Animal Kingdom

What a wonderful weekend we had! It gave a whole new meaning to the phrase “animal kingdom.” Other than deer, raccoons, armadillos, and the occasional buffalo, I have not seen many animals in their natural habitats.  Although I have always enjoyed seeing wild animals at the zoo, it’s hard for a creature to appear impressive when it has only a small enclosure to roam in. When I saw my first wild elephant this weekend (from a distance of less than ten feet!!), the only word I could think of was “majestic”.  It was almost surreal.  When you are the one enclosed (in a jeep) and the animals are free to roam in their natural environment, they suddenly appear infinitely more gigantic, beautiful, and in charge.  I could have watched each one for hours! If all animals together make-up a kingdom, then these African beasts are certainly the royalty! But I guess I should back up a bit and tell you about the weekend.

We headed out Friday afternoon for the short drive to Tembe Elephant Park.  On arrival, we were greeted by a group of singing Zulu women who handed us lavender scented towels.  We had no idea we were staying at such a posh place! Come to think of it, I don’t think I knew posh and safari could be used in the same sentence until now. We then had about an hour to get settled in our tent before dinner.  Now, before you question the “posh-ness” of a tent, let me describe it.  The whole tent was on a platform raised about 3 feet above the ground.  It had electricity, running water, comfortable beds, and a giant fan.  Here’s a picture for you which is probably better than my rambling description.

Wish we could take this to Manguzi with us

Dinner was quite impressive. (You’ll have to excuse my frequent use of the word “quite”.  It’s all these darn British people I’m surrounded by.)  They hired a chef from Durban and he is an extremely good and creative cook.  We had a peanut chicken salad appetizer, chicken and vegetables for a main course, and incredibly delicious bananas and caramel over ice cream for dessert.  Bananas at home don’t quite hold a candle to the ones here. Then we drank wine by the fire and chatted with some of the other guests for a bit before retiring early.

Morning came early with a 5:30 wake up, but it was nice to sleep without any roosters, barking dogs, or midnight bulldozer interruptions.  They fed us a quick breakfast (the first of three!!!) and we were off on our first safari ride.  Our guide, Voozie, is a member of the Tembe Tribe (a division of the Zulus) and he was extremely knowledgeable about the park and all its animals.  The first part of the morning drive was a bit dull.  It was cold and rainy. We didn’t see much and I actually started to fall asleep. We did stop at the watering hole hide where some rhinos and various deer-like animals were drinking.  But they were awfully far away, so it was hard to get too excited about it.  We stopped for a quick breakfast #2 of tea and rusks (which are similar to scones).  Shortly after that, the sky cleared up a bit and the animals came out from wherever they were hiding.



The watering hole with two rhinos



The first thing we saw was a giraffe (which we are going to refer to as a long-necked leopard so we can say we saw all of the big five).  They are soooo tall! A bit later, we turned a corner to find an elephant’s large butt had come into view.  He was walking down the trail in front of us.  He moved over and we pulled up alongside him.  Being less than ten feet from an elephant sure makes your heart be fast.  He was very peaceful, just chewing away at some leaves, but his tusks looked awfully sharp.

We returned from our morning ride to find breakfast number three being served.  Apparently this was the full breakfast. After being sufficiently stuffed, we attempted to take a nap.  Unfortunately, there is ZERO breeze in Tembe and about 20 minutes after drifting off, we all woke up drenched in sweat.  So we migrated to lay by the pool instead.  Funny side note…on our initial waiver that we had to sign, it notified us that the water was electrified at night to keep the elephants from drinking it.  Knowing how few people actually read those forms, I can’t help but wonder if anyone has ever had a rather shocking (literally) midnight swim.



The Other Big Five :)



After lunch, we went back out for the evening drive.  Not long in, we saw an elephant who was dripping wet and figured there must be a watering hole nearby.  There was, and standing in it were three huge cape buffalo.  They are some of the ugliest, most threatening creatures I have ever seen.  They wandered off quickly leaving seemingly only some birds behind.  However, our guide’s well-trained eye spotted three lions asleep under a tree about 100 yards off.  It wasn’t long before a lonely little nyala (basically a very small deer) wandered onto the scene.  The lions were awake instantly and two more emerged from the hills.  They watched without moving for several minutes while the little guy drank and then, as if a silent alarm had sounded, the three females leapt up at exactly the same moment and took off after him.  They must not have been very hungry because they gave up quickly when the nyala disappeared into the woods.  A bit later, a family of zebras came by, including a baby.  When the zebra in front noticed the lions, it stopped.  For the next five minutes, not a single animal moved.  It was really strange, the lions and the zebra seemed to be having a stand off. Then, in the blink of an eye, the zebra whipped around, corralling the others, and took off.  The lions gave a half-hearted chase but again return quickly to the shade of their tree.  The guide said it is pretty rare to get to see a lion go after anything.



The zebra vs. lion stand-off (3 lions crouching in front of bush)



The rest of the ride was uneventful with the exception of a beautiful sunset.  Back at the camp, we had another delicious dinner, this time with poached pears soaked in orange and cinnamon for dessert.  Yum! I actually ate two of them, which I justified by my primary source of calories this week being PBJ sandwiches. Bedtime was early again so we could get up for our morning ride.  Nothing terribly exciting to report from that ride, but we did see some cape buffalo from about eight feet away.  It was the only time I saw Voozie look slightly nervous.  They actually came into our path and stood facing us, like they were daring us to pass.  I was relieved we didn’t try.  Eventually they got bored and left.



Sunset in Africa



Cape Buffalo (they look like German barmaids)



After one last breakfast, we packed up and headed back to Manguzi.  We never saw a leopard, but I guess they are actually quite rare.  One other guest said she went on safaris for 15 years before she saw one.  I guess four out of five isn’t bad for my first safari.  Plus, I got to see a giraffe and a zebra, which I think got the shaft by not being included.  Our guide told us there is also an Ugly 7 which includes the warthog.  I have to agree…they are quite unfortunate looking. Overall, it was a really amazing weekend.  I took lots more spectacular photos, but these will have to suffice for now. Now it’s back to work until next weekend.  I’ll write again soon.  Miss you all!

Oh, and here’s the picture I promised of the car pushing fiasco. J Enjoy!