5am is really early

It's their world

      Today we did part two of our game drive.  Being up at 5 am to go on an open air game drive sounds like insanity but was a great time to see some of the  animals in their habitats. We unfortunately didn't see the primates that seem to enjoy visiting the immediate area around the lodge.The giraffes were eating breakfast and we go to get pretty close to a male giraffe eating acacia. By the way a group of giraffes is called a tower. Giraffes have four stomachs and are ruminants.
Today's animal sighting for my particular travel group included

• A zeal of zebra
• Goshawks
• Kudu have big ears to aid them in hearing in the bush.
• Duikers
• Elan antelope
• Guinea fowl scratch open elephant dung and pick out the seeds and eat them

     But the story of the day for one of our groups was the sighting of two young male elephants. Upon arrival at the sight the two young elephants were jostling with each other and locking tusks. One of the elephants decided he needed to come and investigate the open air vehicle the group was riding in and bumped it a couple of times. It then got its tusk stuck in the canvas door of the vehicle. A very scary tale for the person sitting in the seat but a gentle reminder that we are in their territory which is one of the first things that we were told before embarking on yesterday's journey. No one was hurt but everyone gained a new respect for the giants.We must respect the environment in which we are in and be grateful for the experience to intrude on their lives. 

     Our group also drove by Executioners Hill which according to local lore was the place where tribes executed those in the tribe that had committed treason and a few other "offensive" acts. If it was believed that a person had shared tribal secrets with another tribe or not shared information that could benefit the tribe about other tribes they were taken to Executioner's Hill and dropped over the age. This was also the fate of women unfaithful to their marriage vows. 

Pilanesburg photos

Cape Town

     Today we traveled to the final city on our itinerary. We arrived in Cape Town aboard Mango Airlines. Must say the bright orange plane was moderately amusing to me, but I digress. The sight of Table Mountain as we landed was absolutely awesome.

Our guide for this leg of the tour is Gerry who was quick to inform us that Tom was off on holiday while he worked. (badabum!) Cape town is considered the legislative capital of South Africa. The seat of parliament which it seems is across from our hotel is in Cape Town. Pretoria is the executive capital. This is where the President and Cabinet are seated. The judicial capital is Bloemfontein. This is where the seat of the Supreme Court of Appeal is. The Constitutional Court of South Africa is in Johannesburg.

      The city is in a major water crisis, due to a multi year drought, and there are signs and even metal art posted all over the city on the streets and in establishments reminding people to conserve water. Thankfully Day Zero, the point at which the taps will be completely dry, has been pushed back to May from the April date that we were given prior to preparing for this trip. People are limited to 59 liters of water per day.There is heavy rain currently predicted for late Friday afternoon which while

disappointing to the tourist is not something that any decent human could ever begrudge them.

     Capetown is the second largest port in South Africa. It has a known population of 4.2 million. Known refers to the fact that there are many informal settlements in Cape Town wherein the people living there would not have been counted as part of any type of census. 

     Dinner this evening was at Tiger's Milk Restaurant. The restaurant specializes in American fare. Not sure they were completely ready for a party of 56 even if food had been chosen in advance but it was a nice social end to a long day. I got to taste a Coca-Cola product actually in another country. I visited the World of Coke Museum in Atlanta last summer. One of their rooms was dedicated to Coke products around the world. Each continent had a station and tasting cups. I have decided as a result of that experience that some products just don't translate well to other countries. I tasted the African products at the museum but got try this particular one today in Cape Town.  This was my cream soda. Notice anything odd?

Cape Town photos

The Lions Sleep Tonight

Although jacarandas are the national flower nursuries are not allowed to plant them because they are very thirsty trees. They won't be cut down but can't be planted much like the willow another water thirsty tree seen in this area that can decimate a water scarce country. 

We left Johannesburg today to embark on what for me is the highlight of the trip, the safari rides. En-route we discussed the importance of conservation and how important the Big 5 are to the South African community.  Nelson Mandela an important cultural icon is on the front of the bills, but the big five are on the back side of the paper money. The buffalo is on the 100 rand, the lion on the 50 rand note, the elephant on the 20 rand note, the rhinoceros is on the 20 rand note and the somewhat shy leopard is on the 200 rand note. The small five are the leopard backed tortoise, the rhinoceros beetle with its horn, the ant, the elephant shrew and the buffalo weaver. The ugly five are the hyena, the vulture, the wildebeest, the warthog, and the marabou stork. 

