Safari Time

When my sister decided to come visit me in South Africa, I knew we had to go on a little safari and check out the wildlife that Africa is famous for.  I'd never been on a safari, so I was thrilled to have an excuse to climb in a Land Rover Defender and be driven throughout the bush looking to spot animals.

Alex was great and while Laura and I were in Cape Town he booked us a one night safari with two game drives through MTBeds.  (a website that gives discounts for last minute safari bookings)  We stayed at Black Rhino Game Lodge, which I highlighted in the last blog post, and we had a great time, and saw some fabulous animals.  Here are a few of the photos I took.

a male elephant (bull) approximately 25-30 years old.  We saw him again at the end of our first drive and on our second drive, too.

Mommy and Baby white rhinoceros.  Our guide, Hannes, said the baby is probably about six months old.  Baby rhinos stay with their mommas until they are about 18 months old; then, they are so spoiled that when it is time for them to go, they have to poke them with their horn to get them to leave and start their own life.

same momma and baby

Vervet monkeys.  So so so cute!

dung beetles on their ball of rhino dung.  Dung beetles are awesome.  This is a male dung beetle who was rolling his dung ball when along comes the female dung beetle and she thinks, 'my oh my what a nice ball of poo!  I want to date you!'  Then she hops on the ball and lays her eggs on the dirt covered ball of poo so that after they bury the ball, the eggs will have food for when the baby dung beetles hatch out!

Wildebeest!  African legend says that God made the wildebeest from the leftover parts of the other animals.  

this old female rhino had injured her horn early in life, so it now grows out straight rather than curving back.

Female kudu.  Sadly, we didn't get to see the male kudu, which has stunning spiral horns.

 zebras!

Zebras live in groups of 5-6, with one male and the rest females.  The females are called their harems, and males will fight to the death to take over anothers harem.  They then kill off all the baby zebras that aren't theirs.  So zebras may be super pretty and make a nice print for accent in outfits, but they are mean little dudes.

Leopard tortoise (female), one of the Little Five!

We were also able to see Cape Buffalo and giraffe from a distance, but too far away to get any pictures.  Safaris are so restful and serene, I hope that I get to go on several more before I die.  (I say before I die so that I give myself plenty of time to fulfill this wish, I hope.)

I still have more updates about Sister's visit, so keep checking back for more excitement. :)