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Published: March 15th 2007
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Rhino!
I finally got to see some of my favourite animals! I've been on safari and I'm still buzzing from it despite having been up since 4.30 this morning!!
I want to be a ranger even more now I've seen so many big game animals in the wild! Another one of my dreams came true when 5 minutes after entering the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park we drove past a White Rhino munching on the grass right by the side of the road. One of the main reasons I came to South Africa was to see these amazing prehistoric looking creatures, I'm absolutely fascinated by them for some reason! Before we'd even stopped for breakfast we'd ticked off 4 of the Big 5. We spotted some Lions stalking Impala in the long grass and went to turn around to get a better view, but right by the turning spot there was a whole family of Rhino, including a baby, and then on the other side of the road was an Elephant...I didn't know which way to look!!!
We got even closer to Elephants when driving around a corner we came face to face with a whole herd running down the road towards us. It has to be said my heart lept at the thought
of something so huge charging us, but then it was amazing to see them move like that. Unfortunately we didn't see any Leopards, although by the end I was convinced every branch was one sleeping in a tree and every rock another lion in the grass. I'm already planning where to do a night game drive to up my chances of seeing one.
I've had a few more wildlife encounters during the past couple of weeks that I've been travelling around South Africa, definitely a great choice to fly here and start seeing more of the things I really want to see. Me and Beccie went for a bike ride in a nature reserve in Pietermaritzburg last week, thought we better start an exercise regime after months of sitting on the truck. Back home nature reserves mean seeing birds and the odd squirrel, but here we rode around a corner and practically ran into a Giraffe! 11 Giraffes in fact, and lots of Zebra too! It was amazing to be so close to animals you only usually get to see from a car or through a wire fence. We also visited the aquarium in Durban and had great fun
Me and the wildlife!
More exciting than a bike ride through the New Forest?! laughing at all the weird fish and relating them to the Disney films we've grown up on. Now I realise where my fear of eels comes from - the Little Mermaid - they're so creepy and evil looking!!
Me and Beccie also spent a couple of days in the Drakensberg mountains. Experienced our first local minibus taxis in SA and the joy of being crammed in them with 15 other sweaty people and your luggage on your lap for hours on end! The Drakensberg are absolutely beautiful and we got more fresh air and exercise climbing the hills and riding horses...yes I actually braved getting on a horse and was disappointed by how unscary it was!
I waved goodbye to Becs on Tuesday because unfortunately we have different time scales for getting across SA. Found another friendly face to travel north to St Lucia with and we had an interesting meeting on our way here. Getting off the bus in Richards Bay we asked a woman for directions to the minibus taxi rank and were then subjected to 10 minutes of her giving us every horror story and racist comment she could think of, saying we'd be killed
just looking for a 'Black taxi', let alone risking getting in one!! Oddly enough we ignored her over the top warnings and had a very pleasant journey in the company of friendly people, and with a driver who was a lot more careful than the Baz Bus that overtook us! It's quite something to be exposed to the massive contrasts in this country and the blatant divides that still operate. South Africa really is unlike anywhere else I've ever visited.
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Haka
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HAPPY (BELATED!) BIRTHDAY!!!
Sorry for the delay, how's it all going? Wishing you a belated birthday for Thursday. How's it all going? Where are you? Lots of love mate, gotta get back to work XXXX