Game Drive # 2

Well the amazing experiences on game drives have continued.   Most of our game drives start at 6:00 am.  It is so easy to get up so early when you are going to do something as exciting as a game drive.

Basically our game drives consist of driving around the 70km sq area of Thanda on search of animals.  The guides at the Thanda 5 Star lodge as well as our guides and other people of Thanda will radio any spotting of the animals so we can decide which wayto head, depending on what animals we want to see.  There are dirty trails all around the reserve that we follow and can sometimes go off road, depending on the area and the animal we are spotting.  There are strict rules about certain animals and the etiquette when watching them.

Our second drive was just as amazing as the first.  We were lucky enough to spot the south pride of lions which consists of the mom, Sahara, her 3 cubs, and her older daughter.  Usually a lioness will keep her cubs in hiding for about 2 months.  But she actually kept them in hiding for 6 months so they haven’t been seen very often so this was a really exciting find.  The big main male of the reserve was killed a few months ago so Sahara had to raise her cubs and hunt all on her own.  Her teenage daughter has recently joined up with her again so they are a happy little family. 

The cubs are fairly inquisitive of the vehicle as it is fairly new to them.  The adults are more used to it and just carry on with their day as we watch them.  The cubs are so cute and playful.  It was great to just watch their family dynamic and follow them around for a little bit.

We almost got to watch a kill.  2 jeeps from the lodge were watching the lions which means we had to leave because there can only be 2 vehicles with the animals at once and the high paying guests at the lodge get dibs over us.  However as we went to leave the lions, they sort of turned back and were stalking some wildebeest right in front of us.  It was great for us, but we could have gotten in trouble as we ended up breaking the rules.  It was neat to see the lions body language change as they went into stealth mode.  Unfortunately they didn’t catch anything so fortunately for us we weren’t in trouble.  We also saw some zebra, who seem to travel with wildabeest quite a bit.  They were just intently watching the hunt go down.

What weighs 26kg?!?!

(written Monday the 19th)

Well, my first game drive is in the books and boy was it is worthy of the history books!!! If every game drive is going to be like this, then I’m in for an exciting 4 weeks. Only 2 minutes into the drive, we find the biggest and oldest elephant of the park, Tulani. He was maybe 20 meters off the road just eatin some trees so we got a pretty good glimpse of him (except for the dead tree branch on the ground which blocked my view of his face).

Oh ya, and by the way, there are 9 of us volunteers on the jeep along with the photographer teacher and our guide, so it is pretty cramped. And also especially cramped because most of the other volunteers have pretty nice cameras and gear and need to bring it all along so that made for even less space.

Our guide, MaryAnna moved the jeep a bit so we could get a better view and sure enough, the elephant came walking over to our vehicle. He is so big! He was towering over us. At one point his tusks were within inches of the vehicle near me. The guy on the edge was pretty nervous and even leaned out of the way a little bit. It was unreal. To look into his eyes, too see his skin and to smell him (he’s in musk which means he’s in heat so he excretes a oil that is quite strong). He was so close that we couldn’t get much for photos because we had our long lenses on. But it was unreal to hear his ears flapping, to hear his feet as he sauntered. Just awesome! In some ways it was very intimidating but in other ways, so calming and surreal.

He was actually getting too close so MaryAnna was talking to Tulani, and making some tapping noises on the side of the truck. She was just communicating with him that we were in this space first, so he needs to back up out of our personal space. Which he did. Our guides know their stuff for sure so it makes things feel a lot more comforting.

Then we drove on and found some cheetahs. It was 2 brothers who were being pretty lazy and just grooming each other. They'd get up and walk a few feet and then lay down again. Then get up and walk a few feet, then lay down. We got within 20 feet of them and at one point one of the walked directly in front of the jeep. They were pretty cool to just sit and watch them interact. I love watching their backs move and how flexible you can tell they are in order to be able to run as fast as they do.

I tell ya, if every game drive is like this, I am set. It’s so exciting and amazing! We are off for a 6:00am drive tomorrow so hopefully we’ll get a bunch more close encounters again!!

P.S. An elephant penis can weigh up to 26kg….they are huge!!!!

