10/07/2026
A very good lesson in nature survival, should you find yourself in this situation for whatever reason.
I met a man once in Laikipia who had walked straight into a herd of elephants.
He was a visitor. A city man. He had heard the stories but never believed them. When the bull emerged from the thicket, his body made the decision before his mind could stop it. He ran.
They found his body three hours later. Trampled beyond recognition.
That is what happens when you do not know the rules.
Here is rule number one. The most important rule.
When you encounter an elephant, the worst thing you can ever do is run.
Elephants will chase you for tens of kilometres. Especially an angry bull. Especially a mother with a calf. They do not stop. They do not get tired. They do not forget.
So you do not run.
Instead, you squat. Gently. You spread your arms. You maintain eye contact. You make yourself look as large and as calm as possible.
Be courageous. Be like Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego. Even when the animal does a mock attack (ears flared, trunk raised, dust flying) you hold your ground. You hold your squat. You do not move.
It will not attack.
I have seen it work. I have seen a bull charge straight at a man who did not flinch. The elephant stopped three metres away. Stared. Turned. Walked away.
The man did not run. The man is still alive.
But here is the better rule. The one that keeps you out of trouble in the first place.
Prevention is better than finding yourself in that situation.
When you are walking in elephant country, and you spot them from a distance, check the wind. The wind is your ally. It is your early warning system. It is your shield.
Ensure you are in the opposite wind direction of movement. The wind should be blowing from the elephants toward you. Not from you toward the elephants.
When the wind carries your scent to them, they already know you are there before you see them. That is how they survive. That is how they have always survived. They read the air better than we read the ground.
You want the wind blowing from them to you. Their scent travels to you. You know where they are. They do not know where you are. That is the advantage. That is how we have survived alongside elephants in Laikipia for generations.
Those who ignore these simple rules never make it out alive.
The man who ran did not know the wind. He did not know the squat. He did not know the arms. He knew nothing.
And the bull taught him everything in three hours.
Do not be that man.
Next time you are walking in Laikipia and you see dust rising in the distance, stop. Check the wind. Check your instinct. Check your fear.
Then walk in the opposite direction.
The elephants will not chase you. They do not want you. They want peace. They want to eat. They want to raise their young.
You are not their target.
But if you run, you become their target. And the elephant never misses. The elephant never gets tired. The elephant never forgives.
So do not run. Squat. Wait. Let the elephant decide you are not a threat.
That is how the men and women of Laikipia have survived for centuries. That is how they continue to survive. That is how you will survive.
The rule is simple.
Respect the elephant. Respect the wind. Respect the ground.
And never, ever run.
