I Hugged the World's Biggest Elephant

I have wasted so many hours of my life endlessly scrolling on the internet. While most scrolling sessions are uneventful, every once in a while I find something worth a second look. In 2017, I stumbled across a photo I couldn't get out of my mind. Meet Mac. He lives in Zimbabwe, and he's a male African savannah elephant, aka the largest species of land animal on planet Earth. I just have so many questions. What is he like? Is he soft or prickly? Could I hug him? I've never even seen someone hug an elephant. Could I even get close enough? And more importantly, would he like it? I don't know, but this hug became a dream of mine. Years went by. The idea of meeting Mac began to fade away. I mean, who knows when the next time I'll be in the middle of nowhere in Zimbabwe. I mean, it's a unique family-run little organization whose passion is about creating a safe space for wildlife and people to coexist. I mean, it started in 1952 by my late grandfather, Norman Travis, who came here and pioneered game farming in Zimbabwe, actually, through his passion that he saw and he had, and the need to protect wildlife in an era when there was no need to protect wildlife because it was so abundant. Rather like an Ozark sonata, animals came in two by two. You know, any spare money he had, he would put it back into conservation because that was his passion. That's what fueled his fire for him. And he built this incredible area that's got huge biodiversity to it and has a massive reach in terms of what it does, what it achieves, and who it impacts. This is crazy. I don't even want to talk very loudly, but this giraffe eating a little bit right in front of us. I've never been this close to a giraffe in my entire life. She's like so skittish and cautious. Saw these guys standing here munching on the side of the road. Threw down a little bit of food for it to munch on. This is so magical. My whole face hurts from smiling. Even just in the first moments of this drive, this is one of the most densely populated places for wildlife I've ever seen. The amount of knowledge that it takes to really be able to navigate such a vast landscape and find where all of these animals are living is an incredible skill. So right now, we're on the lookout for not only a black rhino, but a baby that was actually just born two weeks ago. We're the first people to go and meet this new baby rhino. Calling it, like they call it a puppy. You can barely even see it over the grass. It's so little. It's so small. It's so cute. I actually have seen this mother when she was tiny like that. Oh, wow. Yeah, when she was tiny, yeah. Can tell you guys, you've done the right thing to come here to be able to experience this. Where else in the world can you do this? I am. To be like two, three meters with a baby rhino which is less than two weeks old. And especially when moms have got babies, then they're maybe double their normal temper and aggression, yeah. And to be able to see that this close, it's just special. How long have you worked here? This is my 17th year now. 17 years. But it was more like, yeah, from school to this. It doesn't feel like it's that long now. You know, when you do what you like to do, because for me, this is not work. It's a dream come true and living that dream, so it's not work. That's why 17 years, I feel like I've only done two. Yeah, it doesn't feel like it's that long, yeah. These guys had another 10 kilometers to walk home from school today, so we're giving them a ride. Today has been incredible. Being able to see all of this wildlife from so close up, the giraffes, the baby rhino, ah, it was so cute. This place is just one of a kind and I can't believe that I'm actually here. Just thinking back that the fact that this is all happening because I saw that one single photo online all of those years ago. Tomorrow is finally the day that I'm gonna be able to make this dream happen. I'm gonna be meeting Mac, finally, the gigantic elephant that I've had in my dreams for so long and I am so excited. Before the big day tomorrow, I wanna tell you about the sponsor of this video, NordVPN. Since I spent so many nights sleeping in hotel rooms, I've developed a little nighttime routine that often includes curling up in bed and watching a movie. NordVPN creates an encrypted tunnel for my data and that means I can access content only available in specific countries and it also means I can access websites that may be blocked due to censorship. But this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the perks of using NordVPN. 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This is like, this is magical. These are definitely one of those moments in life that are just entirely indescribable. I've just never seen an animal on land be this massive. Having the opportunity to see one like this in person is just like the gift of a lifetime. It's really impossible to describe what it feels like. Bye, Mac! It's insane! I just loved how considerate he was. He was fully aware of where we were at all times, and even by accident, he could have stepped on you, he could have knocked you over, but he didn't. Can you tell that this guy does safety for a living? Yeah. I really love how it wasn't dangerous. No, but it's a consideration, isn't it? You know, like just the flailing of his trunk and stuff, you know, he turned away before he did it, and he just, I don't know. He did seem very conscious of like his spatial, he had like really crazy spatial awareness. Yeah, 100%. Like he knew not to just like step forward and step on your foot. Yeah, no, he was. It was like consideration from an elephant. It's just bonkers, loved it. It felt so firm. When you went up, immediately firm, but then you could then sort of squeeze in like it was, it was sort of squashy afterwards, wasn't it? Yeah. And then obviously all those hairs, they're really coarse hairs all over, but he was warm as well, but I don't, but it wasn't just warm from like the radiating sun. It was, he was actually warm as well. When you sort of put your arms around him, you could feel how warm he was. Can't believe we just bear hugged a gigantic elephant. I was literally like, oh my God. I feel like I just peaked. I peaked in life. What could ever get better than that? Safari completed. Yeah, life complete. What started off as an idea as silly as hugging a gigantic elephant turned out to be genuinely one of the most incredible experiences of my life. There's such a profound feeling of connection that comes with being face-to-face, or in this case, face-to-trunk, with these amazing creatures with whom we share our planet. He's pooping.