Wild Kingdom

We learned more about the animal kingdom in three days than I think I have remembered from all of my learning in school (granted that was mostly back in elementary school). Mt. Cambdeboo was a wonderful experience. It is set in a valley and surrounded by these big beautiful hills and mountains. The reserve is set up to maximize your learning experience. We pretty much had a ranger with us at all times, including meals (which were extremely good). We would get up early each morning to head out for a game drive from about 6:30-10:00 AM and then have free time until the next drive from about 4:30-9:00. Now mind you, free time is in a gated area surrounding the manor house that we stayed in because the animals are free to roam….so crazy. When we weren’t out on the drives, we would most often catch ourselves sitting and staring at our surroundings. There was always some number of vervet monkeys running around and creating all sorts of commotion, the ostrich would be roaming off in the distance, baboons would be foraging in the field, or we would be watching our step for cape cobra (which we fortunately did not see although we probably both had nightmares about them).

The game drives were fantastic. Our ranger, Etienne, was kind of a South African crocodile hunter. He could spot animals and insects unbelievably well, he taught us great lessons about the lifestyle of each animal and how they are created to uniquely survive in their environment, and he told us all sorts of crazy stories he has experienced in his eight years as a ranger. Here are some highlights of our time:
· I am sure that we both would say that our number one highlight involves a cheetah. There is a cheetah on the game reserve with four cubs that are about six months old or so. We used a locating device to get the general area she was roaming and then tracked her in the Land Rover and by foot. We found her and her cubs taking a rest after she had attempted a run on some mountain reed bok. We were able to walk up and sit probably about 20 feet away. Amazing! She was totally aware of our presence but was not concerned at all. We just sat and watched she and the four cubs, heard them purr, and then watched as they stalked off to approach another opportunity for dinner. It was only about 20 minutes that we were able to sit there with them, but it was amazing to be so close to such a beautiful animal.
· We felt lucky and it was easily confirmed by the staff. We managed to see one or all five rhinos on every drive that we went on. They really do look like an ancient dinosaur and are gigantic.
· The giraffe were such giant, graceful creatures. We loved watching them walk through the trees.
· The sunsets every night were a fantastic display in the sky.

The list goes on but we will have to include pictures later as they take a long time to upload.. It was such a beautiful, relaxing time. We were glad to have the time to continue to reflect on our journey thus far and those still to come.