Burchell’s Zebra

These were the first zebra that we saw on our game drive. They were checking us out.

I think that zebra might be my favorite. They are a lot smaller than you would think, much smaller than a horse...probably about the size of a small pony that you would get to ride at the county fair.

I think that this one was pregnant. She looked a little lopsided in real-life.

Their stripes amaze me-they are like finger prints, each one different on every animal. They look like they are painted on, especially on their faces.

African Elephant

Another car told our ranger that their was an 'angry elephant' ahead, so we decided to go and check it out. You are not supposed to run away from elephants, so that they don't get used to chasing cars. This elephant, however, was masting (in heat) and was looking for a mate. We didn't want to have 'relations' with this elephant, so we decided to let him be...he did somewhat chase our vehicle for a short distance.

When elephants get mad they flare their ears out...he looked pretty ticked off.

Still pretty amazing to see an animal this big, I wouldn't want to be left alone with this dude.
This guy was with a whole herd of elephants that passed in front of and behind my little car. I think that the took a bath in a pile of mud-that is why he looks reddish in color.

White Rhinoceros

My favorite rhino picture...you wouldn't want to mess with him.

We got to see one white rhino. You can tell that he is a white rhino and not a black rhino (since their coloring is pretty much the same) by their mouths. White rhinos have a wide mouth and black rhinos have a pointed mouth.

This picture shows the birds that sit on the backs of the animals. I think that they eats bugs off them and warn them of danger. This rhino had just marked his territory, stepped in it, and then was going to walk his boundary to keep other males out. You can tell that he is a male since his horn is short from fighting (they apparently get worn down or broken.) The females usually have longer horns since they don't fight.

Giraffe

Here is a picture of the wildlife at our 'hotel.' Pretty cool to get them all in one shot.

This picture was taken as were were driving out of Hluhluwe park. The giraffes stopped for a bite to eat right next to the road.
I think that this is my favorite giraffe picture. This guy was hiding in the trees for quite a while and then came out to see us walking by.

April Holiday

This past week I was on my April holiday break. I have had about 10 days off and I have enjoyed traveling around South Africa. I was able to go to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve and to Cape Town. I will tell the stories and show pictures of my adventure. We started off by driving about 3 hours north of Durban to Hluhluwe where we went on a walk in our own 'nature reserve' at our Bushlands hotel (more like a lodge than a hotel, since giraffe's could peek in the windows if they wanted.) We were able to see giraffe, zebra, nyala and impala on our walk. We got about 30 feet from the giraffes. It was amazing.

In the morning we went on a game drive in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi park from about 6:00-9:00 am. The park is about 96,000 hectares or about 211,000 acres (if I remember correctly.) You are only allowed to drive on the paved and unpaved roads, there is no off roading through the bush, and you must stay in your car. There is one picnic area where you can get out of your car an eat...as long as you eat fast enough not to be a meal for another animal. The park hours are from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. You must be out of the park by 6:00 pm when they lock the gates.

We saw a ton of cool animals and went back in the afternoon for our own game drive in the tiny car. We didn't get stepped on by any elephants, but we did see a herd crossing the road in front and behind us. I was a little freaked for a minute. I will show all of the pics of the animals...I took a ton of them. I will try and pick out my favorites.

While we didn't see the 'Big Five', we did see three of them...buffalo, rhino and elephant. We did see a lonely wildebeest running by himself but didn't get close enough to take a picture-they are supposedly some of the stupidest animals. I didn't get to see any lions, leopards, cheetahs, or hyaenas--hopefully I will on a future trip!

Stella Pre-Primary School

I attended the Stella Pre-Primary School today with students from Girls High. There are 78 kids age 2-6 who attend the school. Many of the students are orphans or are raised by their granny’s (some with both parents deceased or they ran off when the kids were born.) The kids receive a healthy breakfast, snack, and lunch so they don’t require much food once they leave school (often times families don’t have enough food for all of the children.)

ThunderRidge High School’s Interact Club donated $500 to the Stella school. They are not sure how the money will be spent yet, perhaps on renovating parts of the school, taking the students on an outing to uShaka Marine World, or to provide food for the students. The kids loved the Girls High girls. They played, sang songs, and ate.

Open Air School

I went to the Open Air School near Durban Girls High School. It is a school for physically disabled students, and some mentally disabled students. Students from Girls High and Glenwood Boys High came had wheelchair and crutches races around the school. Non-disabled students were able to see how hard it is to do daily activities when you are physically impaired. The students had snacks to eat and then played basketball. Most of the students at the Open Air School do not live nearby, so they end up living together in a hostile. Some of them are able to go home for holidays, if their parents have enough money for them to take a taxi or bus home. The students enjoyed the interaction with the other kids since most of the time is spent with the same people at school and at ‘home.’ Recently, the bus system in Durban shut down so many of the students who attend the open air school were not able to find transport to school.

There are some albino students at the Open Air School because they often have vision problems (their eyes are almost white or red.) It is perceived in the black culture that it is worse to have a white child than to be infected with aids. Many albino children are often abandoned because of it.
Here are some Hot Cross Buns, a traditional thing to eat around Easter time. You can buy them at just about any grocery store and they taste pretty good. Don't mind the flies, they don't eat much.