SOUTH AFRICA ADVENTURES 

SAFARI IN KWAZULU-NATAL

After an overnight stop in Durban I drove the short 2 1/2 hours to St. Lucia to stay for a week to have game drive days and other experiences in KwaZulu-Natal.  This is a part of South Africa that is almost its own country.  The Zulu tribe still has a very strong hold on the area and owns all the land it has not sold off.  The Zulus pay no taxes, but have S.A. government privileges such as medical and education.  This is the sign that greeted me as I arrived. There are loads of Hippo in the HUGE estuary in the town.  The hippo come out at night wander the town and into peoples gardens eating plants and grass.

Instead of writing several blogs about my experiences here I am making it more of a picture story.  Enjoy:

Day 1: Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve

Zebra, the shadow stripe variety. They have a brown shadow stripe along side the back one. Another species has only black stripes. The rear end stripes are unique to each Zebra so the young can tell the mom!

Trucking on down the road.

Leaping Impala Antelope. Their leader barked a warning and off they leaped into the brush. We never did see what frightened them causing them to bolt.  We were hoping Leopard - nope!

A big bull Cape Buffalo way off in the distance peering over the hill.  One of the Big Five.

A Kudu Antelope female.

Young Giraffe crossed the road in front of us.

This Baboon troop entertained us with their antics.  Especially the babies.

This Cheetah was stalking an Impala group when we drove between it and the Impala.  We didn't see the Cheetah initially because it was way off in the distance.  Here it has it's two front paws on a rock so it can see if there is anything else out there since we spoiled his lunch!!!

Warthog male and female.  When they run their little tails stick straight up in the air with the fringe on the end waving back and forth. This way they can run in the grass and they young can follow.

Day 2:

Cape Vidal Safari /Hippo and Croc Sunset Cruise

This Wildebeest is a favorite Lion meal.  These are VERY plentiful in the wild.

Hidden in the grass in the lower right hand side of this photo is a Bush Buck antelope. Aptly named.

The Black Rhino is a very endangered species because poaching is rampant due to the demand in Asian countries for the horn which is believed to have many medicinal uses as well as an aphrodisiac.  The following photos are about this rare sighting in the wild.  We were truly blessed to witness his behavior at such a close proximity.

Reaching for a branch.

Munching the branch.  Note green leaves sticking out of the right side of his mouth.

Gulp!!!!

Now he has crossed the road and is sniffing other Rhino dung.

Next he then poops on the old patch to mark his territory.

Then he stomps on it to further mark the territory (note dung is now flattened) and to rub some on his feet to carry with him into the bush.

Hinged Back tortoise. He holds water in his sack to last him through the dry winter. 


Hippo/Croc Sunset TOUR:

The log looking thing is a crocodile asleep.

A young Goliath Heron.  They get to be really big.

Female Giant Kingfisher.  She loved posing for us while the male just flew away.

These are not rocks in the water.  They are hippos walking on the bottom of the estuary.

Very shortly into this video is a big surprise.  Watch for it!!!








Day 3 Bayette Zulu Elephant Interaction:

This is Rambo one of three elephants in this huge reserve just for them. They are unable to survive in the wild due to humanizing.

Touching his tusk.

Not sure he likes my hand up under his skin to feel the top of the tusk!!!

After taking off my pinky ring and rolling up my sleeve, I put my hand way up in his mouth holding food.  It isn't as lucky as it looks.

Pouring food into the baby elephant's trunk.  She was a bit feisty.

Later this same day the tracker and I did a bush walk in the ISimangaliso Wetland Park at sunset.  We saw lots of animals, but they were too far away to take pictures.  The experience of being on foot instead of a car was fabulous.

Day 4: Half Day to Hluhluwe/Imfolozi Park & Afternoon Veyane Zulu Cultural Center

Immediately upon arrival in the park at dawn this Hyena was watching from the bush.







This Giraffe is an old guy.  He has many leg injuries probably from fighting during mating season.

