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

SOUTH AFRICAN ADVENTURES

PLETTENBERG BAY 

The first stop on my way up to Johannesburg is Plettenberg Bay to see Saskia Hopff and meet her family.  Saskia and I met in 2008 at the White Lion Preservation Trust where we took an Animal Communication Workshop along with 5 others.  This took place the first week of the month I spent as a volunteer.  We hit it off and have stayed in touch all these years through emails and the magic (?) of Facebook.  

I arrived at Bitou River Ranch Lodge, my “home” for the next three nights, in the late afternoon. 

View From My Patio

The lodge is spectacular and right on a slow moving part of the Bitou River.  My room is spacious with small touches such as a sprig of rosemary on the pile of towels on the foot of my bed and is beautifully decorated in soothing colors.  There is covered patio overlooking the river.  Sue, the owner, could not have been more welcoming.

The ceiling in the room slopes upwards from front to back and has open whitewashed beams.  The the top of the wall in the back contains three windows.  My first night was clear with bright stars and an almost full moon.  I was awakened sometime in the night by the full moon light bathing me from the window above.  Magical.

On The Main Patio

The next morning Saskia came to the lodge which is right down the road from her home and we fell into conversation as though we had seen each other only last week!  Later that day we met up with her husband Chris, daughter Zarah (who is 2 and calls herself ZaZa) and son Ollie (10) to go have lunch with Chris’ parents, niece and nephew.  Lunch was delicious and the conversation interesting and lively.

Back at Saskia and Chris’ home on lush acreage I got to meet the 6 dogs and various numbers of cats.  Saskia has finished her animal communication courses and is a professional communicator as well as a shop owner, fragrance and creams maker and jewelry maker.  She also rescues chickens when the egg farmers are selling them.  These chickens have never been free, can hardly walk, no nothing about scratching around for food, etc.  

She has 10 new additions to her growing family of chickens.  The difference between the ones she has had for a while and the new ones is startling.  The new ones are virtually featherless, combs down over their eyes, but have been there long enough they are walking.  The others are plump, combs standing straight up and are running around and scratching like normal chickens.  It won’t take long until the new 10 will be in the same shape.  And they are still laying eggs albeit not in enough quantity for the egg farmer.

Saskia makes a wonderful vegetarian stew that she and I share while we chat late into the evening.

The next day we meet Chris and Ollie at 3 for an afternoon boat ride up the river to the town of Plettenberg Bay nestled up on a hillside overlooking the river and the ocean.  When approaching the town from the river it looks like San Francisco used to when it was called Bagdad By The Bay before all the tall buildings and the Embarcadero were built.  In Plett no buildings can be higher than 2 stories!!!

The views along the river and into the bay are stunning.  We see two Fish Eagles that greet us and then fly away probably back to the nest close to where the family lives.

Back to Saskia and Chris’ where Chris makes a delicious dinner of pork belly and cracklins and fabulous sides.  Saskia makes a flourless, sugarless chocolate cake that is unbelievably rich and delicious.  Again she and I chat the night away.  We may have been strong acquaintances when I arrived, but we are now friends we both agree.

The next morning I am scheduled to leave for Graff-Reinett on my way to Blomfentein, but before I do I stop by to pick up Saskia and we go into town to see Chris’ restaurant called The Table and Saskia’s shop called The Shop.  The two are right next door to each other.

The restaurant is an open architecture with a warm friendly atmosphere right down to a special room for just kids with a blackboard, various toys and child size tables and chairs.  The restaurant boasts a wood burning pizza oven where gourmet pizzas are made. The rest of the menu is varied with something for everyone.  I would be hard put to decide what to eat - it all sounds delicious!

The shop is full of wonderful things.  What Saskia doesn’t make she buys from artisans in the area and her taste is exquisite.  I did buy a face cream (which I adore), fragrance pencils in hand made wood tubes that are sharpened with a pencil sharpener as the perfume is used, a hand printed silk scarf where the artist uses flowers and leaves to imprint the silk.  This results in soft muted colors of mauve, grey and peach.  Then a little

Box Open

box made out of the bottom of a plastic bottle painted and embossed with a design and cut in such a way the top snaps down in sections.  Last but not least is a jersey “top” that can even be a scarf or head covering.  The sweetest ending was when Saskia said Ollie wanted to buy me something from the shop as a present.  I chose an eye pillow with lavender to use when meditating.

