"I couldn’t have written this safari encounter better if it was a movie," the 68-year-old movie star and former governor of California wrote in an online post this week.
The video shows an encounter the body-builder turned power-broker had while visiting South Africa, as his safari group came face-to-face with an elephant.
While the beast gets a little too close for comfort, he appears relatively calm, merely curious about his visitors.
As the driver starts the vehicle's engine, the elephant begins to back off.
"Is he backing off because of the engine?" a passenger asks.
"No, he’s going to charge us," Schwarzenegger replies, a classic one-liner that proves fairly accurate.
As the vehicle pulls away after the elephant moves out of the road, the beast pursues.
The experience didn’t sour the actor on the majestic creature, however.
"I’m absolutely in awe of these beautiful, strong animals, even though some of us had to change our pants after this," he suggested.
"We need to stop killing them – take a photo, not a shot. Would you rather be able to experience these creatures or a hunk of ivory? I thought so."