Tembo Mzee

The African name"Tembo Mzee" in the beautiful Swahili language means 'very old elephant'.
In Africa one can come so quickly on the unexpected.
I was walking far too casually around the corner of a lush green gully when I disturbed him in his favourite wallow.
It was in the heat of the African afternoon.
He was covered in mud from head to foot and I could see little evidence of the wrinkles of his age.
He probably has a nickname in the local villages 'He with the torn ear'; further evidence that he had no doubt led a long and eventful life.
Fortunately for him he carried small ivory and would be left alone for many a year.