Today was a day that started off right, with birds chirping outside my hotel window, and the sun already shining. I delighted in checking out the beautiful gift from Sanjeev on my team, a striking brass buddha head, and from Erica some Ghirardelli chocolates that I would savour later. Also, at the squatter's town, there had been some vendors with wares in the parking lot, and I purchased a beaded doll that made me smile.
After such an emotionally heavy day yesterday, our group was ready to experience a different side of South Africa, a day planned at the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve. (http://rhinolion.co.za) The Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve is a privately owned, non-subsidized game reserve, covering approximately 1,200 hectres on the typical Highveld of Gauteng. The reserve is situated in the “Cradle of Humankind”, a declared World Heritage Site, about 40 km north-west of Johannesburg.
I plastered my fair skin with sunblock, grabbed my hat and sunglasses, and hopped with the others into our group van. On our way there, I noticed some things that are different from Canada. Due to the hot weather, there are many parking lots that have 'shaded parking'. These are canopy topped frames that are seen prevalently in shopping centre parking lots, and at many car lots. It makes sense, and would be nice to see these in Canada in the summer.
We drove past yards with horses, and traveled on nice expansive highways. I am still adjusting to my heart literally skipping a beat every so often, as I glanced through the front windshield of our van, only to see traffic zooming towards us on the wrong side of the road, but no worries, it is me just being accustomed to traveling on the opposite to the practice here.
Our driver paid fee for us to drive into the park, and he drove us on red dirt roads which meandered through different areas of the vast reserve. One of the early sights were flocks of ostriches... they are so large! The males are black with white feathers, and the females are grey with white feathers. Because of their size, we could see them easily, even those that were in the distance. In addition to springbok, gazelles, and other deer type animals, were the wild boars, with their striking rust red coats, who scurried here and there making us laugh to see them as they ran through the tall grass with their tails held high.
Our guide explained that the 'Pumbas' (ah the influence of Disney!) run like that so shorter ones following will see the tails above the grass and can then follow. We were struck by the vastness of this reserve, it went on and on, and we were all checking to see what wildlife we could spot, oohing and aahing as we came across so many species different from our respective homeland, and we loved how close we were to them.
After a nice drive-about, we stopped at a place where for a nominal fee (about $16 CDN I think), we were given the opportunity to be with white lion cubs, a young (2 yr old) cheetah, and white tiger cubs, for 5 minutes each. We were separated into smaller groups, and could hardly wait to get in the pen with these delightful and totally adorable creatures.
There were 3 white lion cub brothers, and our directions were to not pick them up, have nothing hanging, and place all loose items on a high stone area, out of the way. I did not waste any time in getting down into the dirt with these adorable fur balls, although my heart was pounding, as they were a bit bigger than I had imagined they would be.
As I lay on my side to take a selfie with one of them, he started nibbling at my hair, which made me smile so largely that I thought my face would crack. I was enjoying each second of this moment and my heart was singing at the sheer wonderment of being able to be so close to and able to touch and pat a lion cub!
One of our team members, while sitting among the cubs, had the experience of one of them biting his chest, a little nip, but startling just the same! Jose jumped up quickly, laughing, and surprised, but told us he was okay. Imagine having the experience of being bitten by a lion and sharing that. Jose had to put up with our bad jokes and ribbing about this for the remainder of the day, as we abounded with lion nicknames and teased him. I will spare you the details on that.
Once our time with the lion cubs was up, we waited our turn to see a young female cheetah who purred very loudly as she lay there letting us pat her gently. It was such a surreal and divine experience, to sit there, patting a purring cheetah. I am sure that I have never smiled so much in my life.
From the gorgeous cheetah, we found ourselves at the end of a line for the tigers that had 2 or 3 mini groups ahead of us. Dave, Jose and I were in the compromising position of going to miss out of being with the tiger, as our van was leaving for the lion feeding very shortly. We waited in our positions patiently, and when it was coming close to the current people leaving the tiger yard, I took a chance and asked the lady of the family waiting to go in next, if our small group could go in to have literally two minutes with the tiger, as we were leaving and otherwise would miss out on the opportunity. She kindly agreed, and we were able to dash in, pose with the sweet little guy as he chewed/played with an empty water bottle, and then we had to quickly vacate.
Despite the rushed experience, it still was fantastic, and wonderful to run my hand across a soft white lion cub with no fence between us. Pure joy.
Upon our quick exit and final thanks to the generous family who let us bump the line, we dashed to join the others in the van to go for the lion feeding. En route we saw a massive red rust coloured rhino.
Apparently the rhinos in this reserve have had their horns treated with something that renders them toxic for the medicinal purposes that people associate with consuming rhino horns. This is to save the rhinos from being slaughtered for their horns; poachers have been known to gain access to reserves, and in the night, slaughter and/or remove animals. The reserve officials now have to check all vehicles going in at which times, the number of people coming in, and track who leaves also. How terrible that these measures need to be in place. The rhinos we saw were incredible in their beauty and powerful presence.
