The first thing that struck me as we drove through the park gates after the long drive round from Saa Nane to Ithumba was just how different the landscape was without the flush of rain-induced green. Everywhere was parched and scorched. Trees were bare and grass was either brown or long-since browsed back to underground roots alone.

In the grounds of the camp, we could see deeper into the grounds than before and, because water was kept available, there was birdlife and mammals to be seen easily. There were warthogs, the usual dik-diks and ground squirrels, but also a beautiful – if very thin – female kudu was seen drinking warily from the waterhole. There were even vervet monkeys in a nearby tree and many birds.

We had arrived in the heat of the afternoon, so we sought shelter from the sun before heading off to the familiar stockade to await the return of the orphans from their foraging.

As we waited patiently for the orphan group to return to bed, we were met instead by a couple of the older elephants – ex-orphans who lived in the wild now, but returned often to the stockade to say hello and greet visitors. There’s a look in the eye that seems to suggest recognition. There’s no fear or apprehension – on either side – we just move together and relax in one another’s company. We are soon joined by the orphans, moving swiftly to seek some shade and fresh fodder before bed, keen to escape the still oppressive heat.

Once they are safely locked up, more of the ex-orphan group appear to get a drink from the big stone water trough. They are bigger than any I’ve been on foot with until now, teenagers standing seven or eight feet tall. They seem happy to keep a respectable distance between us though.

It’s going to be difficult to condense the next few days into something concise. We spend much of each day doing the same things, with many elephant encounters and much time spent with the orphans at the stockade and the waterholes and mud baths. Something that became very apparent right from the start was the degree to which the wild elephants from the area had come to rely on the water being provided to the orphans. From that first evening with the arrival of the ex-orphans, we saw wild elephants every day at the stockade.

There is no sight more thrilling than to drive slowly around a corner on a dirt track before dawn and have your weak headlights pick out the looming shapes of massive bull elephants waiting for water.

These huge creatures would wait patiently for the water truck to appear and stand back while the trough was filled. Once allowed to drink their natural social hierarchy would be maintained, with the dominant bulls drinking their fill before the females would be allowed a turn. Remarkably, however, they would all defer to the orphans once they were released. I saw on more than one occasion a massive bull step back from the water to let the little orphans drink.

There was much sense in their actions. The truck was bringing water from the river about 20km away to the south and the alternative for our local elephants would be to walk there for a drink.

Waiting patiently doesn’t exclude them from curiosity however. We would arrive before sunrise and position ourselves on a stone-built loading ramp where we could watch the sun rise and clearly see any elephants waiting in the area in front of the stockades. Dixon and the keepers were happy for us to get out of our vehicle and move about as we liked – as long as we were careful. By the third morning, we had started to treat this as routine, despite the presence of wild elephants just a few metres away. This day the area in front of us was dominated by a half-dozen huge bulls and one in particular seemed to be curious about our presence.

It is often said that elephants have poor eyesight, but I’m not convinced entirely. The definitely like to use their other senses as well as sight and this tends to make them want to come into scenting range to get a positive identification. That’s fine, but it can be a little unnerving when you are standing around minding your own business and a 6-tonne bull elephant wanders up to you for a sniff. Seeing a big elephant from the relative safety of a safari vehicle is a wonderful experience. Seeing one from just a couple of metres – touching distance for him – when you are standing on the ground is a totally different thing.

I’m not ashamed to say that I stepped back. We all stepped back. I know that I was more than a metre above him, but he could reach out with that massive trunk and just grab me if he wanted.

But all he wanted was to say hello. He reached out for a sniff of the three of us, then decided he had to get a little closer still. He moved to the end of the loading ramp and started up the slope towards us. At this point Hassan, the keeper standing with us, intervened. He took a step towards the huge creature and waving a hand towards him in a shooing motion and stamped his foot hard. Miraculously, for it has to be a miracle for Hassan to not get squashed in such a situation, the massive head turned slowly away and he returned to join his companions waiting patiently for water. It was not until we examined the photos of him later that we realized this was the same Rafiki who had blocked our way on our first trip to Ithumba.

Modern scientific research and the interactions of the DSWT and others across Africa is slowly putting to rest the myth that African elephants are dangerous and aggressive. I don’t think they will ever be domesticated like the Asian elephant has been, but they can become habituated to people and will be tolerant of humans if people are just prepared to be tolerant of them. For now, Ithumba and places like it are special, but hopefully in the future elephants will be accepted as friends wherever they live.

Whether watching orphans playing in the mud, or waiting patiently with the wild bulls at the water trough, it is a delight to be around elephants. We spent a great deal of time with them over the week we were at Ithumba. Sadly, the rest of Tsavo was considered a bit dangerous. Poachers had been seen and there had even been a couple of gunfights between them and Kenya Wildlife Service rangers and we were asked to stay near to the camp and the area around Ithumba mountain.

So, I have thousands of photos of small elephants splashing about in the mud or throwing red dust over their shoulders and nearly as many pictures of birds in the trees and water troughs outside the main hut of the camp.