Shamwari, take 2

Back in the game reserve... it was nice to go back to a place where I knew the lay of the land, metaphorically speaking... the reserve is way too big for a girl with no sense of direction to find her way arounf after only 3 weeks there... however, I will say that I was able to direct my friends correctly when they dropped me off there!

Follow the N2 to Grahamstown, but turn off the nice smooth, impressive motorway, to the dirt track following signs to Patterson, and then to Shamwari, and then to Potes... and then through the gate, that the lock for which was initially described to me as a jigsaw puzzle, and then down the road, and then you will see the various houses that became my world for 6 weeks.

The game ranger, Konrad, loved wathcing the elephants, and after two weeks away, he was having withdrawal symptoms, so my first day back on the reserve was spent looking for as many elephants as we could find, and actually, we found something like 50 of the 60 elephants on the reserve, which was pretty good for day one!

We then went looking for the northern pride of lions, as one had ben looking a bit too skinny... and we found them.. all, of course, except the one we were looking for... oh well..still very exciting!

Around this time, a rhino had been poached on another reserve, and she had a calf, so the calf was taken to the rehab hospital at Shamwari, and we got to see his arrival. 

Rhinos are social animals, and so cant be alone, particularly after the traumatic experience of watching his mother be hacked to pieces just for her horn.  The vets at the hospital needed to find a surrogate family for the rhino, and who did they find?  A jersey cow, an orphaned buffalo, who was being motheres by the buffallo, and an orphaned zebra.  The three animals were intorduced to the rhino, who did not take kindly to this, and charged the poor animals relentlessly, to the point that the poor cow got a nasty gash on her head... after a while, they were separated, and a day or so later, a lone donkey took their place, which the rhino seemed to take more kindly to.  It was quite a sight!

Fridays, as per usual, are spent in the orphanage, playing with the children in the mornings, a shopping trip in paterson, which usually consisted of bottled water and the essential chocolate bar, and then my afternoons were spent heading to PE, where I spent my weekends with my surrogate famiily!

My second week at the game reserve consisted of a lot of alien vegetation control.  This included chopping acacia trees, which are harder to cut than beefwoods, and prickly pears.  We also planted tick offs, to help the animals manage the ticks that are around in the summer, and made a watering whole ostrick frienddly, by creating a sloped entrance to help the young ostrich get out!

We also found the female leopard, and even watched her make a kill... the poor kudu didnt know what hit it! We also found a half eaten waterbuck, which the lions had killed earlier... this was not a good week for dead animals, as I witnessed nature take its course out in the bush!

Over the weekend, I had another tour of the local area, and went to Port Alfred, a quaint village on the banks of a river, Bathurst, where I saw pineapples growing for the first time, which, no sarcvasm, did rreally excite me, and Grahamstown, a student town, which is known to have a very good festival in june, i think... yet another reason to come back to this beautiful country!

My final week at Shamwari was another exciting one.  We went looking for the cheetah, and found them, and 'walked them.'  In the wild, this means, getting out of the protection of the vehicle, and walking in the bush. Standing face to face with these big, powerful cats is certainly an experience not to be missed, although I certainly felt very vulnerable, particularly, as Im sure one was staring straight at me for what felt like a significant period of time!

The next day, we went to the animal hospital where I and another girl babysat the orphaned warthog, wilbur, and the meerkat, stinky, aka, of course, timon and pumba for the morning.  That afternoon, we looked for and found the lions, and tarted one of the females, to give her a slow release contraception.  Lucky me, in my 6 weeks st the reserve, I got to touch two wile lions!

The next day, we watched the vet examine a limping caracal, and then got to help feed the baby white lion cubs, rhino and warthog.  Feeding the lion cubs was probably a highlight for me.  There are two of them, and for those of you who dont know, white lions are extremely rare.  These cubs' mother rejected them at birth, which is why they are at the rehab centre.  They are in an enclosure that is surrrounded by black and green netting, so that their exposure to humans is minimised as they are going to be released back into the wild when they are weaned.  Feeding them was therefore a privilege for us lion lovers! 

The next day, was my penultimate day, and we got up early, to be out on the reserve for 5.30am.  We looked for all the predators, and saw the cheetahs, moving around in an attempt to find something to hunt, the female leopard also patrolling, on the prowl for food, and the male leopard, who we could tell was very close to us but we couldnt see him... leopards being the most illusive cats around!             

My last day was spent in paterson, at the orphanage, followed by a more emotional farewell than I was expecting!  Sunday I headed to Plettenberg Bay, or Plett to us locals, which is where I now am, missing dinner, so Im off to eat... more soon!

xxxx