We get up and head to our first stop, then Manaholoholo Animal Rescue Center. We hear an impassioned speech by the director about animals and nature and how things are not working as they should (there is too little natural space left in Africa for the natural habitats of wild animals). We also learn alot about the "circle of life," for example I didnt' realize how important vultures, hyennas and insects are to making the whole thing work. Then we get a tour of the place, which takes care of injured (usually poisoined by farmers) animals and birds. We see a lion, leopard, all kinds of birds, hyennas, etc. Then we get in our truck and head up to see more of Blyde River Canyon, and drive to "God's Window" and overlook looking out over a huge green valley. On the way there we drive by waterfalls. Also, we drive by "townships" the vast shanty towns that you see everywhere in South Africa.
After lunch we drive back down from the Drackensberg Escarpment (mountains) and head to what we are all getting very excited about: Kruger National Park, one of the premier game parks in the world. As we enter the main gate around 4 pm you can feel the excitement in the truck. We head into the park and everyone's eyes are peeled for wildlife... then suddenly, impalas! (which are small deer and basically the bottom on the food chain there!) After lots of pics (later we will realize, impalsas are not that hard to find) we drive on and see giraffes. More pics, then on and see some zebras. Then, something very exciting, off in the distance we catch sight of a rhino with some buffalo. The goal is to see the big five: lions, leopards, rhinos, buffalo, and elephant (so named because when hunted, if you don't kill them they will come back and hunt you!). So, 1 down! Then, we see several elephant (2 down) and more giraffes and zebras feeding. Then we see some hyennas which are interesting animals and although they seem ugly, Thabone informs us they are his favorite animal. Finally, we have to move on because we have to get to our rest camp spot and the gates close at 6:30 p.m., with or without us. The camp is pretty big and is protected by electrified fence all around. We are in cabins this time. Have supper, look at the stars and get to bed because tommorrow is a very early start.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
2.14.08 -- Jo'Berg to Tibavarti
Got up and breakfast at Fly Inn. Met overland trip group at 8 a.m. Our guides are Thabone (from Zimbabwe), Marietta (South African), and Juergen (Namibia). On the trip are 2 German girls, 2 German guys, a retired English couple and a Canadian guy. Thabone gives us the orientation, this is no coach guided tour he informs us. If the truck gets stuck, we get to help push it out. We do our own dishes. We might have to help with repairs. He says, we will always have a plan A for the day, but since this is Africa we might have to go to plan B, or sometimes plan C, and in some cases even plan D. I can tell this guy has a good sense of humor. We take off and get out of Jo'Berg pretty quickly and onto a modern interstate. We drive out of town and then stop at a mall for people to get last minute supplies. The mall looks pretty much the same as a US mall. We then start to drive towards the state of Mpulpalganga. Driving I see lots of rolling plains with... corn! And signs for Pioneer or DeKalb corn.. so this isn't looking too much different from Kansas yet! Also see lots of grain elevators, coal mines, and big power plants. Some of the fields are irrigated. I also see lots of modern railroads. One thing we see as we leave Jo'Berg are huge towering mine tailings.. legacies of the huge gold mines that used to (and somewhat still) dominate the scene. Apparently these tailings are being re-processed and are actually producing more gold now than they did when they were first actually mined.
We start to leave the farms and get into a little more mountainous terrain. We make our first stop and have, as Thabone describes it, something we are going to have a lot of and it starts with and "s"... sandwiches. We drive on and start to get into some bigger mountains. Then we come to the first main sight of the day, and it is spectacular. It is the Blyde River Canyon, 3rd largest canyon in the world and we are at an overlook called "the Three Rondavels" (which are traditional African huts.) We look way way down into a canyon and there are huge and beautiful rock formations as far as you can see. After lots of pics we drive on to the Burke's potholes which are rock formations formed by erosion and quite interesting. Then we head onto our first camp spot in Timbavarti, a camping area near Kruger. There we actually stay in Rodavels, but they are pretty modern, though we have thatched roofs. Evening spent at the bar getting to know the rest of the group and being entertained by the crusty old English bar-tender telling stories of his African adventures. (mostly lies I think!)
We start to leave the farms and get into a little more mountainous terrain. We make our first stop and have, as Thabone describes it, something we are going to have a lot of and it starts with and "s"... sandwiches. We drive on and start to get into some bigger mountains. Then we come to the first main sight of the day, and it is spectacular. It is the Blyde River Canyon, 3rd largest canyon in the world and we are at an overlook called "the Three Rondavels" (which are traditional African huts.) We look way way down into a canyon and there are huge and beautiful rock formations as far as you can see. After lots of pics we drive on to the Burke's potholes which are rock formations formed by erosion and quite interesting. Then we head onto our first camp spot in Timbavarti, a camping area near Kruger. There we actually stay in Rodavels, but they are pretty modern, though we have thatched roofs. Evening spent at the bar getting to know the rest of the group and being entertained by the crusty old English bar-tender telling stories of his African adventures. (mostly lies I think!)
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