Walking With Elephants

The Elephant Sanctuary near Plettenberg Bay is a fun place to visit and we had a great time there. I hope you'll all get to enjoy something of it too in the following pictures. :)

The Sanctuary is a temporal home for young elephants who sadly lost their mothers to poachers or were themselves injured by poachers or snares. 

Here we met the elephants and got ready to walk with them, with the guide explaining a few things to us. As far as size goes, these elephants are still considered 'small' and they can grow much larger.

Part of the walk through the forest. As it's Winter, the forest isn't as lush and green as it would be in Summer. It's surprising how fast the elephants walk, we had to do a brisk step to keep up with them.

In a forest clearing we were given a demonstration and talk about the elephants and were also allowed to touch them. One can just marvel at how amazing God made each creature!

Having a look at the elephant's teeth and tongue. :P 

The elephants hides are extremely thick and rough - they feel more like thick, hard rubber mats than like skin.

Mom walking back with one of the elephants. It's so sweet the way they "hold" your hand with their trunks, though I must tell you that the trunks are quite a weight!

After the walk we fed 'treats' (chunks of pumpkin) to the elephants. 

An extra-exciting experience for Jessica and I was going for a ride on an elephant.  :)

Very different to riding a horse! :D 

The elephants walk in single-file holding each others tails - they often do this in the wild too as a way of bonding and keeping contact with the herd.

All in all a great day and a wonderful experience to spend time with these amazing creatures. :)

Water & Stone

I'm not going to say much here - just let you scroll through the pictures of some more of our outings. Hope you enjoy them. :)

The first batch of pictures are of a lovely, early morning when our family took a small boat down the Keurboom River:

Next, the winding but beautiful Outeniqua Mountain pass. We had to drive through here on our way to the town of Oudshoorn and the Cango Caves:

We went on a tour of the Cango Caves. There was just one other family on the tour besides ours so we had lots of time to enjoy the caves and ask lots of questions of the tour-guide:

From water and stone, mountain tops to the depth of the earth, how wonderful is God's Creation!

O LORD, how manifold are THY works! 

in wisdom hast thou made them all:

 the EARTH IS FULL OF THY riches. 

~ Psalm 104:24

Masorini - Place of Secrets

In the Kruger National Park, close to the Phalaborwa Gate is an archeological site which was inhabited during the Iron Age by a group of people who were part of the BaPhalaborwa clan. These people had discovered that this area was rich in iron-ore and so they made their home here on this hill known as Masorini. They learned to smelt and manufacture iron and then sold and traded with other people and tribes. How they made the iron artifacts was a well-guarded secret and the site of their village was kept secret and well-guarded. Once they had manufactured enough items, a few men would set off to sell these goods - they would often travel far and be away for a long time. So closely guarded was the secret of the iron that the women of the clan were not allowed to marry anyone from outside the village so that they would not be able to take the knowledge of the iron-making to any other people.

Archeologists have restored the village and the story of this site is a fascinating one.  

Masorini Hill which was inhabited and closely guarded by the BaPhalaborwa people.

There is a small museum at the foot of the hill which gives a brief history of the site and also has exhibits of some of the artifacts (pic below) found at the site.

It is interesting to go on the guided tour of the site and see how these people lived and to hear about their history.

Beginning our guided walk.

Huts are situated on different levels on the hill. 

Pieces of rock containing iron-ore - they are actually quite heavy for their size!

A reconstructed smelting furnace where the iron ore was melted and then shaped into tools, arrow-heads, etc.

This hut was home to one of the chief's wives. (The artifact on the right is a drum.)

Walking to the huts that are situated higher up.

The "look-out" hut was situated above the rest of the village.

This was the council meeting place and the "seat" you see almost in the center of the picture, was the Chief's throne.

Masorini, Place of Secrets, is altogether a fascinating place to visit. 

Causeway and River Loops

Just outside Shingwedzi Camp there is a narrow causeway or low-water bridge. When the river is full, this causeway is underwater but during drought there are usually just pools of water on the side. In drought or plenty, spending some time here is always rewarding as there are always birds and animals around this spot. 

Elephants are plentiful in the Kruger Park. The Bulls are often alone or in small groups whereas the females and young elephants are found in herds. Elephants like fresh water and, (as this one in the picture did),  often dig water-holes in the dry river beds to find underground water.

There were lots of Kingfishers around the causeway. Above is a Pied Kingfisher and below, a small "jewel-coloured" Malachite Kingfisher. 

Monitor Lizard or 'Leguaan' as it is known in South Africa. This one was lying a short way from the pool of water on the side of the causeway.

Terrapins sunning themselves. They are a type of freshwater turtle.

A Saddle-billed Stork "fishing" .

A group of Chacma baboons came along too. 

Not far from the causeway is a road that winds along the river in a series of "loops" until it reaches the "Kanniedood Dam". Translated into English the name means "Cannot-die" Dam. Even in times of drought there is water in this dam. The game viewing is always good here. 

Part of the Kanniedood Dam. The dam is full of hippos (pic. below) and crocodiles. 

Young Waterbuck and Egret on the bank.

Herd of Impala on one of the river loops  - there are over 130 000 of these antelope in the Kruger Park

Nyala female (above) and Nyala male (below)

An African Buffalo crossing the road. We saw lots of buffalo during our time in the Park.

Bridge over a very dry Shingwedzi River. Many animals are still to be seen in the dry riverbed as there are pools of water here and there. Apparently just the day before a big male Lion spent most of the morning just below this bridge.

At sunset, while driving back to the camp we came across this pair of Bateleur Eagles.

And so ends another day... :)