January 28: It was raining in the morning so we didn't head out until about 10 AM. We drove around for quite some time looking for some animals and we finally came up on the lions. (My first time seeing them!) They were all just lying around at first but then they were on the move. There are 5 lions here: 1 alpha male, 2 adults and 2 sub-adults. The alpha male appeared to have hurt his paw so he was lagging pretty far behind the others. We followed them for 45 minutes to an hour and the alpha male was so far behind the rest, we couldn't see the others. They were all pretty quiet when suddenly we could hear their feet hitting the ground as they were running and we could hear a warthog squealing. They had caught their meal and I had witnessed my first kill. We found the bush where they were eating. (We found it only by the sound of crunching bones.) It was pretty gnarly and it's pretty amazing watching the circle of life happen first hand.
That night we had "Boma Night." This is where they have very traditional South African foods for all the guests here. It was delicious! The bread was amazing! There was salad, a different kind of cole slaw, polish sausage, pork ribs, chicken, potatoes, beans.... it was all so good!
January 29: We were up and at 'em early to help the Anti-Poaching Unit build a deck. They don't have post hole diggers or anything like that here so we used square shovels and pick axes to dig the holes. We also had to clear some trees and bushes that were in the way of where they wanted it. It seems like everything here has thorns so I have a lot of cuts and scrapes from those! And... I have one hell of a sunburn. The sun here is so much more intense than it is at home. I put sunscreen on like 16 times a day and I'm still sunburnt!
Every where we drive we see animals! On our way back to our house, we saw a giraffe. They call him Uncle Jerry and he's one of the oldest giraffes here!
That night we went for my first Night Drive. This is where we go out at night to try to find different animals like hyena or owls and maybe observe some different behaviors. We have the headlights on the cruiser and then two spotlights ran by two of the volunteers. We drove around for quite a while and saw a frog and one of the rhinos. We then came up on the alpha-male lion.
He was alone and, at first, making quiet rumbles and just lying down. He then began roaring. Again, it was quiet at first but then he would gradually get louder and louder. He was calling out for the rest of his pride. He did that for about 30 seconds and then stopped. He was quiet for a few minutes and
started up again. I hope this video works. You can kind of see him there but not very well. You can definitely hear him though!
After he was quiet we all started talking and Frances was showing us the different constellations of the southern hemisphere. When we turned around and shown the spotlight on the lion again, he was walking straight towards us and roaring again. This time it was very loud. He walked very close to the cruiser on the side I was sitting. He was no more than 5-10 feet away! (Remember, there are no barriers between us and him. We are completely out in the open.) We all have to sit completely still and make no noise as he made eye contact with everyone sitting on the same side (including myself) but he just walked on past us. What an adrenaline rush!January 30: Today we found the elephants! First, we found Big Bull. He is absolutely massive!
Just across the way was the whole herd of elephants. There were probably about 20-25 of them. They were moving to another part of the reserve for some different grazing.
There is the matriarch (She's in charge of the entire herd.), younger bulls, younger cows, and babies. We just hung out and watched them for the afternoon.
January 31: Three of my roommates and I went to another animal reserve for an elephant interaction! We learned a lot about elephants and we got to ride them and feed them! They're so huge but they're so gentle. It's amazing how smart they are and they're so cute!
SUCH a cool experience!!
This weekend, the Icelandic man and the other girl from the States left. (I'm officially the only American left!) Monday we'll get a guy from Sweden and one from Switzerland! I think the diversity of my roommates is one of my most favorite parts of this whole experience!
Until next time!
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