Kragga Kamma

On April 14 (after elephant riding at Kwantu) Britt and I went to Kragga Kamma Game Park specifically to see Rhinos. We got to see them and much much more!


I'm not going to do much writing, just posting photos. Enjoy!

Ooooh, I love giraffes!

So close! 

African Box Turtle

Warthogs, or as the little girl sitting behind me on the truck called them, "Pumbas!"
The big one is the male. 

This is a Vervet Monkey. I thought he was going to attack me. Seriously. When a monkey gives you the death stare the only thing you can do is death stare back.

 He came right up to the truck and was crazily searching for food. 

Chillin' 

"Five little monkeys swinging from the trees..."

White Rhino Mama and baby & a warthog

The "baby" is only 1 year old

Male Nyala

Mountain Reedbuck

Ostrich (female)

Ostrich (male- you can tell because of the bright black feathers)

Impalla- buck (male)

Cheetah! 

Cheetah Mama and babies

We had a marvelous time. Seeing animals in their natural habitat is such an awesome thing!

Sarah

Elephant Riding

On April 14 I rode an elephant.

Britt and I rented another car and went back to Kwantu for our rain-checked elephant ride. We did not get lost this time! w00t! We rode the elephants for about 30 minutes and then were able to feed them, all four of them, tasty treats. There is no way that I can explain how cool it was to ride and feed elephants. Hopefully the photos can give you some idea...

Elephants are matriarchal which means that they are lead by a dominant female.  A majority of the elephants in a herd will be female with the exception of a few immature males. The mature males go out on their own only coming around to mate.

Elephants carry their babies for approximately 22 months.

Elephants in the wild live up to approxiately 75 years while elephants in sanctuaries, like Kwantu, can live up to 100 years. In sanctuaries they are protected from the elements, given vitamins and healthy foods to supplement their diets, and tended to when sick. 

Our guide said that training elephants is similar to training dogs: they use a lot of treats to form habits. As the elephants were coming out to play the guide called out random commands, "right," "left," "forward" and "stop." The elephants followed each of the commands perfectly. It was pretty cool. You could tell they each had their own personality. The gal on the middle right kept trying to get food out of the middle left gal's mouth. They were smacking each other with their trunks.

Here we go! My elephant was Lacey. She was gorgeous.

The elephant's skin was rough. I was warned that their skin was very coarse (hence the long pants) but wasn't imagining it the way it actually felt. Imagine the way that a callous feels. Now imagine that texture covering the enormous body of an elephant. That is exactly how their skin felt. Though their body is covered in callous-thick hide, behind their large ears is satin-smooth (I felt them, so I can vouch for this piece of info!). They have hundreds of blood vessels behind their ears which they use as fans on hot days. These keep the skin here tender and smooth.

Did you know that though elephants are gigantic creatures they can sneak up on people? They do not stomp around like we teach our kids... they walk very gently. Also, elephants can send information to other elephants through the vibrations in the ground. They can feel vibrations from up to several kilometers (even more miles) serving as warnings, information about herds, predators, etc. 

FAVORITE PART: I got to FEED the elephants!!!!

I was so excited I couldn't even stand it!

Reeeeeeeeeach.

We could put the food directly in their mouths (sticky, hot and stinky-- but fun!), or in their trunk---> they would feed themselves that way.

This gal had ants in her pants. Super impatient elephant alert.
P.S. I got hit in the head by her trunk because she couldn't wait for her goodies.

"Quick. Staring contest. You. Me. Now."

Britt putting food in the elephants trunk.

Their trunks were amazing. Elephants have "fingers" on the ends of their trunks. We dropped quite a bit of food on the ground. Getting the food in their mouths was a bit tricky. I didn't want to get chomped. No matter, the elephants used the fingers on the tips of their trunks to pick up the treats. Did you know that elephants have "fingers?" They do.

There isn't anything quite like an elephant. They are truly incredible.

"Please don't hit me again, baby girl."

This is where the elephants come to sleep at night. The ceiling has some kind of electrical heating element to circulate heat on cold evenings. The trainers tend to the elephants every day.

Going back to the wild, trainers at their side.

Would I do this again? In a heartbeat. This is by far my favorite South African adventure.

Sarah

Waterproof Camera

Before I left, my marvelous husband, Bronson, bought me a Kodak Water Sport waterproof (up to 3m) video/still camera. I have used it to shoot short videos and such, but really haven't had an authentic opportunity to test it's waterproofness (It is, by the way, fantastic for the little handheld camera that it is. I highly recommend it). Today I went to the beach to see just how waterproof it is. As it turns out, the Water Sport is waterproof indeed. It also takes fabulous stills, as you'll see below.

I have some really great underwater shots that I want to share with you-- and some above water shots as well! These were taken off the Nelson Mandela Bay beach down the block from my apartment. There are some rough, rocky areas down the beach where I like to search for sea creatures and shells. When the tide is low there are numerous shallow tide pools amidst the rocks. In the shallow pools there can be found a variety of sea creatures: fish, anemones, crabs, and starfish to name a few.

*All creature photos were taken with the camera under water! What?! Yes. You read correctly. This is new technology for me, if you can't tell...

A bit of a crab's exoskeleton. 

Do you see what I see?

I saw dolphins today! There were probably 20 of them in a pod moving along the shore. They were too far off to take a clear photo, but I was able to watch them for several minutes before they disappeared from view.

An ornately decorated oyster.

Red and purple anemones!

Beautiful habitat

Purple in nature cannot be beat. Can not.

Even algae is beautiful under water... 

Sea weeds. Green.

While I was taking underwater photos I gave a boy a bit of a scare. I put my camera under the water and he shouted, "WHAA!" I made eye contact with him and smiled. His face was priceless. I think he was a bit confused. I took a couple more photos and he was absolutely intrigued. I heard him telling his buddies, "She has a waterproof phone! A waterproof phone!" I told him that it was just a camera and I could only put it in shallow water. It didn't matter to him. Phone or camera, he was just as enamored by the waterproofness as I.

On Saturday I was walking along the shore and I came across a small (baby?) hammerhead shark, washed up on the beach. It was about three feet long. Herta, and old woman that I met on the beach and walked/talked with for quite a while, told me that the seagulls don't like hammerhead meat-- which is why it was in one piece. I took a picture of it, not to be morbid, but to show all of you this amazing creature.

I hope you enjoyed the photos! My next post will be a bit more about the culture here. I realize I haven't posted a whole lot on that...

Take care, people!

Peace,
Sarah