Deane's 2009 Motorcycle Trip
South Africa
|
Deane's 2009 Motorcycle Trip South Africa |
|
|
Nov 6, - Pretoria, South Africa |
|
I had scheduled this to be a rest day, to be able to get over jet lag, plus get a feeling for the capitol of South Africa, Pretoria. However, the owner of our small hotel had contacted a tour company to take whoever wanted to go, to a "Rino and Lion Preserve" about 30 miles from Johannesburg. Feeling pretty good, despite the long day of flight to get here, I decided to go along. What a wonderful day this turned out to be!! The animal preserve turned out to be much more than just a Rino and Lion park, with many, many species of animals, and some birds. The park turned out to be about 4,000 acres of true Africa animal habit. This park allowed qualified guides to take people inside the fences to see the animals. Our guide turned out to be a young guy who was very knowledgeable about the animals, having worked in parks like Kruger National Park. (He looked like Steve Irwin). So he drove us all over the primitive roads to see the animals up close. One thing he pointed out very strongly was the things you must be aware of with the "Big 5" wild animals. I'd heard about the "Big Five" but hadn't been aware that the "Big Five" is just not the size of the animals, but a warning that these five animals are the most likely to kill you very quickly if you get out of the vehicle you are riding in which is in their space, or stick a hand out, or some thing that gets them out of their comfort zone. the "Big Five" are the Lion, the Leopard, the Rino, the Buffalo, and the Elephant. If you step out of the car near them, you had better have a plan to keep them from killing you!! We saw all of the Big Five except the Elephant and the Leopard, with our guide knowing what and where to go. Before I left home, friends asked me to take lots of photos, and I certainly did that. I'll see how to fit maybe 30+ photos in a space you can access. First, to have the park's namesake - the Rino, here with a baby only a few months old.
To get some perspective for how large the mother Rino is, look at this picture. Our guide said the live Rino we've seen in the photo above would weigh maybe 6,000 pounds, and be able to rip and stomp our van to pieces! Then the Lion, a female, quite close to us.
There were a surprising number of Cheetahs, so here is one.
And here is the big Buffalo. Remember he is on our list of the "Big Five", and he was within 30 feet of our van - don't get out to take a picture!!
To try to put all of the rest of the photos here, one by one is very time consuming, and will produce big files, so I'll get one of my more knowledgeable computer friends to show me how to zip them up, and send to you. There were Wart Hogs, Wild Dogs, Spring Boks, Roans, Wildebeest, Tigers, Hippos, and many of the horned grazing animals, All in all, it was an absolutely marvelous day for myself and the English motorcycling couple that went with me - what a find! |
||
