We had such a wonderful holiday in South Africa recently and I wanted to share some of our experiences with you. We had a week in St. Lucia which is a huge wetland area on the North Coast of South Africa, North that is, of Durban. It is an area full of wild life – hippos and crocodiles. We had a trip up river to see some of the hippos.
St Lucia Hippo
As you can see we got up close and personal. Our Ranger/boat captain was very good, he could spot these hippos at great distance and took us as close as he dared. There is a population of about 500 hippos in the area. They spend the day time in the water and at night they wander around the banks and can travel up to about 13 kilometers at night. The crocodiles were harder to spot as they didn’t stick around when they heard the boat and slipped back into the water quickly. Not conducive to getting photos. Never mind though, there is a crocodile park which is used to relocate crocs who are either sick or endangered or causing a risk to humans. At the park there are crocs of different ages, so they range from the really big ‘fellas’ to the babies.
Don’t mess with this big fella
Some of these crocodiles live to great old age, especially in parks like this one in St. Lucia as they are well fed and looked after very well. The park is well maintained and looked after and has become a popular tourist attraction over the years. When in the wild crocodiles can go up to one year without food. As when they do eat they store fat in their tails and that see’s them through the bad times. Let’s have a look at some of the ‘babies’ in the park.
So this is the nursery and it is only one of them. As they are grouped according to size and age so there are much smaller ones there, but honestly they don’t look too much different to lizards! Before we leave St. Lucia there is one more thing I want to show you which is the Weaver Bird
Weaver Bird
The interesting thing about this bird, you see them all over South Africa, – the males busy making the nests which hang upside down from the tree. When he’s finished he gets the female to inspect it. She does inspect it and if the nest is not right she won’t have it! Now all the men say ‘Oh typical female’. ‘Just like a woman’. ‘Sounds like my wife’. While women tend to say nothing but just look ‘smug’. But the simple fact is the female weaver wont accept the nest if it’s not ‘right’ because she knows exactly what conditions she requires for her eggs to hatch! And if those aren’t right – the species will eventually die out. What a clever bird!
The time arrived for us to get back in the car for another 7 to 8 hour drive back to Johannesburg. And it rained and rained. At times we could hardly see where we were going and had to crawl slowly along the road. But after 9 hours on the road, we eventually arrived home.
Before we left South Africa my daughter took us to a wonderful Lion and Animal Park. What an experience it was too. We arrived on Lion feeding day! I must admit to feeling more scared of the humans than I was of the lions as they defied all the rules, leaning out of the their car windows and in one case even opening the ‘combi’ doors to get their photos:
You can’t see the lions from this shot but believe me they were not that far away sitting under a tree waiting for their dinner to arrive.
Big Boys Eat First
Meals on Wheels
The Lioness had to wait until these guys had finished before they had their dinner. A van arrives with two rangers on board one driving and the other on the back, except for the case of the lions when they fed them they were both inside the truck!
After the lions the van went off to feed the wild dogs. And after that it was time for the Cheetah’s to have their dinner. They also have white lions at the Animal Park but they were very shy and they were wired off in a section where the public could see but only on one side, so there was plenty of room for them to get away from it all when they wanted a bit of privacy.
One of a pack of Wild Dogs waiting to be fed
What A Beautiful Animal
White Lion Cub
This is a huge park and the animals are sectioned off so the predators cannot attack the smaller game so everyone is happy! But as terrible as it sounds, poaching goes on even in this ‘safe environment’. There are no elephants in this park but there are Rhino and it is these ‘guys’ the poachers are after for the horn.
I particularly like the ‘bird’ getting a lift. They are part of the Egret family and like to eat ticks. This is a Black Rhino.
Poaching is a huge problem in South Africa despite all efforts on behalf of the Rangers poachers cause untold suffering.
So we come to the end of my wonderful trip to South Africa. I shall go again as I like to visit my daughter. But as to when – well I just don’t know. Prices as they are – air travel is becoming increasingly expensive.
The last word though is you may wonder what all this has to do with relationships. But it has everything to do with relationships. The relationship you have with the world around you is important. Do you care about the environment? do you care about conservation? These are all part of they way we treat the world around us is exactly the same way we treat ourselves and others.
The other part of the same theme is ‘passion’. One of my ‘passions’ is not just for wildlife but the whole of the great outdoors. I love it. I love the beauty with which we are provided. I love the peace and tranquility nature provides – I love the way it re-charges my batteries and replenishes my soul. The world around us is endlessly fascinating. There is so much left to explore and enjoy.
Until next time, take care.
letsgo 