Animals Galore!

What is it like to live in rural South Africa, you ask? It's like living in a gigantic zoo...except the animals are less well-groomed (albeit happier) and we have to feed ourselves.

One of the greatest perks of being here is that we get to have daily encounters with animals we would never dream of seeing back home.


The most prominent of all our newfound animal friends are impala (much like antelope or deer). Every morning we wake up to a brilliant sunrise and a herd of impala wandering through our front yard. This male was keeping a close eye on us as we left for work the other morning. You can't really tell from this angle, but impala have black markings on their hind legs and tail which form an "M" shape. Park rangers like to refer to them as the "McDonalds of The Bush" because they are cheap (to hunt and "bag") and they are everywhere. Oh, the big plants to the right of it are aloe. They grow fairly large here and provide lots of nutrients for various bugs and birds. Plus, they look real neat.


Typically, on our way to work, we also spot a few waterbuck (which look to me like a cross between impala and mules). These three were a tad concerned about how much attention we were paying them. Unlike impala, these have a rather different backside...a white ring that looks like a target...not very subtle markings, if you ask me.


Kudu are very similar to impala and waterbuck (different genus, though) except for the hump on their back...built a bit more like moose than deer. And their antlers seem to be larger than the impala, in general, but I can't be certain about that so don't go spreading the word that they are.


Then there's our fine friend the gecko. Small, unassuming, and omnipresent. The gecko is to South Africa like the squirrel is to the North West. (I don't know what in the North West is analogous to the South African squirrel...). They hang out in trees, scurrying across roads and patios, and seem quite at home on windowsills. This one, dubbed "Gene", likes to hang out by my wet flip flops in the mornings. Fine by me. I'm slightly more concerned about his'er friend who scurries across our walls inside the house. I've seen this friend only once, but have encountered a great deal more of its skat here and there (little brown, ovular drops with white tips). Despite this being a tad off putting, I've managed to welcome our little geckos since they are the #1 predators of the huge, flying, light-crazed beetles that insist on dive-bombing our window screens at night. Go, Gene! Get those beetles, my squirmy, slimy, squishy pal!


OK, I know what you're thinking: "Oh, this is nice, but I can see stuff like this in Arizona." So noted. But, these are just what we see around our yard!


Kruger National Park

That said, we too got a hankering for something a little more exotic in the animal department, so this weekend we traipsed off to Kruger National Park. Now, Kruger is something like 528 hectares of pristine wilderness. A biodiversity hotspot. It houses 147 mammal, 336 tree, 507 bird, 49 fish, 34 amphibian, and 114 reptile species. And it's practically our backyard!

We live off Orpen Road, which leads to one of the main park gates only 30 km south. The sun rises at about 5am these days, so we were up and in the park before 7am. The earlier the better otherwise it gets too hot ("engofu" in Shangaan) and the animals seldom like to move around in the heat.

Some weeks ago, a friend had mentioned to us that he had a "Wild Card" pass for Kruger which is basically the equivalent of the U.S. National Parks pass permitting free access to all national parks for the next year. He wasn't sure if we could get this, since we're not South African or permanent residents here. Slightly discouraged, but far from deterred, we gave it a shot. As Neil spoke with the park ranger (in his endearing and self-effacing way), flashed our passports/visas, and made a few jokes about how many ice-cream bars he had eaten in the last week due to the heat, I began to feel the Wild Card was within our grasp. And indeed it was! Within a few short minutes we had managed to gain access to all the wilds of South Africa! What is more, because we are classified as "temporary residents" on our visas, the ranger gave us the national rate instead of the international rate...which is equivalent to the difference in price between in-state and out-of-state college tuition. Sweet!

Happy as clams (ah, clams...seafood...Seattle...) we bounded back to our plum polo and into the park...rules and regulations duly noted.


Inside the park, you can always find animals around waterholes. Especially in the winter when water is scarce. But this isn't the best way to see animals close up because the parking lots are usually quite far from the water..."for obvious reasons," as Noam Chomsky would say. To have more intimate encounters you have to drive very slow (and sometimes very far) keeping your eyes peeled along the way. Fortunately, since there were two of us, one could pay attention to the road while the other served dual purposes as navigator and spotter. Perfect.


All said, we were downright gleeful at how many different animals we got to see...both up close and from afar. Here's just a taste of what we feasted on (with our eyes, of course...we're not into eating wild game...too"game-y" tasting).

