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.

Tags: best hotels, Safari, South Africa, Thornybush, Wles
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The most savvy traveler will always hold a special place in their heart for five-star hotels in New Delhi.  These hotels are a magnificent combination of tradition and dedication, and speak of the best that Delhi hospitality can bring.  The interiors are sumptuous, and suggest an atmosphere of decadence and luxury.  They are places to totally refresh the mind, body, and spirit, and the city is one of the most incredible places on earth to get a sense of perspective again.  The whole human drama plays itself out here every day, and often several times a day.

There is a spectacular sense here that people watching was originated in these streets, or, at the very least, that New Delhi has turned people watching into an art form.  There are multiple languages and cultures that live here, and are carried by human hearts as they move through the city, in a fantastic display of life in the here and now.  There are remarkable local traditions and stories, and in some of the Hindu stories, the place of the monkey god Hanuman signifies devotion, righteousness, and strength.  For many traditional people, the god is present in all monkey forms, and monkeys are creating some interesting situations for the citizens of Delhi.  Rhesus monkeys in Delhi are starting to attack people in droves.  They come looking for food, and their manner of scavenging is rather unpredictable, creating dangerous situations, and even death, as the Deputy Mayor S. S.Bajwa lost his life due to complications from head injuries after being swarmed by rhesus monkeys on his terrace.

Monkeys and humans have always had an interesting relationship, especially when living in close proximity.  It is a long story of negotiations of space, and there are always problems in working it out when the populations start to grow.  But one solution in Delhi is rather new.  Officials are starting to bring in another kind of monkey, langurs, to scare off the rhesus monkeys.  Langurs are a larger, black-face species, that rhesus monkeys are typically terrified of.  The solution is effective for keeping the rhesus monkeys away from where langurs are acting as guards, but the rhesus monkeys are creating new troubles where they are starting to have larger concentration, and the langurs also have their own problems.  The langur’s tail is extremely effective as a weapon, and can actually break the skin.  So there are many who claim that this is merely replacing one problem with another, and the real issue here is a question of ecological balance, which would require a much more complicated set of solutions.

Tags: Delhi, five star hotels, hotels, langurs, Monkey Problem
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