I was a visiting professor at the University of Pretoria and at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa in 1996, very shortly after the fall of the Apartheid government; a very interesting time to be there.  Anyway, while driving on a small back road through the Kruger National Park, I came upon a couple of elephants browsing on some trees. When I turned off my car, the engine raced and this apparently alarmed one of the elephants, who charged the car.

 

The first two photos show the elephant as he was bearing down on me. The third photograph shows the elephant finally backing off after he pressed his face up against my windshield. [Perhaps not surprisingly, the actual picture of the elephant pressing his face against my windshield did not come out very clearly.] If you look in the rear view mirror on the side of the car in the third picture, you can see me fearlessly (at least that is how I now tell it) snapping pictures of him as he walks away.

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On this trip, I also learned (the hard way) to never leave your car windows down when you park in an area infested with vervet monkeys.