     Today we visited the Ivory Tree Game Lodge. The lodge sits on 127000 square acres of land. But you can only see less than half of it from all the driving trails which the animals sometimes use as pathways because the roads are the path of least resistance. This site is a national park maintained by the government but privately owned by a local tribe. The Ivory Tree Game Lodge is part of the Pilanesburg National Park and is situated in the north eastern region. The national park is made up of a savana biome, a bushland, and a grassland.
     We were greeted upon arrival by African drummers and served some traditional foods, sorry can't tell you what the ostrich tasted like just couldn't trick myself into trying it.
Ivory Tree is full of local flora and fauna in addition to the birds, and mammals.
The elephants and giraffes have a preferred snack that actually has a defense mechanism. Both animals like the acacia plant and will chew on the bark to get to the sweet sap in the cambium, the layer between the bark and the stem. After two to three minutes of eating the plant releases a chemical that makes the acacia bitter so that the animal will not eat the entire thing in one setting.
Some of the animals that live here and cool factoids we learned from our guides today.

• There only exist 9 species of giraffe, The species differences are based on shoulder heights and the darkness of their markings . Due to their awkward gait giraffes will often die if they try to climb hills.
• Impala have black socks that are scent glands for following each other. There may be as many as forty females and one male in a group of impalas. Impalas have a seven month gestation period and the mother can hold the baby in for an additional 2 months if the need arises such as a drought in the living space. They have a dark black lines on their rear end that form the shape of the letter m, jokingly giving them the moniker "McDonald's of the grasslands
• kudu are herbivores
• wildebeest "brindled moo" is the the local name
  
  
  
  
  
• controlled fires happen to control the vegetative populations occur 2-5 years in tall growing areas and in other areas every 5-7 years
• zebras forcibly exile the injured. The zebras living here are plains zebras and have a shadowlining.
• suicide birds
• marshall eagle
• franklin bird
• glossy starlings are black but look greenish blue when the sign shines through their feathers. 
• black backed jackal puffs
• grey go away birds
• black shouldered kites will dive at speeds of 100 mph into tunnels after prey, often mice.
• buffalo thorn bushes are used as a defense so lions dont flank. they contain 1 crooked thorn and one straight thorn. The branches are also used by some local tribes to throw over the bodies of the deceased representative of their crooked life time and then that they will have a pure and straight afterlife.
• Children under six are not allowed in an open safari drive because the crying mimics a snack for lions and elephants have been known to attempt to turn over vehicles looking for the source of the noise.
• bushbuck
• masked weaver bird . The female runs the show in this relationship. The male spends a ridiculous amount of time building a nest in order to attract a female. The nest is tightly woven and often at the end of a branch. The female comes and inspects it. If she is not pleased she tears it apart and he must start all over again. 
• hyena it ran away before we could snap a picture they are evidently very skittish. 
• jackal we played follow the leader with him until he found some pals and a snack along the roadway
• White rhinos are grass eaters. We witnessed a mother and her 2 -3 year old infant crossing in front of our vehicle and later a bull white rhino. They have big flat square lips. Their heads can weigh 300 kg. They have an arched back and they don't swim. Two rhinos are poached each day for their horns. There is a steep fine for the poaching and the park is monitored but with 127000 square acres of land monitoring and managing to catch the poachers in the act is sometimes hard. Rhinos have a 16 month gestation period so new babies are not being born at a rate to keep up with the deaths by poaching. White rhinos are larger than black  rhinos. Rhinos can live up to 40 years. They have poor eyesight but a great sense of smell and hearing. Males have thicker horns with a thicker base that they use to fight with other males and sometimes hit against rocks. Females therefore have a longer horn but it has a smaller base. 
  
• Hippos an adult can hold its breath underwater for about 6 mins. An infant can only hold its breath for about 2 minutes. The mother therefore stays in shallower water with the baby until it is able to stay in deeper water. Male rhinos will sometimes kill a baby in order to mate with the female who will not leave the baby if it is still unable to survive in the deeper water. A hippos skin is very sun sensitive and it can lose its pigmentation if it stays out in the sun. 
• Rhinos are shadowed by cattle egrets that eat the bugs that are unearthed when the large animal walks along. 
• Elephants like to rip the bark off of trees and the trees over so that they can get to the roots. Elephants only process about 60% of what they eat.A bull elephant may eat 250 kg of food a day. 
• A male lion's vocalizations can be heard from 7-14 km away depending on whether they are on a flat savannah or a mountainous area.

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Our evening culminated with djembe drummers and a marimba band. Small drums were also placed out for guests to join in the jam session. It was a great time to release some energy, practice long forgotten African dance steps we learned at Swarthmore and just enjoy each others company. Well off to bed part 2 of the safari ride is at 5am tomorrow. Oh and lions refused to show their faces to all but one on the safari groups hence the title for tonight's post :)
Pilanesburg Photos