Postcards from South Africa: 02.20.11

SAFARI!! Our hosts were taking a visiting professor and his family (from Finland) to Pilanesberg Nat'l Park and they invited us to occupy the free spots in their "combi" (a high seated 10-passenger van). We headed out early in order to arrive to the park by 9am (still too late to catch animals at the watering holes but early enough to find them before the hot afternoon heat pushed them into the shade). We drove around for 2 hours and saw elephants, zebras, giraffes, wildebeasts, warthogs, a springbok, wild boars, and many other animals (most with funky horns) that we don't know the name of.

So? I'll devote a few posts to these beautiful creatures. We're still just overwhelmed that we had the opportunity to see them up close. We completely understand how so many people die in parks like this every year due to getting too close (and... um... out of their cars! that's all kinds of crazy) to the animals. They seem so serene and harmless, even when they tower above you and shake the ground when the walk.

Our hands down favorite animal took us both by surprise: the elephant. We were able to see a few throughout the day, but were most impressed by the elephant that strolled alongside our vehicle for a few minutes. These are simply majestic creatures. Their muscle mass is astounding and they seem so composed.