carefully selected conservation projects that make a significant difference at ground level.

YOUR safari choice does make a difference - thank you!

[wpforms id="152903"]
<div class="wpforms-container wpforms-container-full" id="wpforms-152903"><form id="wpforms-form-152903" class="wpforms-validate wpforms-form wpforms-ajax-form" data-formid="152903" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data" action="/stories/benny-elephant-mike-touching-african-story/" data-token="8e73dfa0b3f964f46c211fae95105abf"><noscript class="wpforms-error-noscript">Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.</noscript><div class="wpforms-field-container"><div id="wpforms-152903-field_1-container" class="wpforms-field wpforms-field-email" data-field-id="1"><label class="wpforms-field-label wpforms-label-hide" for="wpforms-152903-field_1">Email Address <span class="wpforms-required-label">*</span></label><input type="email" id="wpforms-152903-field_1" class="wpforms-field-medium wpforms-field-required" name="wpforms[fields][1]" placeholder="Email " required></div></div><div class="wpforms-submit-container"><input type="hidden" name="wpforms[id]" value="152903"><input type="hidden" name="wpforms[author]" value="122"><input type="hidden" name="wpforms[post_id]" value="95476"><button type="submit" name="wpforms[submit]" id="wpforms-submit-152903" class="wpforms-submit" data-alt-text="Sending..." data-submit-text="Subscribe" aria-live="assertive" value="wpforms-submit">Subscribe</button><img src="https://africageographic.com/wp-content/plugins/wpforms/assets/images/submit-spin.svg" class="wpforms-submit-spinner" style="display: none;" width="26" height="26" alt="Loading"></div></form></div> <!-- .wpforms-container -->