This is the funny moment a huge elephant was left with a face full of sand after taking a rather chaotic dust bath.

The clumsy mammal was covered from ear to trunk in golden sand as it enjoyed a refreshing roll in the dust – giving the impression its face is exploding into a cloud in these incredible optical illusion snaps.

Photographer Peet van der Walt, took the perfectly-timed pictures during a trip to the Madikwe Nature Reserve in the North West Province, South Africa.

The 54-year-old, from Pretoria, was visiting the reserve with his wife.

He said: “I was at the water-level hide at the lodge when a herd of elephant appeared at the waterhole.

“Some of the elephants were so close I could almost touch them.


“That was an experience in itself and the closest I ever got to an elephant in the wild.

“I took this photo of an elephant that started to walk away from the waterhole.

“Unfortunately her back was towards me and she was already going down the embankment on the other side when she stopped and started with the dust bathing.”