Built over an ancient elephant trail, the Mfuwe Lodge in Zambia has the most unlikely guests on an annual basis- a herd of wild elephants.
Heading straight through the lobby of the five star hotel to the mango grove in the vicinity, the herd of elephants attracts wildlife enthusiasts and tourists every spring, as they help themselves to a feast of ripe and juicy mangoes.
“This has been an amazing experience, to be so close to the elephants. The show of trust is both incredible and terrifying. A matriarch elephant with a brand new baby could be one of the most terrifying creature in all of Africa. We were concerned about the newborn baby having been brought along as matriarch may get extremely protective. We felt very vulnerable, but there is this unbelievable understanding from the elephants that they have encroached human territory,” wildlife photographer Nathan Pilcher, who documented the 'annual spectacle', said.
The herd, headed by matriarch Wonky Tusks, even waits it out on one occasion for two-week-old ‘baby Wellington’ to have a power nap in the middle of the lobby.
For wild animals, especially elephants, such show of calmness is unheard of.
