Safari!!

Safari!

After spending 2 days in Capetown, it was off around the Horn and up to Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Port Elizabeth is known as the Detroit of South Africa! Who knew? Many car manufacturers have moved in and are making cars like the motor city of 20 years ago. The QM2 had the movie ‘Out of Africa’ showing on tv for the whole day prior to our arrival in Port Elizabeth as many of us were going out to different reserves. The mood was set!

Once out of the Port Elizabeth area were large areas of the bush…great open spaces that were evocative of what we hoped Africa would look like. We had opted to do a camera safari at a game reserve with the hope of seeing the big 5: elephant, lion, giraffe, rhino, zebra. Very exciting thought! Qualified thought, though. More tourist stuff, but we still wanted to see for ourselves.

There are now many game reserves in South Africa. As I wrote in the Walvis Bay portion, our guide there and her husband have purchased a reserve. They are privately owned and many take in animals that have had near misses with poachers or come from other over-crowded reserves. The reserves are money-makers for their owners. We were undecided and uncertain over whether we were adding to the problem or being part of the problem by being tourists. There was no clear answer though we ultimately chose to think that our dollars help prevent protect animals that might otherwise be poached. We were told that even with the patrolled reserves at least one animal is poached every day, even from the reserves. We were told that the Chinese are the biggest problem and are aided by the amount of money a poor local man/team can make with just one kill. I don’t know if that is so but our guide certainly was convinced of that.

Once past the ethics of it all we just had to enjoy the experience. The station home on the reserve was beautiful – stone, very high beamed ceilings and with large windows overlooking vast areas of bush with mountains in the background. The rangers on the reserve take out groups of about 12 people in large 4×4 vehicles. There is a staging area for boarding after a great buffet lunch with wild game served and a tribal drumming exhibition. Okay, it was touristy, but it was still very fun and we learned and saw things we wouldn’t have otherwise. That is my justification for enjoying it so much!

After lunch we boarded the 4x4s at a staging area with steps for making it easy to climb aboard these lumbering trucks. Off to the bush! The animals, we were told, are used to the vehicles – which are open with canvas roofs. We were also told that when we came across any of the dangerous animals (lions, water buffalo, rhino) that we were not to stand up or make a lot of motion as the animals may think we are a danger and attack to defend. When we came upon a pride of lions under a small stand of trees approximately 50’ off the track I remembered the warning. We were allowed to take pictures, but were very, very quiet. When mama lion stood up and started staring I wished I was not in the seat nearest the opening!

Each 4×4 took a different track into the bush and we spread out over 15 square miles of reserve. We were lucky enough to come across giraffes first. I saw the first head poking up in the tree canopy and as we got closer there was a baby being sheltered by mom. Our guide was good at positioning us and we spent quite a while getting our fill of these beautiful creatures. Giraffes look so awkwardly built but they are so graceful.

POP QUIZ: how do you tell a male giraffe from a female giraffe? The horns of the male are tufted, while the horns of the female are smooth. My grandchildren loved this one.

We came across the lions next. First the big male and then the rest of the pride, including a few young. They were resting in the shade of a thicket but eventually got restless and we got going. Amazing how small and meal-like we felt. They are huge.

The only animal to really challenge us was the water buffalo. He lumbered out of the bush from a nearby stream and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw us on the track which his path would cross. He watched us and we backed up. He followed. We backed up into a flat space where we could turn around if necessary. He watched us some more and then slowly crossed the track, immediately turning around to look at us and shook his head. We took the hint and went around in a different direction. We saw him a few minutes later and he gave no indication he felt more friendly, lol. We gave him wide berth.

The 2 black rhinos were resting near a herd of zebra. The rhinos had been rescued from poachers who had cut off their horns, which were growing back and dyed bright orange to hopefully help keep the poachers away. They stood and looked at us but were not in the least bit flapped by our presence. They look like tanks!

The zebras were different and funny. They brayed at us and turned and ran. I have a great shot of zebras running away and it occurs to me that maybe they were mooning us!!

We did not we the elephants though another group did. Sorry we missed that but the day was thrilling nonetheless.

As we drove across the reserve back to the station the distances were vast and it was easy to imagine the Africa of old. Hazy, blue mountains in the distance with water holes and scrub in the near view. Quiet and dry heat. Our ‘Out of Africa’ experience, lol.