Here are the Africa pics we promised!!

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  Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve, South Africa
Saturday, February 2, 2008

South Africa, Week 3

From Lisa:
 
It's been a little over 3 weeks since we've come to Africa - and it has exceeded anything I could ever have imagined in terms of awe and beauty for the animals and the landscape. Every single day is a new adventure in what we might see in the wild. As one of our projects, we're tracking wild lions and gathering data and so far have had the privilege to see the whole families up very close. The cubs are so cute!
 
We're also tracking African wild dog pack, black-backed jackals, and a brown hyena named Thor. Living out in the bush like we're doing is an incredible experience. We are truly living close to the animals and sharing space with them

African Eagle

. It's amazing!
 
This past week we moved to the Lesheba Wilderness Park way up in the mountains for a change of scenery. What a gorgeous place! The views took my breath away - soaring eagles and green valleys as far as you can see. The park breeds White Rhinos and we had the opportunity to see a Mom and her baby. To be so big they sure are adorable! Our job here was to clear the trails - we had lessons on how to use the Panga (a machete-like tool) and Cheryl was soon using it like a pro! J Once we finished, though, we were treated to an afternoon at one of the most beautiful swimming pools I've ever seen. The canyons and hills stretched out as if they would go on forever. Gorgeous place this Africa!
 
Next week we're back at Safari Park for 2 more weeks, then we'll be 4 days in Kruger National Park. After that, our last 5 weeks will be in the Karongwe Reserve. No time to be bored here at all. So much to see and learn - it's an awesome experience so far!!
 
From Cheryl:
 
I wake up every day and still have to remind myself of where I am and what I am doing here!  Living in a safari camp doing animal tracking!  Once we find the animals we are tracking we sit and observe them for a while.  We take note of every action - lying relaxed, playing with the cubs, eating, sleeping, even drinking.  The notes we take help to provide information for the reserve manager to determine how he needs to manage the animals.
 
We were fortunate enough to come upon a kill the other day

Baby Baboon

.  A lioness had tracked and killed a zebra.  By the time we tracked the lion, she had already eaten quite a bit of the zebra.  It was sad to think of the loss of a beautiful animal like the zebra, but this is the wild and the circle of life is ever-present.  We watched for a while as the lioness (Thika) moved her kill under a tree to avoid other predators from sharing her hard earned meal.  We learned that there is a particular tree here that a lion will move a kill under to help stop the smell from reaching other predators like the hyenas who are scavengers and will steal the remains from her if given a chance.
 
We have had a few more elephant "mock" charges since the last update.  Hard to believe, but these elephants are now the animal I fear most here.  We have gone right up to a feeding lion as well as a lioness with her cubs and they seem indifferent to us.  The elephants on the other hand seem much more aggressive and truly pose more of a danger should they decide to really charge us.  We are told that IF they wanted to, they could easily topple our truck over!  I do not feel like we are in danger by any means though.  They have no desire to hurt us as long as we keep to ourselves and watch from a distance.  The one thing you NEVER do with an elephant is get between a mom and her young.  That is all the elephant would need to step up and defend herself!

Climbing the hills!

 
There is one lion here named Blade whose tracking collar is started to act up.  They want to try to dart him so we can re-collar him before the collar stops working completely.  I hope we are lucky enough to be here still when they move forward with that plan.  It will be a long night tracking him, but an experience certainly not to miss..
 
The four days in the mountain were wonderful.  It was nice and cool and we were in somewhat normal rooms where we did not need our mosquito nets.  We had a large fire one night and then used the embers to cook our meal.  Things here are so different, yet seem so right.  In the mornings when in the mountains we are awaken by Vervet monkeys looking into the windows...  As curious of us as we are them.  I snuck up on one and opened the curtain to get a closer look.  I startled him so!  He jumped away from the window about 2 meters and then stood on his two back feet to get a better look from a safer distance I suppose.
 
We are told that the final 5 weeks in Karongwe will afford us more access to the Internet.  I hope that they are right because I miss being in touch with my friends and family!  I am thinking of you all often and hope you are good.  Thanks for sharing this amazing experience with us!

More Pictures

Guisseppe	Hornbill with lunch!	Impe the elephant!	Lion Tracks!
Mountain View!	Picinin	Relaxing at camp	Rhino!
SO CUTE!!	Sunset	Sunset Giraffe	Telemetry on the mountain
Vervet Monkey	What a face!	Woodland Kingfisher	Zebra
Zola the cub

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