Natural World: Eye for an Elephant (16 of 20)
Creeping through this strange world, looking for the most dangerous animal in the forest, is nerve-racking.
Thankfully, hidden clearings called 'bais' have recently been discovered.
I was surprised to learn elephants create the bais themselves.
I was equally surprised how much smaller forest elephants were - only two-thirds the size of their savannah cousins.
Their tusks pointed straight down to avoid catching the dense vegetation.
The families were small, too - only three or four individuals in each.
The mud they wallowed in turned them into pale ghosts.
Up to 100 elephants can congregate in this bai, and there's a party atmosphere.
They've created the clearings in their search for something missing from their diet - salt and other minerals.
There's competition for the salt licks.
This female was only being allowed to use the best hole because she was sexually receptive.
I was amused to see the beautiful male guarding her go into reverse gear to keep others away.
And this looked like taking their frustration out on the poor forest buffaloes.
A game all the family can play.
Reluctantly, it seemed to me, the elephants melted away into the trees.
I felt disappointed I would never know them as I knew Echo and her family.
My return to Amboseli was a chance to catch up with my old friends.
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