On Safari

Today we had a grand adventure as we visited the Tala Game Reserve which borders the orphanage.  The minimum age to go on a game drive with a guide is 5 years old so we couldn’t do that with Thandokuhle.  Instead we were able to go on a “self-drive” where you drive your own car.  Since our rental car is a compact car that is low to the ground we needed to stay on the “main” dirt roads and not on the smaller roads that require 4 wheel drive. (And the rental car insurance information clearly spells out that damage to the car that occurs on safaris and game drives is not covered). So armed with a map and directions from the attendant on where to find the rhinos, we were off!

The view was spectacular and the animals incredible.  It is amazing to be so close to wild animals without any fences and it definitely helped Thandokuhle learn some more animal names in English (except we saw a few where I didn't know their names).

After driving around for awhile we found all the major animals except the giraffes so we stopped at the reception area to ask.  There was a gift shop at the reception that sold ice cream popsicles so we each got one.  It soon became apparent that Thandokuhle had never eaten a popsicle and didn’t know what to do with it.  Needless to say, pieces of the chocolate coating fell off and ice cream dripped all over.  By the end of the popsicle Thandokuhle’s face, shirt, and shoes were covered with ice cream. However, she kept patting her belly saying there was ice cream in her belly and that she liked it.  Thankfully, I had a pack of wipes in the glove compartment!

At last we found the giraffes and it was certainly worth the search!

Driving is quite the adventure since the animals walk on the same roads we're driving on.

And no, I don't have a fancy telephoto lens on my camera...we were very close to the animals!