Mesmerising footage has emerged from South Africa of a close encounter of a couple of tourists with a "curious" bull elephant while on safari towards Zimbabwe.

The video, filmed on August 12, shows one small elephant leaving its flock, intrigued by the tourists in the jeep.

"He extended his trunk into the landcover twice to check us out. His trunk sniffed the air within several inches of my face and I heard this whoohsing sound coming from the end of his trunk," a filmer wrote online.

"It was a spiritual experience of a lifetime I will always cherish," they commented.

Kenny and I had an unbelievable close encounter with a very curious bull elephant while on game drive in South Africa and Zimbabwe. He circled our vehicle several times and before he moved on he extended his trunk into the landcover twice to check us out. His trunk sniffed the air within several inches of my face and I heard this whoohsing sound coming from the end of his trunk which reminded me of a ballet dancer gracefully moving through the air. It was a spiritual experience of a lifetime I will always cherish!