Of pools and pachyderms

Being from Africa, I had a good belly-laugh at this report.

Staff at the safari park were baffled by the mystery of the disappearing whirlpool bath.

Every morning they filled the open-air bath outside one of the guest lodges, and every night it was empty - even though no leak could be found.

. . .

Susan Potgieter, owner of Etali Safari Lodge, in North West Province, South Africa, said ... 'When it was empty in the morning we first called a plumber, but they could not work out why it was draining either.

'Troublesome was caught in the act by a guest at the lodge who just came outside to have some tea on the decking.




'They were quite surprised to see an elephant taking a drink of her own too, and quickly grabbed a camera.

'We've seen this elephant a lot before and by the lodge, the rangers call her 'Troublesome' not because she causes trouble but because she comes so close to their vehicles.'

Ms Potgieter said Troublesome probably preferred the water of the whirlpool bath because it was clean.

She said: 'Now that we know what was going on we have tried to provide her an alternative source of water. But sometimes it's hard to get an elephant to change her ways.

'She is a very welcome visitor for us and our guests, except it's probably best to check if she is around before taking a dip in the tub.'

There's more at the link.

Old African saying: "What the elephant wants, the elephant gets!"



Peter