10 August 2009 – Monday

When I woke up, all I really wanted to do all day was sit at home and relax. But instead we fixed some lunch, grabbed all our gear and headed off to the game park for a day in the country. The Mfalozi/Hluhlwe game park is located just over an hour from our boarding. This makes it a tempting destination for p-days. Mary would go ever week but I am only willing to go about once or twice a cycle.

 

This is the entrance to the park. The notice suggests you do not get out of your car so you will not be eaten or stepped on by the wild animals that roam the open plains and forests. We decided the extra animal – usually there are only five – might be wild dogs but we are not sure

It was a perfect day for going to the park. It is winter so the grass is as thin and low as it gets so the animals are easier to find. The temperatures were moderate and there was often a breeze. It was a holiday so people tended not to get up early to go to the park so we had almost no traffic getting to or in the park.

First there was just a tan lump in the grass. Then it seemed to grow. And then it got ears.

Then it had eyes. Which looked right at me to see if I might make a tasty lunch. But it decided I was too old and tough and looked elsewhere.

 If you heard it roar just 40 or so feet from you with only some grass between, you would know why it was called the King of Beasts.

Today we finally saw some lions. We had seen one lone female at another park, but she was walking along a road next to a fence and could have been in a zoo. These were out in the middle of a huge grassland/jungle park and there was nothing between us and them but some grass and air. We found the male when we saw a number of vehicles parked along the side of the road with everyone pointing their cameras at a bush. We wondered what everyone was so excited about and then we saw this yellow mass which was of course the lion.

We spent 10-15 minutes taking pictures and I got some good ones. I especially like the one where he is looking right at the camera. After a while we worked our way through the increasing stack of cars and went on our way. As we were driving along, I heard a bark and immediately knew it was another lion. I knew the sound because I had seen a program about lions on TV and the sound is very unique. As I looked around for the source, I saw this large female striding across a hill on the other side of a small valley. I never got a picture because she was moving fast and the branches and leaves kept getting in the way. We finally lost sight of her as she moved into the dense foliage.

 

 

 

 

Why did the giraffe cross the road – to eat the bush on the other side.

We got home about 4:30 to find Elders Richey, Mbithi, Musemare, and Mokopotsa waiting. Last night they had mentioned that they could not e-mail today because it was a holiday and the place that lets them use their computers and internet would be closed. I told the Zone leaders that they could come and use our computers for an hour. Everyone except for elder Mokopotsa read and answered their mail and were out again by 6:00.

While they were here and elder Musemare was waiting for the other two to finish so he could get on, we asked him to help us hang the roadshow backdrops in the garage so I could take good pictures of them. I wanted them for my journal but also I will have a couple of larger prints made for Sazi and Bungumusa so they can show others their handy work. Mary and I needed help because we were not tall enough to hang the top panel. Each backdrop was over 8 feet high and about 25 feet long.

The rest of the night was spent on the computer – mainly editing all the pictures I took today – and reading before going to bed rather early. I should mention that Mary baked a cake to take to Durban tomorrow so the elders can have dessert with their pizza.

It had been a beautiful and adventurous day in South Africa