Greetings from Letaba Camp in the north-eastern corner of South Africa...
We have been trying to get your kids to call you at points that work into our schedule (and cell service - not as advanced as in the states - think of cell service back 10-15 years ago). Usually lunchtime works if they can reach home early in the AM...or later in the evening to catch you when they think it is best to contact you.
So far we have seen 3/5ths of the Big 5 - Rhinos, Elephants (loads of them!) & Lions -- (Leopards (hardest to find) and Buffalo are the other two.) Named as the Big 5 for their difficulty to take down if hunting these animals as they will fight back if shot at...things like hippos are dangerous, but if shot at, they run away into the water. Giraffe are big, but not aggressive.
In our game drive (basically a passenger van driving on the area roads with a trailer bringing our gear), we have also seen giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, monkeys, baboons, crocodile, ostrich, southern hornbill (large turkey-like bird with a red head), hippos, brown snake eagle, white-backed vultures, fruit bat, loads of impala/springbok/kudus (antelope type animals - like our deer/moose, but they don't drop their horns which is what makes them an antelope.)
We are on our 2nd day in Kruger National Park - at the Letaba Camp - where the elephant museum is that house the tusks & some skull bones of the "Magnificent Seven" - 7 enormous elephants that lived in Kruger. Elephants live to the age of 40-60 yrs old...they may live longer, but they usually starve to death...the reason being is that they have 6 sets of molars that come out and are replaced by the new ones. The last pair tends to wear down and the elephants can't chew their food right and end up starving to death. The students here are learning these things and many many more!
We went on our bush walks this AM where park rangers take us for a walk into the bush to look at tracks, dung, trees and whatever else that we see. We learned what to do if we get close to the wildlife (usually the other way around, as when they hear us/smell us they take off in the opposite direction - just like the wildlife back home.) We had two groups go out to manage the size of the groups in the bush. Our group had the experience of a lifetime as we met a troop of baboons who were talking to each other about us. The ranger mentioned that they won't let us get near to them, but they did let us get near. We found out the reason why when we heard a pride of lions groan out from the other side of the valley and the baboons were trying to figure out which way to run. We saw the lions very well and once they caught our scent took off into the bush. We were not being brash or unsafe, we basically just learned that these animals are more likely to run away once they see us. Kind of reminds me of coming up on a bear in the woods of VT - they can be a problem if you get in the way of their cubs...but most times they want nothing to do with people.
Next stop later today is a game drive (drive the roads slowly looking to see what we can see) on the way to Balule where we spend tonight. Two more nights in Kruger (tonight/tomorrow night) before we head south into Swaziland.
Everyone is doing well - getting along great, chipping in on dishes/cooking/cleaning/setting up camp at night. We are fitting in runs (& walks for the non-runners) around the campgrounds. Some of these campgrounds are huge - today we were able to run a mile loop on the (brick/paved) roads around the campground. They have high fences around the campsites that is electrified to keep the predators outside the camps. It is amazing how much money they put into the park system here in Kruger - definitely a gem for South Africa.
Until we talk again...
Shaffer
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