Warthog:
These are not perhaps the most impressive of beasts, but I tend to think they are pretty great. Their main interest: digging. "Those little guys have no respect for fences," our ecologist friend exclaimed. Turns out they sleep in the holes in the ground they dig themselves. Nifty. And they seem rather harmless just kind of trotting around looking for grubs, digging holes in gardens, and destroying fence lines. Unless, of course, you happen to disturb them in the wee hours of the morning and they come charging out of their holes squealing and grunting...which happened to me just this morning on a jog through the bush. Luckily, it turns out we both have the flight reflex.


Zebra:
We drove for a while seeing no animals. Then in this clearing we came across a huge herd of zebra. There must have been over 100 of them stretched across the vast, flat landscape. These few had the right idea to hang around in the shade since it was blistering hot.




We were a bit sad when this herd eventually wandered off since we had so enjoyed just watching them be zebra. But then we just happened to look to the other side of the road...more zebra! Yes! This one found something worthwhile enough on the ground that it let us get pretty close. It's rather incredible to see so many zebra at the same time because then you start to see the differences in the colors and patterns of their seemingly identical hides.



Giraffe:
I am constantly amazed by giraffe. The long, skinny legs; the massive, muscular torso; the extended, agile neck; and the petite, delicate head on top of it all. Such an usual looking animal. A body that appears to be quite awkward. But I have yet to see an animal carry itself with more elegance.

This one was out for a mid-morning stroll across the plains and immediately veered the other direction once we showed up on the scene. We followed it as best we could, but lost it behind some trees.


To our delight, another giraffe was less deterred by our presence. This one headed straight across the road in front of our car....followed by a few kudu who couldn't resist the power of suggestion.

Once across the road, it joined its friends to munch on the tasty spring leaves of the this twisty tree (OK, so, we haven't learned the names of all the vegetation yet...too busy gawking at all the animals).


We pulled up closer, for a better look. (Hhhmm, I've just noticed this video is a bit shaky. But it took me so long to upload I'm not about to delete it. Just be warned that this may induce headaches or nausea).

Baboons:
Of all the animals we've encountered so far, baboons are the least skittish. You might say they have quite a large dose of gumption. We know this because we often see baboon around our house...or at least evidence of baboon. They are constantly breaking into our garbage can which is secured with a heavy stick and thick wire. Somehow they manage to pry it open, reach inside, pull out all the garbage, take what they want, and leave the rest strewn about the yard. Kind of a twisted "welcome home from work" party once a week. And if you're shrewd enough to catch them in the act you have to chase them off using a loud, stern voice and lots of hand-arm motion...they don't just run away from you like a good little warthog.

But we nearly forgot this endearing little characteristic of the baboon as we watched a family with lots of new babies mosey across the road in front of us.


Then the alpha-male of the group plopped himself on the other side of the road to watch over the crossing.


At times he became a bit distracted. Alas, it is frustratingly difficult getting a decent manicure in the wild.


But he appeared to more than make up for his evident shirking by his rather militant stance afterward. Either that, or he was trying to hold very still so we wouldn't see him. Or maybe he was trying to catch our attention for the perfect photo opportunity while his family members busted into our car. Hey, was that the sound of the trunk opening...?



The Big Five

The so-called "Big Five" have been dubbed such because they are the five most dangerous animals to hunt. They are: the lion, leopard, white rhino, elephant, and buffalo. (We learned, however, that these are not necessarily the most deadly creatures in South Africa. The mosquito, in fact, is the number one killer of humans...malaria... followed by the hippo. You do not want to get between a hippo and water. Apparently if they get frightened they'll charge straight to the water through whatever stands in their way).

We only saw two of the Big Five this weekend, mainly because we went to the places where elephant and buffalo were spotted early that morning. But with our new Wild Card pass we can go back as often as we like and maybe spot the other three before our year ends. Of course, we're not too put out that we didn't see any lion this time around. Turns out a Kruger trail guide who was leading a wilderness safari in the park was mauled by a lioness early this week. She was protecting her cubs of which the group wanted too close a look. Yikes! But we did spend some time with elephant and buffalo.


Elephant:
Now, usually elephant are pretty shy...


so, it's difficult to get a close up look at their faces. But even from afar they took our breath away...much like the feeling kids experience on Christmas morning.


These two found a nice little waterhole atop a hill safely distanced from the road where they proceeded to cool themselves. We wondered how we could get them to shoot some of that water our way...for some reason it seemed much more effective than our air conditioner.

