When we were out in the jeep, George was looking at the ground as we went to see what had been happening on the reserve overnight. He could see that the hippo had been out and about and which other animals had been down the track. All the rangers are in contact over the radio, so that when one ranger finds something of interest, he lets others know. Only two groups will stop near a group of animals at a time, so that the animals are disturbed as little as possible and the rangers let each other know when they have moved on.
On one occasion, George had heard a lot of bird noise and suspected the a cat as nearby (cat as in term of leopard or similar). Another ranger was already on site and had seen an antelope dart out of the bush, so that added to the evidence. We drove around the site for a little while, but the cat had gone to ground.
This morning we had George to ourselves, Ron and Pippa had decided to leave Shamwari early that morning to get a good start for their drive back.
Photos are not easy first thing because of the light, but we saw these giraffe
A kingfisher was sitting on a pole and you can just make out the blue flash above the tail.
A female Impala
A Hoopoe was displaying his crest. Apparently African hoopoes are quite as stupid as French hoopoes. We learnt, however, this is because they are fearless as they have few predators. Their markings are those of a poisonous animal and if attacked they can spray their attacker with the content of their preening gland which is evil smelling.
A long tailed bird
A waterbuck
Swallows practising standing on wires
Ostrich having an early breakfast
George drove towards the river and stopped. At first the water was still, then a ripple appeared and then some more. It was as George expected: there were hippos under the water. After a couple of minutes eyes, ears and nostrils appeared.
It seemed to be a family of hippos. Sure enough, it was just a matter of waiting until more little heads popped up.
There is an area of Shamwari which is fenced off from the main part of the park. Here 'stock' animals are kept so that the main park can be restocked when necessary, together with endangered species. In particular, predators, such as lions and big cats, are excluded from this part of the park and the animals are tested regularly for bovine TB. Small cats keep down the small mammals to maintain the balance, and animals roam freely, as in the main part of the park.
First on the menu were the buffalo. The last of the big 5 for us to tick off. This was a small part of the herd. Buffalo are in the big five as the herds are a very powerful force in the wild. They will deprive lions of their kills just for the sake of it.
Here you can see the difference between female (left) and male horns. The male horns are joined together to defend the skull when they are fighting.
This calf has already got horns a self weening mechanism as buffalo calves suckle from behind and not from the side like cows.
This baby buffalo is very young.
Some animals need to warm up in the morning after the cold night. Ostriches are one example and these birds are another. They are all sitting as high as they can to catch the sun.
Cape Zebra, which seemed to move in formation, were very shy and even ran away from us maintaining formation. These too are an endangered species.
Cape Zebra, which are endangered, have different markings from the zebra we had seen before. They are black and white (no brown) and they are white underneath. The stripes are closer together and more angular and their skins are more prized - the reason they are endangered.
We never managed to get close to those three but we were more fortunate with a second group. The male is standing between us and the females and the young zebra was mostly kept hidden from us.
But we did manage to get one proper shot of it.
A Kudu
The Born Free foundation is housed in Shamwari. Here, animals that have been kept in captivity and often mistreated are cared for by one man. The animals have a lot of space, but would not survive in the wild. This lion has no claws and his teeth have been filed down. Leopards and panthers also live there. The animals have large enclosures and so some were not in view.
On the way home, we got a good shot of a tortoise who was close by the road.
And here is Longlee lodge on our way back.
We were collected at 11am and delivered to Port Elizabeth airport where we collected a car. We needed to drop into Manor38, the B&B where we had stayed on our way to Shamwari. By chance, there was a room available and so we will stay here for 2 nights.
In the evening, we ate at a fish restaurant by the sea and then called into the Boardwalk shopping centre where the fountains perform on the hour - Las Vegas style we presume. The show included changing colours, music and heights and patterns of the fountains. It was window and so the spectators got a bit wet.
Pat and John on tour