Our second day in South Africa was a chill day. We originally had some plans in the making but between the super icky weather and our lack of motivation because of it we didn’t actually do much. We explored more of the area around the waterfront and talked to the locals around thereabouts. We hit the mall to stock up on some items for our ten day crossing (namely food and candy so the kids can go trick-or-treating on Halloween). Yeah, that’s really all I’ve got which sounds pretty pathetic and probably is so I can’t really defend it…..moving on.
The third day was super-amazing because we went on a safari!!!!! We got up and took a double-decker bus to the Aquila Game Reserve which is a huge game reserve about two hours north(ish) of Cape Town. It is my no means the biggest or most popular place to go on safari (that would be Kruger National Park or Victoria Falls area) but it was amazing. Picture your basic cheesy, cliché safari with the tan, mud-splattered jeep with a tan cover on top and a wide open flat, sandy/clay/muddy area with animals wandering around and grazing. The one difference in our cliché, cheesy picture was the fact that it was FREEZING so instead of parading around in those “safari hats” and shorts we were in sweatshirts and pants wrapped up in blankets and huddling for warmth—but hey we were on a safari in Africa so I don’t think anyone really minded all that much. Right before we entered the reserve the guide warned us that sometimes they take tours out and see nothing, not one stinking animal and that due to the cold weather there would be a chance that we could not see anything. Needless to say we all sat there thinking, “we better see something or this is going to be the worst day ever!” Then about five minutes later when we spotted our first elephant that thought was immediately diverted to, “Oh my gosh there’s an elephant, this is the best day ever!”
We ended up seeing a lot of animals: the two teenage elephants, zebras, ostriches, rhinos, lions, cheetahs, springbucks, wildebeests, hippos, alligators, etc. We took thousands of pictures and got champagne half way through (for some reason) which lead to maybe a thousand more pictures of us doing dumb stuff like hiding in the bushes and pretending to be lions. The game reserve was just as beautiful, if not more so, than the mountains and valleys we drove through to get there. All of the herbivores are allowed to roam free wherever they please, which is why they cannot guarantee that you will see any animals, so we drove around the plain between two mountain/hill things for a long time. Then we headed over to the lion area and literally were about twenty-thirty feet away from the pride. The lions have to be kept separate so that they do not eat all of the other animals but they have a huge area that they are free to rule. This pride was interesting in that there were two adult males. Apparently the leader of the pride usually kills his sons at a young age so that they do not have to give up the thrown (So much for the happy family feeling Disney portrayed). In this pride the cub was allowed to live longer than usual and he challenged his father. In all truth, they told us, he would have lost and been killed but the females of the pride stepped in and accepted his leadership and so he is now the leader of the pride. Naturally we named them Simba and Mufasa and tried to sort out the females as to who was who as we sat in the jeeps and took pictures.
After that we went to the proverbial watering hole to see the tips of the hippos noses as they occasionally lifted them out of the water to breathe. Hippos are nocturnal for the most part (I guess) so they stay underwater all day and come out at night, but never go farther than about 25 meters from water. Therefore we saw lots of noses and footprints but that was about it—still cool though!
After our safari we went into the main lodge (you can stay there for a few days, like a hotel, and go on multiple safari’s during the day and night—which would be SO amazingly cool) for lunch which was very very good. After that we headed back to the ship and basically crashed as we didn’t get much sleep the night before and were worn out from the day.
Some more fun facts about Aquila:
· The lions don’t attack the jeeps because they know that it will damage their claws if they hit the sides. All of the dents in the jeep are actually from the wildebeests (stampede!) which was very surprising given their size as compared to the jeeps.
· The rhinos are under constant protection because they had poachers sneak in awhile back and kill both of their males, luckily their females were able to get away quick enough, but now they are monitored—from a distance—24/7.
· Aquila has over 800 Springbucks
· They used to have baboons but there was no way to keep them in and they kept escaping
· They also used to have warthogs (Pumba!) but they had to take them away because….get this….the warthogs kept KILLING the LIONS!!! Yeah, we were shocked too. Wasn’t Pumba running away from Nala? (0 for 2 Disney, tisk tisk)
· Hippos will use their jaws to snap you in half, quite literally, if you get too close or make them mad but because they are herbivores they will spit you out your body and just keep moving on
More soon
~Colleen
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