Friday August 10

This morning was to be an easier morning, with us not leaving until 7:00 am. Unfortunately, pretty much everybody except James overslept! Fortunately, we were working on the same property where we are staying, so the trip didn't take too long. And even arriving a few minutes late, we managed to catch up with the group. We went with the property owner and Rita the vet to tranquilize and treat several sable antelope. These were gathered together in 2 separate camps; in the first, we darted 5, and 3 in the second. 3 of the females were pregnant, and one of them was close to term. Some of the animals were a bit thin, and the owner was concerned about intestinal parasites. We gave a general dewormer to affected animals, and vitamin injections. In addition, their horns were measured and ear tags replaced where necessary.

Sable antelope at Boulders Game Preserve

Chloe and Kait giving worming and vitamin injections

Brooklyn and summer caring for another sable

Brooklyn and Kait processing a sable antelope

The entire time we moved around the second camp of sable, a pair of emu followed us from a slight distance, clearly curious about us. When we returned to the trucks to leave, they leaped and dashed, racing us back to the gate.

After we finished, the property owner asked us to come up to his home to see his pet rhino. I know. Sounded a bit sketchy to me, too. But Rita and Jessica said it was fine, and went with us. The owner wanted Rita to look at some red daikkers that were penned near the house; they quickly became very agitated, so we moved away. We went around the back of the house, and saw an amazing aviary. I spotted a pair of birds that were medium sized, royal blue, and when they flew, broad bright red bands were exposed on their wings. The owner's friend said they were starlings, but not native to here. Wow! Then the friend began calling over the back fence. As we watched, a rhino came ambling into sight, followed by a wildebeest. He came right up alongside the yard, and came up to the fence.

This guy came ambling right up when called! He had been rescued as an orphaned baby and handraised, so he was extremely socialized to humans. As such, he could not be released into the wild, since without any fear of humans he poses an enormous danger to people!

Check out his cool toes!

I know, I know.

But the owner said to reach through and pet him!

2 words: Rhino lips!!!

Now, I admit that I haven't spent a great deal of time thinking of this, but southern white rhinos have very squared-off heads and muzzles, as they graze on the ground. And they have lips. Long, large, loose flappy lips. When I reached my hand through the fence the rhino came right up and whuffled the back of my hand with his huge lips! My first rhino kiss! I did eventually give in and wash my hand again....

After we met the rhino, we were invited into the Trophy Room. There were some of the most spectacular mounts I have ever seen! There were at least one of every species I have heard of, and multiples of some! There was a hippo head with insanely big teeth just inside the door, and the enormous head of an elderly bull elephant dominated the other end of the room. In between there were civets, antelope, buffalo, and even 3 pangolins, which are quite rare. He said that all of the pangolins had become entrapped in the electric fence, and were found dead. Although the students differed in their opinions of trophy hunting, they all appreciated seeing the mounts.

Lunch on the lodge deck. We tried pap for the first time; it's sort of like grits, only I like pap!

A quick run back to our accommodations for lunch (Jane fixed us a hot meal!), and we were off to our first horse safari. We were all pretty excited! The owner had enough horses for us all to ride at once, and another guide, so that the group could divide into beginners for a walking ride, and more comfortable riders to trot and canter. We all got situated on our horses, and set off.

James on Mauser

Summer on Beau

James and Summer

Kait on Arnold

Brooklyn on Jack

Hannah on "The Appy"

Kait and James

Phoebe, our guide and the business owner, led us down the 2-track road a ways, then off across trails. We went up and down ravines, through dry riverbeds, across rocks, under trees, and all over. The day had turned off sunny and about 74 degrees, so the weather and scenery were beyond perfect. After a trial trot, which was uncomfortable on my horse due to his having very straight shoulders and a jarring trot stride, we walked a bit more, then cantered. We didn't go far the first time, but each time we got into an appropriate area, we galloped. Our final gallop was along a dirt airstrip, wide, flat and very long! It was breathtaking!

About then, Hannah remarked that if she could see a giraffe out there, her life would be complete. Less than 10 minutes later, we spotted a group of 3 giraffes! They appeared largely unconcerned about us, and strolled along with us following for quite a ways. They paused, and we stopped the horses and just sat and watched them, from about 15 feet away. Unbelievable!

We spotted this young male giraffe first, standing up here in front of us on the dirt track. He seemed more curious than frightened, first strolling along ahead of us for a bit, then moseying off into the trees to the right. 

At that point, we realized that there were THREE giraffes; you can see 2 here, one near the center of the photo just above the brush, and the second on the right.

On the way back toward the barn, we spotted leopard tracks and a small herd of eland ran across in front of us. There were also daikker and nyala. It seemed very strange to get back to the barn and simply dismount and walk away, but Phoebe refused all offers of help untacking the horses. A rattling ride down the same bone-jarring road we had travelled 2 days ago got us back to the lodge. We had time for showers and some quick tidying up, then went out for pizza. This was nearby (relatively), and connected to a small gift shop with some interesting things. I asked Jessica what to order, as they make individual pizzas. I ordered marula pizza; apparently marula is a round fruit that grows on a tree and has a pit. I googled it and it is not familiar to me. Anyway, the pizza had fresh mozzerella, halloumi cheese (a soft sheep cheese), chicken and marula jam on a wood-baked thin crust. Absolutely delicious!

Now to upload photos (this takes a ton of time!) and get to bed. Breakfast isn't until 8:00 tomorrow morning, and then we depart with our guide Troy for Kruger National Park. We will tour around the park and spend tomorrow night in a tent encampment, then return Sunday evening. As I have no idea about the wi-fi situation in Kruger, please do not be alarmed if I don't update over the weekend!