Onward to the lion area. The scene was this: you drive the roads to the specified area, a circular grassed area surrounded by the red dirt road, where people would stay in their vehicles, parked around the circle, and wait for the food truck. While we all waited, there was a massive and majestic male lion with three female lions, waiting for the food. As the food truck drove in, one lioness jumped into the back of the tailgate-less pickup truck and dragged the meat off, and started to enjoy the meal. The male lion approached and with a minor skirmish, he took the meat from her, and began to eat it while the others watched.
We moved on to a similar arrangement in another section of the reserve, and watched as cheetahs were thrown meat from a truck, and they quickly moved to eat. One cheetah seemed to not be allowed by the others, to dine, and eventually the cat lay down and waited.
In yet another section, we witnessed wild dogs get fed the same way. They were vicious creatures, biting and fighting and hurting each other for a chance at the food. I was more afraid of their savageness than I was of the lions!
After watching everyone else in the animal kingdom eat, we finally went for a late lunch ourselves at the cafe that was near the baby cats we had spent time with in the morning. As we waited, there was a pygmy hippo who swam around in the shallow pool surrounding the cafe patio. One of the funny things on the menu was a Russian Roll.
No one ordered it; we didn't dare. While we waited (for meals it seems that we had to wait a long time in this country thus far) I wandered around the cafe, and got a chance to have a close view of the thatched roof on the building. There are many such roofs here, and I was surprised at how thick the layers of long dry grass stalks were. One staff member described that they gather clusters of grass, then they are lashed to the poles forming the roof.
We managed to finally get our food, ate more civilized than the wild dogs, then strolled to a grass area nearby to see 'The Cheetah Run'. This event allowed us to stand along the sides of a long grassed lawn, while a cheetah on a harness chased a stuffed animal (?)
that was being dragged quickly across the lawn. This gave us the up close experience of seeing how quickly a cheetah runs, and yes, it was very fast! They did only one more run, so as to not tire the cheetah, and the second time, I was able to film it in slow motion. That was interesting to see also! What was incredible to me was how all these people were standing around, and the cheetah really didn't seem to mind them. Apparently, they are not interested in eating or chasing humans. This was news to me, welcome news.
We continued to explore the reserve, following the paths in the van, and marvelling at the gorgeous and rugged terrain of this land. We saw many other native animals, including zebras, and it was all so peaceful and beautiful. One of the sights near and dear to my heart (being a weaver) was seeing in a number of trees, the hanging nests of the weaver birds. They are quite unique and hang like ornaments, adorning the tree. These can be spotted in many areas of South Africa.
We asked, as we approached a sign along the road, about The Vulture Cafe. Our guide asked us a couple of times if we really were sure that we wanted to go there. Of course we did! He told us to brace ourselves as the smell would be horrible. I am Canadian and am used to smelling skunks, so really, what could be worse than that? It was challenging for our guide to get the van up the rugged trail leading to the top of a steep hill; the road was marked for four wheel drive vehicles only, but he was a skilled driver, and managed to get us to The Vulture Cafe. There were lots of big birds, but there were no vultures. However, there was a 'dump' of dead carcasses of animals (mostly beef we were told) that was leftover from the feeds in the reserve. I have never seen so many pieces of carcasses and bones in one place. This truly was a cafe for vultures (although there were none dining at the moment, sadly).
Our last stop before leaving the reserve was to see a couple of giraffes in an enclosed area, although it was hard to get a good photo without a fence being in the way, as we were not permitted in their compounds. It still was nice to see them. The sun was now setting, and we hit the road and headed back to Joburg for supper.
We decided to go to a Thai restaurant in Nelson Mandela Square, and I opted for something a bit different to try. I ordered the ped pi roed, which was 'angry' duck. This was a spicy dish, at about my threshold of spiciness, but it was quite delicious (it was 145 rand which is about $12.50 CDN), and the restaurant was a very nice, upscale venue. I am amazed at how inexpensive food generally is here. Oh yes, and the toilets here, just as at the place we were last night, have square seats.
We wandered about some of the shopping centre, window shopping, as it was late and stores were closed. I adored some beaded dogs that I found, and as tempting as they are to buy, I won't be able to fit them in my suitcase.
This was yet another incredible day, packed with so many experiences that can only be in Africa. My most treasured moments of the day were my times with the cubs and the cheetah, being so close and able to feel them and be with them. Is it premature to say I love South Africa? I do!
I am hoping that this evening I get a bit more caught up with the time adjustment. This locale is 6 hours ahead of my own time zone, so it seems strange to be eating meals the times that I am. It hasn't been too bad in that regard overall... I am sure that another day will help balance my time clock. Tomorrow is sure to bring even more adventures.
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