Box Closed

We said a fond so long and a plan to convince Wynter, our teacher of animal communication, to do a workshop next May at the White Lion place.

Next blog about Blomfentien and my volunteer day at the Cheetah Experience to follow very soon.

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma Syrup/Sara

SOUTH AFRICAN ADVENTURES

GOOD-BYE KALK BAY

After two months in Kalk Bay it is time to move on.  But before I do I wish to fill you in on the last of my adventures there.

Shaheed and his family live in the other half of the cottage duplex I have been calling my home for most of the past two months.  Shaheed has a taxi service and also hires himself out for tours around the area.  While Bob and I were here in 2000, we did not see everything so I hired him on two occasions to take me around. 

He gave me a lot of insight as to how Apartheid formed and when and what happened to the “colored” and blacks.  Colored is anyone not white or black.  It is interesting to note that the non-whites were displaced from their homes and land in South Africa at about the same time Martin Luther King and others were mobilizing for civil rights in the USA.

He also took me to beaches and other sites around Capetown I had not seen before. This beach is in a very upscale neighborhood on the Atlantic Ocean side.

He invited me to join him and his family on April 27 which is Freedom Day; the day of the end of Apartheid.  We took a picnic lunch and headed for around the bend to the Atlantic (Kalk Bay is on the Indian Ocean) where we walked the beach and watched surfers. 

Waves & Surfers

The water here is COLD.  But I still put my feet in the water because I knew up the west coast lies Sierra Leone and my energy could flow up from where I was to there.  Too woo-woo for you???

On our adventure that day we ran into a baboon in the middle of the road.  You can see from

So Check Me Out!!!

his collar and ear tabs he is being monitored by the wildlife rangers.  Penguins on the rocks above the ocean was another special sight.

Yes, Warmish Water Penguins

Joanna and I attended a documentary about Heart Math.  It is something I am very familiar with, but she was not.  At that documentary I met a sparkly being by the name of Cheryl Reum.  We clicked immediately and I had the great pleasure, at her invitation, of getting together with her on four other occasions.  We are of the same mind and I know I will be in contact with her in the future.

In 2011 on my journey up the west coast of Africa there was a naturalist on board named Marius Burger.  He was a riot, full of life and loads of fun.  We became friends so I contacted him by email saying I would be in the area and the dates.  Low and behold he emailed me back and then called inviting me to accompany him to see his wife Belinda perform as a solo singer with background music.

It was so good to see him again and to meet his lovely and talented wife.  I was blessed to go to two more venues where she also performed with two different bands.  I quickly fell in love with this spirited and devine being.  She is truly very special.  I had a blast meeting their friends and joining in the fun.  It is never dull with Marius around so I laughed and laughed - felt good.

The last day on the beach I was feeling nostalgic and looking down at my feet was this 1/2 crab shell. 

Sad Face Crab Shell Bidding Me Good-bye

I guess the beach would miss me too!!!  Later that afternoon Clare Burgess (a Morocco companion from 2005) and I were able to carve out time to have tea and a chat.

Shaheed took me to the airport on 2 May to pick up my rental.  Cape Town airport, it turns out, is a very easy place to rent a car as far as accessibility is concerned, so I was in and out in quick order.  Wished Shaheed well, got behind the wheel and proceeded to drive away - on the left hand side.  To my surprise it took me no time to adjust.  I guess I am now officially a left side of the road driving aficionado.  My drive north to Plettenberg Bay was a breeze.  Stories of my adventures there in my next blog.

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma Syrup/Sara

More Beach And Area Pictures:

Mountains Above Cape Town

This duck was swimming around in a lake located in a newly built park at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.  Note the white face and red balls on top of the head.

This piece of Kelp is covered with what appears to be an anemone type of animal with "shell" ends that open and close as it sticks out a black "tongue"

Close up of the shell ends.  When touched they are not hard like shells but feel more like a soft finger nail.

Who cannot love a rainbow. It brings such promise and joy to the heart. 

 Rock at low tide covered with a type of anemone .

Close up of the creatures on the rock.