Do It Go

Okay, so I finally got to go on a real South African Safari. I went to a private game reserve and found that is has one of the Best Hotels South Africa offers and the accommodations are unique.  I got an exclusive experience of the African wilds an excellent game viewing without the jostle of other jeeps. Animal sightings were up-close-and-personal at this private reserve. The beasties, apparently, are used to human presence. I even took a guided walking tour because I arrived at the right time, September, where the grass isn’t too high and the weather’s not too hot.

I received an exhaustive checklist for recording sightings of everything flora and fauna. Of course, all the biggies are one the list and on the reserve, such as a dozen leopards, close to 36 elephants, 21 lions consisting of 2 prides, 20 white rhinos and tons of buffalo. Now because the reserve is on the small side, basically the size of Wales and fenced in with Thornybush, sightings are frequent and I got close enough to see a baby kicking inside a pregnant giraffe and watch a leopard’s belly rise and fall while is slept after a kill (it’s victim was stashed up in a tree right beside our vehicle).

After observing the colossal elephants tear down trees, a family of four southern white-faced scops owls blinking in the sun and lions feasting on a freshly killed giraffe (yes lions can take down a giraffe), I needed to take a break and write in my journal. I needed a collective on animal nouns like a crash of rhinos, a journey of giraffes or a dazzle of zebras. My mind was stimulated like it never has been before. Actually watching nature, not on some television show, but actually being in the middle of the struggle to survive this harsh wilderness, made me come alive. I will forever be grateful that Africa is doing it’s best to keep this treasure from extinction.

Related posts:

1. Ayetoro Plays South Africa
2. Bonnie Ntshalintshali, Daughter of South Africa
3. The Elephants of Tourism on Phuket Island
4. Baltimore and the Legend of the Phantom

Tags: best hotels, Safari, South Africa, Thornybush, Wles

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 1:57 pm and is filed under Animals, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.