The safari

We arrived at the Zulu Nyala reserve on Wednesday. It is in the KwaZulu Natal province, the only place in the world where the nyala, a type of antelope, live. It is home to four of the Big Five, otherwise known as leopard, elephant, rhino, buffalo, and lion. A reserve has to have at least 8000 acres to have lion, and since this reserve is only 5000 acres, it does not have any. Besides, apparently the owner, Trevor, does not believe in the circle of life and doesn't want big predators here.

We went on a game drive right away. The first time out we saw the three elephants, five of the rhinos, warthogs, giraffes, nyala, impala, hippos, and kingfishers. The giraffes are gorgeously graceful (how is that for alliteration?), and the warthogs are nowhere close to being as cute as Pumbaa in the Lion King. The animals are amazing, though!

Did I mention that we walk by a crocodile pond back and forth from the lodge to our tent? Our tent is fun! I know of nowhere in Illinois where you can see zebras and nyala grazing on your lawn each evening and morning.

We are appointed a ranger, Werner, whom we stay with for the duration of our trip. We are also with two couples from Michigan and a mother and son from near Seattle. They are a fun group. Werner is so humorous and very knowledgeable. It is obvious he loves his job.

Today we went out on two game drives. This morning, Werner took us on a walk in the bush to get closer to two rhinos. It is cool,even when they started to charge at us. We hunkered together behind a bush and stayed very, very quiet. Rhinos have superb hearing, but their eyesight is very poor. Then, this afternoon, the matriarch elephant let us know we needed to keep our distance. She approached our Land Cruiser (yes - Toyota!) with ears flared and trunk up. Werner quickly reversed because if he had not done so, she would have moved us herself. It was awesome!

We also saw two cheetahs today. The cheetahs actually live on the neighboring reserve- the 45000 acre one that celebrities frequent on holiday. It costs $1000 a night to stay there. Cheetahs are the only cats that hunt during the day. They were stunning to watch - especially when the giraffes kept taunting them from our side of the fence!

Well, to say the least we have learned more about wild animals the last two days than I can remember in a long time. We have more game drives tomorrow. Then, we will be visiting an elephant park, a reserve with lions, and possibly a cheetah rehabilitation (breeding) center. This has trulybeen an experience of a lifetime. Peace out!