That little slice of elephant life pretty much clinched it for us...we adore these "lumbering giants". Good thing too, because we had happened into elephant country. Just down the road a bit we came across these elephant who were also attempting to avoid the heat...sans water.

And this herd, down the road even further, was spending the afternoon frolicking in the (appropriately named) Oliphants River. Upon closer inspection, we could see there were a few (very large) bulls, several females, and a good number of baby elephant. One particularly energetic baby would cool off by bending its back legs and submerging its lower body in the river while simultaneously splashing water on its head via its little baby elephant trunk. The rest of the herd pretended to ignore these shenanigans.


We, on the other hand, couldn't keep our eyes off them...



I suppose you could conclude that we were a bit more awake than we were on the sunset game drive our current employers took us on back in July...the very day we arrived in South Africa. That day, all the wild animals in the world were no match for our ability to sleep sitting up. (Notice how peppy the woman sitting on the other side of the truck is. Well, she had been in town for a week and managed to get plenty of sleep in the meantime.)



Buffalo:
To us, buffalo are a bit scary. First of all, they have those curly, intimidating horns. Second, they are rather muscular...and with muscle comes power. Third, we're told they are very unpredictable. Curly horns + power + unpredictably = we're fine being all the way over here. One park ranger related the time he was guiding a safari and out of nowhere a buffalo appears from the bush, charges toward the group, and rams the side of the truck with its huge horns. See, scary. But this one seemed pretty relaxed...chillin' out in the shade with its buddies.


In fact, turns out elephant were more scary than the buffalo this time. This one tromped into the buffalo camp and decided to stir things up a bit...

Once we realized we could exit this little scene with all our limbs and car parts intact, our heart rates returned to normal, and we slowly forged ahead hoping the elephant would prefer the next waterhole to our plum polo.

All in all, a completely extraordinary day. One full of wonder, beauty, excitement, reverence, and awe. Not too shabby. Not too shabby at all.

One Incredible Tree...I Mean Pub...I Mean Tree...

We discovered that there is a rather legendary tree just up the road from where we attend church.

So, on a lazy Sunday afternoon we road-tripped up to Mojadji to see if we could glimpse this infamous Baobab tree. It took us a while to navigate the twisty, unmarked roads, but eventually we found our way.

It wasn't too far from the main road that we spotted this single tree lording over the rest of the landscape. Majestic as anything we've ever seen. The closer we got, the more exclamatory gasps escaped our lips accompanied by never-before-uttered sets of words like: "Whoa!" "That's amazing!" "Now, that's a big tree!" "I can't believe how big this tree is!" "What a huge tree!" OK, so we weren't very original that afternoon. But I dare anyone to see this tree and not blurt out those exact phrases. That's right...I dare you.

I mean, look at this thing:
















Look how it dwarfs the people lounging underneath its gigantic branches. What a tree.
















We were delighted to learn that this particular tree is estimated to be over 6,000 years old, more than 20 metres tall, and about 50 metres in diameter. Aside from its age and size, it's just plain unusual looking...heavy, gnarled branches covered with bumps and bulges. And it even still bears fruit.

But, to our surprise, these facts are not what make this particular tree famous. Turns out someone came along and gutted it to put a pub inside. (Huh? Who looks at such an impressive feat of nature and thinks: "Gee, Sam, that tree sure would make a swell pub."?). When it was fully functional (e.g., beers on tap and all that), it held up to 20 people. It's now defunct. You can still purchase drinks at the visitor's center nearby and drink it under the tree, but it's just not the same.
















The tidbit we found most interesting was the article published in the local newspaper (a copy of which was nicely laminated and proudly posted inside the tree-pub) about two teenagers who carved their initials into the tree after refusing to pay the viewing fees (R10 or about $1). The author, who dutifully relayed the voice of other townspeople, was aghast that these disrespectful teenagers would deface such a beloved monument. We wondered what he thought of the people who gutted it for the sake of a pub.
















I was stern about not tapping the local brew, but it appears Neil disagreed.

A New Home

Where In the World Are We? These days we live just outside the village of Acornhoek located in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. This is in the north-eastern most area of the country and skirts the western-most boarder of Kruger National Park, one of the few publicly-accessible game reserves. (If you want to see a fairly exciting Krugar video clip with lots of animal action, look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM). And we are only a few hours drive away from Maputo, Mozambique a coastal capital famous for its huge, fresh prawns.

