Sounds of the African Night

One night I woke to hear Leigh snoring, but when I prodded him he said he was already awake and denied the accusation. We lay awake listening to the sound - it was coming from very close by, right outside the front window.
Still smarting from the snoring accusation Leigh got up to have a look and was soon motioning me out of bed. I climbed out of bed and walked over to the shade netted window. In the moonlight I could see the huge bulk of an elephant lying across the large termite mound in front of our house - and it was snoring.
'It's an elephant and it's snoring, how cute' I muttered softly.

The look I got from my husband made me wonder what I had said wrong.

'What's the matter?' I asked later when we were back in bed.

'Never mind. It's nothing'.
After some time of lying in silence I heard him say 'So I irritate you when I snore but when an elephant wakes you up with its snoring it is cute?' Leigh asked, but I could hear the smile in his voice.
It is still one of his favourite stories when we relive the Mombo days with people today.
by Sharon Kemp
Botswana Safari Tours and Game Lodges
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