What a cutie. He was quite curious and came very close to the vehicle. His mother was close by, but didn't mind him visiting us.

Mama and baby White Rhino grazing in the grass. The name should have been Wide Rhino for the wide square mouth, but the native word for wide sounds like white and the name stuck.

Mr. Elephant is dining on the tree branches.   He is about to stuff his face in this picture.

After a long hot day the Zebra gather at the water hole.






Zulu Cultural Center:

Me and the gang of drummers and dancers.  The Zulu are a waring tribe and much of the explanation of the culture revolves around that.  The bib on the woman is one that single girls wear without anything else.  They also wear a short skirt made of the same beads with nothing under it!  Once married they have to wear a long heavy skirt out of cow hide, a top that completely covers them and a hat.  They are not allowed out of the village and send the single girls out to fetch water and other things.  I think I would stay single!!! :-)



This video shows the dancing and drumming. If any of you know who Ladysmith Black Mambazo singing group, they are Zulu also.

Day 5: Cheetah Park & Sunset Drive iSimangaliso

She loves to have her head scratched especially behind the ears.  She is purring really loudly. Cheetah is the biggest wild cat that purrs. The rest roar instead.

I put my hand by her mouth and she licked me giving me "kisses". I did tell her I was grateful for her kisses.






This Cheetah breeding camp do breed for release into the wild in an attempt to increase the numbers in the wild.

Sunset Drive:

These are Water Bucks. They have a "toilet seat" ring on their rears.  They also have a rotten smell that supposedly keeps them from being hunted by Lion and other predators.
The rest of the drive was too dark to take pictures.

Day 6:  Night Game Drive

After a free day to get ready for leaving tomorrow I m picked up for a night game drive.

iSimangaliso Park (an UNESCO site)

A baby Chameleon seen by the tracker in the light of the spot light.  He was out away from the edge of the road.  How did he see him???




Isn't it just the cutest?  I was able to stroke him with my finger and he just sat there.



Since it was so dark, this is the only sighting I could photograph, but we saw:

Bush Babies, Servile Cat, Genet Cat, Hippos grazing, huge herds of Wildebeest, Reed Buck, Water Buck, Cape Buffalo, several species of night birds including an owl, Giraffe, and Zebra.  All in all a very successful drive. The animals eyes shine in the dark which is how we spot them with the spot light.  Most are golden or green in color.  A few are red like the Hippo. Reminded me of hounds of  Baskerville from Sherlock Holmes.  Eery and evil looking.

Next Hoedspruit and a visit with Nikki and Clive with a visit into Kruger with their son Roan who is a professional safari guide and photographer.

Much Love To You All,
Mom/Grandma Syrup/Sara

SOUTH AFRICAN ADVENTURES

CHEETAH EXPERIENCE 

VOLUNTEER DAY

When it was clear I was not able to make it to Sierra Leone until the fall, I began to look around for other adventures in South Africa for the first three weeks in May until time to join my Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe safari.

I found something called Cheetah Experience outside a town called Bloemfontein. 

This Little One Was Running All Over

 Emoya Lodge was close by and was situated on a small game reserve.  Even though the Cheetah place was a breeding only establishment I wanted to see how they operated, so I booked the lodge for two nights and the volunteer day with the cheetahs, serviles, caracals, lions, African wild cats, leopards, owls, meerkats and others.

After stopping for one night in Graff-Reinet in a darling B&B called Avondrust Guest House, I began my journey to  Bloemfontein and the Cheetah Experience. 

Arriving at the Emoya Hotel & Spa, I was able to check into my room early so I could be ready for my 15:30 hot stone 90 minute massage appointment.  :-))))).  I entered my “room” and found it to be a small apartment!  It had a bed/sitting  room with a kitchen/desk/wardrobe room and a bath with both shower and tub.  Quite wonderful with an upscale lodge decor.

How was the massage????  AHHHHHHH!!!!!

The next morning I was up and out before 0700 so I could take advantage of the full day Cheetah experience with the long term volunteers.  My first duty was poop scooping in the enclosures for the cheetah, owls, meerkats, and the general grounds.