Getting down to the nitty gritty...we live in a place called Wits Rural Facility (WRF) which is a compound/facility run by Witwatersrand University to house people involved in rural-based research projects that are affiliated with the university. People like us, for example, who are helping with a Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (HDSS) focused on 23 rural villages nearby and based out of the the village of Agincourt. It's nice that we're not the only geeks here.

Now, to put to rest the minds of those who you are concerned that we may be living in claustrophobic mud-huts with "moo poo" walls, we've included some pics of our new place. Make no mistake: we are livin' large.


Our House: Dubbed "Cisticola" by the WRF owners after a genus of very small insectivorous birds not unlike the warbler. You may notice that it has a lovely thatched roof, the benefits of which (compared to a metal roof) were described to us in detail by the managers and fellow residents. Basically, they all boil down to this: it's cooler when it's hot outside and hotter when it's cooler outside. Now, the so-called "costs" of such a roof were slightly less annunciated. In fact, it was difficult to squeeze this information out of people because basically a thatched roof means more "critters" as roommates. The owners' advice to us: just remain calm if at sometime during our stay, we glance around and spot a squirrel, owl, iguana, or snake on our table or lying between us in bed. If this happens, I think remaining calm will be the last thing on our minds. By the way, I love how they refer to these animals as "critters". As if referring to them this way makes them more lovable than if I were to call them "pests". OK, it kind of does.


The Kitchen: How could we live without a green kitchen? Answer: We couldn't. We've never had a bar in the kitchen before, and we are loving it...and barstools too! Neil and I take turns pouring each other glasses of apple-pear juice and listening to each other's heart-wrenching stories of lost loves...Paseo's chicken sandwiches, overcast afternoons, Chocolate Almond Indulgence ice cream, sailboats on Lake Union, 7-11 Slurpees, the Burke-Gillman trail, Gorditos' burritos, non-sunburned skin, Pagliacci's pepperoni pizza...



The Leather Chairs: Our project coordinators were all ready to snag us a delightful little lounge suite which doubled as patio furniture....light-weight bamboo frame, dark abstract-art material for the cushions. Quite nice, actually.

But...turns out we found a smashing deal on a couple of chocolate-brown leather recliners in Nelspruit (the capital of Mpumalanga Province and about a 2-hour drive away). Lucky for us, one of the chairs was broken and the price had been reduced to 1/4 of its original price. One salesperson, who obviously misjudged how cheap we are, tried to sell us a chair that was three times as expensive. "Uh, no." Then quoted us a repair price for the recliner of 1,000 Rand (about $110). "Again, no." We took a gamble and crammed the chair into the plum Polo "as-is". (Yes it fit...believe it, if you can!). So, we went across the street to Builders Warehouse (the South African equivalent Home Depot) picked up two bolts, two nuts, and four washers...7 Rand (< $1) and half an hour later we had ourselves a perfectly functional leather recliner. We even made double chocolate muffins at the same time. What better treat to go with our chocolate chairs? . . The New Bed: Yes, that's right, we finally got a new bed. The day before I arrived, in fact. So, Neil no longer has to sleep on a twin-sized bed with used sheets and blankets that smell like a game drive. I do believe he's quite happy about that.
The other night we went to bed with a bunch of winged beetles flying around our lamps and dive-bombing our heads (another plug for the short hair, by the way). So, to get back at them (in our preferred pacifistic way) we put up our mosquito net. Bring it on, bugs!



The Plum Polo: Meet our latest set of wheels. After exhausting the country's used-car lots, and making lots of new "best friends", Neil finally came across this little beauty. It's sleek, stylish, and (with a 1.4-liter engine) very fuel-efficient. As an added plus, we were able to side-step the whole used-car-dealer universe by buying from it directly from the previous owner (leave it to good, old-fashioned networking). The downside: it's a bit gutless. Fortunately, we tend to be able to pass most of the vehicles on the roads around here...usually construction/farming vehicles or pickup trucks (a.k.a. "buckys") overloaded with people or household furnishings, or both (see pic below...and imagine all the other cars whizzing by at 120km/hr...yikes!). Of course, while the plum Polo is no replacement for the Subaru (the value of which our good friends, the Chandlers, have managed to increase substantially by prying open the back door open...and getting it closed again!), it'll certainly do. Great car hunting, Neil!