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

Driving on the Other Side of the Road and Zip-lining Over Waterfalls: Just another Thursday in ZA

Wow! Our two week break from school flew by! Tomorrow we go back to school to start a new term at Herbert Hurd. I will be in Mrs. G's third grade classroom for the next three weeks-- learning their ways, teaching some of my own, and getting to know this particular ZA school a little bit better.

This past week, our last week of break, we did some souvenir shopping at a flea market several miles from home, made new friends at a local cafe and rented a car to do a bit of traveling. I have GOT to tell you all about our travels!

In ZA, like most of the world, drivers are seated on the right-hand side of the vehicle and drive on the left-hand side of the road. Also, a majority of the cars in ZA are standard transmission (they have a stick) which requires one to shift with his or her left hand. Renting automatic cars in ZA is mucho expensivo! These differences change the road rules quite a bit for a driver used to hugging the right side of the road, shifting with his or her right hand, and passing on the left. It was QUITE the adventure!

I have made a list of ZA "road rules" that I learned during our trip:

• When driving on the highway, slower vehicles must stay on the left side of the road and any passing vehicle (highway or not) must pass on the right. Complete opposite of home.
  
• There are large shoulders on either side of the road. These are used for passing purposes. On one lane roads and highways, it is courteous to move over onto the shoulder (dangerous too!) to let speedier traffic through. I am not sure of the legality... no one told me it was illegal....
  
• Once a car has passed they will turn on their hazards (if they are thankful) as a 'thank-you.' You must either turn on your hazards to "say" 'you're welcome' OR flash your lights at them.
  
• The speed limit seems to be optional... at least to a majority of traffic.
  
• Speed is calculated in kilometers per hour rather than miles per hour. 1 kph is slower than 1 mph since miles are shorter than kilometers. The typical highway speed in northeast Ohio is 65mph. In ZA, on the Eastern Cape, it is 120kph. 
• Here is some math for you kids back home: If 1 kilometer = .62 miles, how many miles is 10 kilometers?
  
• The paved roads are very nice. I didn't come across any potholes or large bumps (except on the dirt road-- more on that later). I was surprised by the conditions of the roads. I wasn't expecting them to be so great.
  
• The McDonald's drive thru is backwards. Yes. Backwards. Think about going in the out and out the in... that is how you do it ZA style. (photo below)
  
• There are random road blocks set up intermittently on the highway. Whether or not you have committed a traffic violation you must stop and show your driver's license. Murray (our friend from Freewalker) told us a few weeks ago that road blocks are pretty routine-- to check for unpaid traffic violation fines and/or expired driver's licenses.
  
• When a sign says "Do not feed the baboons," you should stay in your car and NOT feed the baboons. You should do some research on baboons and figure out why feeding them would be a bad idea!
  
• The Chrysler Sparklite is NOT a 4x4... it does NOT have off-roading capabilities. In fact, it is probably the smallest car in the world.
  

Away we go! 

A bit nervous to start...

It was so difficult to remember to stay on the left side. And so strange.

120kph = 74.6mph

We had to go through the McDonald's drive thru!

There were some seriously huge mountains along highway N2-- what the locals call "The Garden Route"

On our first trip in the Sparklite we drove to Tsitsikamma National Park-- about two hours southeast of Port Elizabeth. Why were we driving to Tsitsikamma you ask? To zip-line!

Gearing up!

Britt and I are ready to rock!

The waterfalls that we crossed.
  

It went so fast! There wasn't enough time to be scared...

We had an awesome day driving through ZA, flying through her trees and over her waterfalls.

On Friday we took the good 'ole Sparklite off-roading to Kwantu-- a wildlife reserve on the other side of PE. What an adventure that was! I will post more on that tomorrow. Until then... drive safely!!

Peace,

Sarah