In 1997 while working at the SABC I was called up one day by the minining company up at Phalaborwa (Northern South Africa). They had found a very young elephant stuck in some sludge up at the mine and wanted to know if we knew anyone who could help because they didn't want to shoot it, but at that point it seemed they had no choice.
I called Lente Roode. She was/is this amazing woman who runs the Centre for Endangered Species in Hoedspruit. I had barely finished telling her the story when she got on a plane and flew up to Phalaborwa. Her crew following in a truck.
Now Lente Roode was a conservationist and her husband was a hunter. They kind of balanced each other out and with one of the most exclusive safari businesses in the country, they could afford to fly across country to pick up an elephant.
Jabulani (to rejoice) was taken back to Hoedspruit where Lente nursed him back to health using the same techniques she'd used on orphand rhinos.
Anyway I went out to Hoedspuit a month later and met the little guy who was only three months old at that stage.
Today... Well he is 9 years old now and a big boy. He also has his own "camp" called Camp Jabulani which allows tourists to live in a very exclusive resort and interact with the animals around them. He also has about 11 new "friends" - elephants that Lente has rescued from Zimbabwe and of course this "little" guy knows he runs the show.
Anyway, I just wanted to share that story with you because it's rare in my life that I find conclusion to anything I've ever worked on. I do the story and that's the end of that. I never hear from people again and certainly do not get and update 9 years later....
I wonder if he will remember me?
After weeks of rain, wind and nothing but cloud today the most amazing thing happened - the sun came out.
