Mom and Mabret climbed aboard Duma who is the dominant pack leader among the 3 elephants that we interacted with today. The guides tell us that Duma is humble and extremely intelligent. Pictured below with Mabret and Mom is one of the guides, Shylock.
Dad and Roman were aboard Thaba. The guides describe Thaba as reserved and not one to show his intentions. Dad and Roman rode with Saul.
Pictured below along with us is Mudwa being ridden by Thomas.
After our ride, we walked with our friends and watched them play and eat.
Of course, carrying us around made them hungry.
They are intelligent, gentle and loving animals and we are blessed to have spent so much time in their company.
Our day seemed to have endless opportunity to interact with nature while just being together. A hike was next.
Finally, our day was capped off with a two hour game drive. I love the picture of our young adventurers below. Driving and leading our game drive was Ryan.
During various parts of our day, we were lucky enough to spot many beautiful animals.
The Kudu is an antelope with a medium brown coat and white strips down the body. Kudu will graze and feed largely on new grass. Kudu have long dramatic spiraled horns.
The Impala is a sleek and elegant creature which lives in herds of varying size. Their call is a loud combination of growls and snorts.
The easily recognized Giraffe. These exquisite animals live in a very loose social structure in which individuals of both sexes move freely from one group to another. Below is a mother and child.
The Zebra species of the African Plains is the Burchell's Zebra. This is the only zebra that has black stripes extending onto the stomach. Zebra patterns are unique to the particular animal and a mother will shield her young from members of the herd until her patterns are imprinted on the foal's memory before exposing it to the patterns of others.
The below zebra is pregnant.
The Waterbuck is a rugged animal with a white ring on its rear end. One theory suggests that the white ring allows the young to follow when on the move or running from danger.
The Blesbok is an antelope with a distinctive white face and forehead which inspired the name, because bles is the Afrikaans word for a blaze just as one might see on the forehead of a horse.
The day was capped of with a wonderful dinner with our guides who were incredible hosts.
Tomorrow is a travel day. Next stop - The Buccaneer Backoacking Hostel in Chinsta, South Africa. This is a legendary hostel among backpackers around the world known for great parties and adventurous people. We are psyched to get there.
Peace Out.