Safe and Sound

Thanda Game Reserve Day 1-Monday (pronounced like Tanda)

Well after a long and tiring 24 hours + of travelling, I arrived safe and sound in Durban late Sunday morning. Unfortunately I didn’t sleep much on the plane so I was pretty darn tired.

I had a wonderful whirl wind tour and time spent in London. It is so full and rich with history. There is so much to learn and see and do there although the loads of people and the busyness is not quite for me. I took lots of photos from the hop-on-hop-off tour bus as I was told some interesting facts. Although I already forget what some of those are. I did hop off the bus to check out Buckingham palace which was great. The queen did not come and waive at me but I didn’t take it personally as I understand she is away for a short while. Some heads up would have been appreciated though.

Me in front of Buckingham Palace

Big Ben

Yesterday was a hot hot day which I was not dressed for so it was a sweaty sweaty day for me. The people from my project all arrived one at a time as we waited at a patio café at the airport in Durban. So we got time to get acquainted as each person came along. There is a wide range of age and experience so it will be interesting getting to know everyone.

It was a 3 hour sweaty drive to the game reserve (which for me, included a lot of head bobbing. I tried to stay awake to take it all in, but my body had other plans from the lack of sleep). The drive was interesting. I saw a lady doing her laundry in a creek alongside the road. I saw a lady carrying something on her head as she walked down the highway. Of course being a farm kid, I had loads of questions about the land, the farming, the cattle breeds, etc.. I am hoping to get some of those questions answered over time.

I had envisioned the game reserve to be in a very remote locations at the end of the pavement, at the end of a gravel road, at the end of a dirt road. However it is only about a 10 minute drive off of the pavement. But the nearest town is 1.5 hours away I believe, so it is isolated enough. It is a lovely little set up here. There is a big common building where the offices, kitchen, eating area and common lounging area are. The main hall is ‘open’ to the outside so there are birds flying around, eating up breakfast crumbs and pooping on the floors. There is a balcony that overlooks the watering hole that I was so excited about. Unfortunately, with the terrible drought, it is simply and dirt whole and not many animals come along. There is also a swimming pool that I was also quite excited about. Unfortunately, with the terrible drought, they used the swimming pool water for showering and have yet to fill the pool back up.

I am rooming with a gal, Robyn form Australia and her accent makes me miss all my Aussie family. So far we are getting along quite well. Out little cabins are nice (not fancy) with our own bathroom, single beds and chairs. Along with our own geckos who poop on everything. So nothing is safe. Even your bedding, pillow, clothes, etc.. Robyn had some poop drop on her as we were first getting acquainted with our room. In some aspects, the accommodations are nice, but there is still an element with roughing it which I believe will be more difficult for some people to be okay with then others.

Our hut

The dark nights and beautiful star filled sky is something most people have never experienced so it is interesting. I was explaining last night that it is common for us to have a fire and to sit out and enjoy the night sky, so I am thankful that I get to enjoy that.

There are a few rules at Thanda:
• Stay on the paths as there are snakes and scorpions that are tough to see in the grass
• Never walk alone at the night, always take a buddy with you
• Always take a flashlight or torch with you while walking at night
• Keep a keen eye for animals in the camp area. Although there is a fence, animals to get in, including impala, warthogs, hyenas, lions, etc..
• If you come across an animal of the scary kind, stand still and make lots of noise so someone can come and find you and help you (hopefully). I doubted impala fit into this category so I wasn’t too worried when I saw some of them on our walk to our cabin last night. However I was reminded to be worried about what eats impalas. That they could be nearby as well.
• Water is in short supply so use it sparingly. The good old saying ‘if it’s yellow, let it mellow - if its brown, flush it down’ applies here. As well as 2 minute showers.
• Electricity is also in short supply and there are times when we might be completely without power. So it is also to be used sparingly.

We are having our first photography session this afternoon followed by our first game drive which I can’t wait for. We saw 3 giraffe’s on our drive in that we had to wait patiently for them to move off the road and they are magnificent!! I can’t wait for more close encounters and from what I’ve been told, there will be plenty. Nothing like getting a look into the eyes of a lion or having an elephant run its trunk through your hair.