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Published: September 7th 2006
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Hey Annika,
Just thought I'd sent a note to say "Happy birthday to you" (melodic)........ I was thinking of you today as we were doing our game drive at the Rhino Base Camp. It was fantastic - wish you were here! (Have you decided where you are coming to meet us yet?) : )
We are having a hard time leaving Plettenburg Bay, we are really loving it here - so so much to do. Looks like we are leaving in the morning though for an ostrich farm in Outdshoorn where you can ride ostriches. They also have this amazing cave system called Cango Caves that should be really interesting.
Jordan is trying to convince me to let him go skydiving as he is allowed to here in South Africa and I thought about it for a while..... ok ok I didn't even give it a moments thought - there is no way that kid is jumping out of a plane!!! I THINK NOT!!!!! But lets pretend to him that I thought it over, ok? Ha ha.
Here are some pictures of our day on your birthday........
I hope you have a fantastic 25th birthday!
; )
...............funny story about the lions today. We had a choice if we wanted to go through the electric gate into where the lions are. The lions were captured in Kruger National Park as young infant cubs and brought to captivity very early in life. For whatever reasons, the people who originally captured them no longer wanted them and they ended up at the Rhino Base Camp. The base camp does not have animals together that eat each other, hence the lions are segregated by the electric fence. Of course we wanted to go in.
I had read that lions see the vehicle and the people in it as one unit - too big to attack. As long as you don't stand up or bring attention to yourself as an individual, you are ok. On the way through the gate I asked Andrew, our guide, if this was true and he told me it was but he would tell us a story as we were leaving.
So we get incredibly close to this lion and lioness and it is so cute - they are in love. It was so amazing
observing them, I can't even describe it. It was very hot today so they were very lazy but the lioness came up and checked us out. On the way out to the gate as promised, Andrew told us his story. The lioness held an incredible grudge against him and she could tell him apart from the other rangers.
One day, as he was coming in the gate, he opened it and looked around. As far as he could see - no lions nearby. But the lioness was stalking him and as he turned around he could hear her running towards him. By the time he turned around, it was just him and the lioness face to face. Luckily he studied animals at Kruger for three years where he earned his degree and knew not to run to the vehicle. If he had ran, as most of us would, it would have been no different than a cat and a mouse - he would have been dead without question. But he knew to charge her back, which seems absurd to me. Supposedly you have to stand your ground against a lion, however you do that without fainting is beyond
Andrew, our guide
This guys knowledge of animals was unbelievable. He surfs in the morning, does game drives during the day and then back to the beach to surf at night. Living the dream. me. Anyways, this standoff lasted 20 minutes until he was able to finally get back to the vehicle. Another ranger had showed up but could not help him, Andrew was within 1 meter of the lion - there was nothing anyone could do but Andrew. Since that day Andrew said that him and all the other rangers can tell her irritation as soon as he enters the gate. They think she doesn't like him because he challenged her and won, and she is not forgetting the incident. She is holding a grudge.
Oh, and by the way..... the information I confirmed about the lions seeing the vehicle and people as one and too big to attack = True. For most lions in the wild that is. HOWEVER, it is not true for these lions because they have been exposed to humans and vehicles so much that they have lost their fear and respect. These lions know the humans are seperate from the vehicle.
The basic rules while we were in there was: no sudden movements and don't show fear.
No wonder he waited until we were leaving to tell us.
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Annika
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Thanks Heide
Heide and Jordan, So awesome to receive your birthday wish this morning. And coming from the same place where I was born (25 years ago!). Ha. Sounds like you are having an amazing time. Keep it up. Love the travel updates. Annika