Wash

“Now that’s the way to start the morning,” Jake said, smiling.

“It’s really something,” I said.

Our faithful tour guide handed me a cup of instant coffee.

“Thank you,” I said with a smile.

“Zylando and his team are coming with elephants in an hour,” Anto said.

“Great! I’ve wanted to ride an elephant forever.”

Jake and I rode together on one elephant. The animal started to move and quickly gained speed, lumbering along with its big legs, staggering from side to side with each giant step. I was glad Jake was sitting in front of me so I had something to wrap my arms around and hold on to.

The sun peeked out while clouds wisped across a blue sky. A cool breeze, carrying the chirps and calls of birds, stirred the leaves. I could not even think of words to describe how awesome the ad

venture was as we swayed along at what felt like a leisurely pace.

The smell of damp wood, earth, and fish wafted past. Somewhere to my right, the sound of trickling water echoed in my ears. I craned my neck around and caught a glimpse of the river sparkling in the bright light. Along the water’s edge were giant nests of dead grass, hanging from gnarled tree limbs. The shrill sound of squawking birds filled the air all around us, and the elephant started to stomp into the muddy water.

“It’s okay,” our tour guide said. “We’re crossing the river to get to the other side. She’s very familiar with carrying passengers across. You shouldn’t have any problems.”

Drops of water splashed on my face, arms, and legs. I wiped the moisture across my burning skin, enjoying the cooling sensation.

Weee-ah, hyo-hyo, heee-ah, heeah-heeah.

I gazed up at the large raptor making the loud, evocative, and haunting cry. It was perched on branches overlooking the water. The majestic bird had a brown body with large, powerful, black wings. The head, breast, and tail were snow white. I snapped a few glorious shots with my camera.

“That’s an African Fish-Eagle. It’s the spirit or essence of Africa. Its distinctive call has earned it the name ‘the voice of Africa’.”

I smiled as the magnificent bird swooped down to catch a fish.

Suddenly, the elephant stopped.

I laughed. “I think she’s taking a break.”

Slurping filled the air, as the elephant sucked up water through her trunk like a straw. She lifted her long gray protrusion high in the air, and a huge plume of spray shot skyward, only to stream down on us like rain.

I couldn’t help but giggle. “I know she’s hot, but has she forgotten we’re up here, too?” I blinked and wiped my soaking-wet hair out of my eyes.

We all laughed.

Jake’s wet hair hung just over his collar, and I admired his hairstyle all over again. It was longer than it was when we had dated, but I loved it. It made him look so sexy that I was half-tempted to run my hand through those gorgeous locks.

The elephant took a few more steps and slowly submerged below the surface of the water. From the shore, the river had seemed wide and shallow, and now I wondered how deep the river was, since the elephant seemed to barely reach the bottom. A log swept past and grazed my legs. When I glanced down, I saw more logs, as well as debris and branches, floating past us. Water seeped into my socks and tennis shoes. First my knees sank in, then my stomach. A shiver ran down my spine. With a splash, the elephant’s entire head plopped just a few inches under the surface of the water. I was sure we were sinking like a big, giant rock, and I clung to the saddle as water swirled past my hips.

“No worries. Elephants are excellent swimmers,” Anto said. “We’ll be across the river in no time.”

In India, I’d seen elephants swim in deep water with trainers on their backs, so I wasn’t too nervous about it, but my soaked clothes clung to my body, dragging me down. I shivered as the cold water bit into my skin, and I clasped my arms around Jake to hold him close, resting my chin on his shoulder; he was emanating heat like an oven. I noticed hundreds of bubbles rising to the surface, and a second later, the elephant’s trunk popped up. Using it as a snorkel, she swam, dog-paddling underwater, submerged like a big, gray submarine, raising her trunk up like a periscope.

A sudden flash of light caught my eye. I squeezed my eyes against the blinding sun, trying to get a better look, because something seemed odd about the long, bumpy piece of driftwood that was coming our way. Not only was it covered in scales, but it also opened big, yellow eyes, and I found myself staring intently at golden irises around slit pupils. The cold eyes just stared right back at me.

My mouth gaped open, and the breath caught in my throat. “That’s definitely not a log,” I whispered nervously in Jake’s ear. It looked like a cold-blooded creature I’d once seen in Florida, with long, tapering jaws and yellow reptilian eyes peeking out of the river. Two teeth jutted out of the reptile’s bottom jaw. “It’s an alligator! Right there, blending in with all those logs.” With shaking, fingers I gripped the saddle so hard my knuckles turned white.

“That’s no alligator. That’s a croc,” Anto said calmly.

As far as I was concerned, the specifics didn’t matter. Either species would happily make a meal out of us, and flashbacks of all the movies and nature shows I’d seen about death rolls and giant reptilians terrorizing people bombarded my mind. I peered at the water and gulped. The marine predator emerged, exposing its entire armored body. I wondered how many buffalos, zebras, hippos, and even humans it had been snacking on, because it was huge. The rigid, brown, horn-like scales on its back and along its tail glistened under the sun.

I wiped the sweat off my brow, and my heart began to pound fiercely. “Let’s swim to shore!”