We are three animal-loving Americans with a particular appreciation for elephants. My husband Joe and I live in San Diego and are avid supporters of the U.S.-based International Elephant Foundation (IEF), and our companion was our friend and advisor Deborah Olson, Executive Director of IEF based in Fort Worth, Texas. The plan was to travel to Africa following central East Africa’s rainy season to visit IEF conservation projects that Joe and I had been supporting in Zambia, Kenya and Uganda.