After that I spent time “babysitting” various species in various stages of development.  The camp is a breeding camp with a combination of humanized/tame breeding animals and wild breeding animals.  They also have a few rescue species:  Eagle owls, wolves, lions (one is white), a tiger,meerkats.  The babysitting is a part of the humanization of the animals.

Later I joined a feeding brigade where we went out to the wild cheetahs kept for breeding.  Each animal had a bowl with their name on it containing raw chicken.  As we approached the individual compounds the cheetah rushed up drooling, meowing (yes, they sound like house cats) and pacing wanting the food.  There was a low to the ground hinged locked door to shove the bowl through to the cat.  

Then it was back to sitting with the various animals.  One black leopard was in a state of frenzy most of the time.  I decided to use my animal communication skills to see if she would tell me why she was in such a state.  The message I received was she was feeling separation anxiety from an animal with whom she formed a bond, but who disappeared and she didn’t know why.

I asked her main handler to tell me her story.  Luna and her sister were born in another breeding facility.  Their mother abandoned them by not feeding them.  This was not discovered for two days and by then the babies were in a bad way.  They were brought to this facility, but the one cub did not survive - that was Luna’s sister.

This facility is raising another black leopard to be a companion for Luna, but she isn’t old enough yet to put in with Luna.  Leopards in the wild are really loner cats, but it appears that ones born in captivity are less so.  

At one point when Luna was pacing, I laid down on the grass outside her compound next to the fence.  Soon she came over and rubbed up against the fence so I could touch her.  Then I started sending pictures from my mind to hers of the baby leopard getting bigger and bigger until she will be a companion for Luna.  I sent the picture of them playing and tumbling about.  Soon Luna climbed her tree and lay limply on the branch watching me.  Then she turned her back and went to sleep on the limb.

Poofy(the main handler) and Kelly(a volunteer Luna had taken to) and I had a discussion about picture telepathy with animals.  They had witnessed part of my session with Luna and wanted to know what I was doing.  They were very open to trying the technique.  Poofy asked me to continue with Luna from a distance after I left.  I am.

We discussed how to use the technique to impart consequences to unacceptable behavior from Luna.   Poofy is told she is to smack Luna on the nose and say “no” sharply.  She doesn’t like doing this so I suggested she send the picture of when Luna is calm Poofy will be with her, but will leave upon unacceptable behavior.

I have mixed emotions about breeding and humanizing wild animals.  But in the effort of living a life without judgement, I will not expand on those feelings.  However, I did visit another Cheetah breeding camp in St. Lucia who are breeding for the purpose of releasing into the wild.  They buy their breeding cheetahs from Bloemfontein, so there is that!

Below are pictures taken of the smaller babies as I sat with them as well as pictures of others.  I was so busy with Luna I realized after I left I did not get a picture of her, but I will tell you her gold eyes penetrated my very soul.

Sister Cheetahs in the training stage.  Will hiss if approached.

These Owls also didn't like you to get too close.  They are clicking at us in this picture as we poop scooped.  They are rescue and can no longer survive in the wild.

Above and to the right: Baby African wild cats. They look like my cat from long ago named Mouchka and have been proven by DNA to date back to Ancient Egypt!!!

Servile cat.  They are nocturnal and rarely seen in the wild during the day.  These purr as do Cheetah.  She's the princess for sure.

Two Servils and two Caracals are lined up at the fence of their Boma watching us with Luna, the black leopard.  I sat on the mound in this Boma and one of the Caracals kept coming up and rubbing against me purring up a storm.

This is a very small baby Caracal.  They are so sweet.  Like all babies she sleeps a lot.

This baby spotted Leopard is very small or her size.  She was sick at birth and is catching up.

This baby black Leopard is very feisty. Turn your back and she attacks which then brings loud clapping and "no" to train her not to do that.  She is the one that will be put in with Luna when big enough.  She has quite the personality.

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma Syrup/Sara