Ostrich Riding?

Our road trip brought us to Outdshoorn, the ostrich capital of the world. Since Outdshoorn is home to the world’s largest ostrich population, we decided to educate ourselves a bit. Ostriches are vegetarians, largely eating plants and grass, but are capable of swallowing up to 50 grams of stones (to use for grinding). The ostrich neck is, in fact, so flexible that one even swallowed a 500 ml coke bottle! The ostrich industry began when merchants migrated from the Sahara to the Karoo. Marketing-wise, 15% comes from feathers, 25% from meat, and 60% from leather – ostrich is the second toughest leather in the world, following the kangaroo.

On our tour, we learned that when an ostrich lays an egg, it is equivalent to 45 chicken eggs and weighs 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs) each. The incubation period is 42 days, and an egg can withstand 150-160 kg (330-352 lbs) without breaking.

Fun Fact: If being attacked by an ostrich, lay flat on the ground with hands over your head because ostriches can’t kick downwards.

There were numerous parts to our tour at the Cango Ostrich Farm. First, we had an ostrich eat out of our hands, but since I’m small, the ostrich managed to reach around both sides of my head, in front of my face, everywhere to eat the food in our guide’s hand.

To my vegan family, I apologize for the next bit. Following the feeding, we were given the opportunity to ride the ostriches. I mounted the ostrich, grabbed its wings, and rode the ostrich around the pen. The jockeys were nearby to (attempt) to catch me when I fell off – falling off is the only way to actually get off the ostrich. I found the experience to be a blast and couldn’t stop laughing.

Nick, on the other hand, was less than thrilled…Check out his reaction here:

We then went for a “neck massage.” I held a bucket of food and six ostriches came to eat it from every angle over my head. They kept throwing pelts down my shirt!

All in all, our tour at Cango Ostrich Farm was very informative. It was long enough where you appreciate the ostriches, yet short enough that you don’t get sick of them. People pretty much take the tour to be able to ride an ostrich. At the end of the tour, we sat at the restaurant on the farm and ate a fantastic array of ostrich for a very reasonable price.

Monkeyland & Birds of Eden

From Jukani we headed to Monkeyland and Birds of Eden. If you’re looking for a fun few hours – these two tours are not to miss!

Monkeyland is the world’s first free-roaming primate sanctuary, and if you love monkeys you’re bound to squeal a bit while wandering the forest. Monkeyland aims to rehabilitate and free previously caged monkeys, by introducing a gorgeous, natural forest as their new home. Just as Jukani was established for the animals, Monkeyland ensures that the various monkey species are never used as a commodity, but that they’re safe and comfortable. Monkeys are one of those unpredictably amusing animals – when you observe them during your tour, you’re bound to see something interesting.

Birds of Eden took the longest of the three sanctuaries because you could move along at your own pace; a guide is not required. There are innumerable bird species, and it’s great for people of all ages. Birds of Eden is an incredibly clean tent full of various free-roaming birds. It’s a beautiful enclosure that you could spend hours walking through, as it’s easily navigable. Expect to see birds that you didn’t know even know existed – we sure did!

Thanks for the tours Vijver!

The South African Animal Sanctuary Alliance (SAASA) consisting of Monkeyland, Birds of Eden and The Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary are the current winners of the Lilizela Service Excellence Awards – Best Visitor Experience ‘Wildlife Encounters’; Skål International Sustainable Tourism Award – Best Major Attraction; winner of the ‘Best Animal Welfare Initiative’ and overall winner of the World Responsible Tourism Awards.

 

Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary

Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary focuses on the conservation education of big cats. A sanctuary is typically known as a place where animals are protected from hunting. According to the staff at Jukani, however, a true sanctuary should also “be a place of refuge to protect them from much more than hunting and/or the petting trade.” The Sanctuary tries its best to provide animals with the most natural habitats possible, with more than adequate space. We found it noteworthy that the staff cleans the animal enclosures everyday. These animals come from a surplus, from all over the world.

The reality is that people visit Africa to see the Big 5 – lion, elephant, cape buffalo, leopard and rhino; theses are said to be the hardest animals in Africa to hunt on foot. If Africa were to lose the Big 5, tourism would go down, economically hurting the continent as well. There’s a chance of species survival due to wildlife sanctuaries. Having said that, Jukani neither supports breeding nor the touching of animals (both very traumatic), and has all of the female predators on birth control. What I found most impressive and laudable was the fact that Jukani does nothing to profit off their animals – Mitch the White Tiger got buried whole, when his bones alone could have made thousands of dollars.

We took a tour of Jukani with our guide, Robert. He was extremely friendly, helpful, and answered my endless questions with precision and passion. Nick and I came to really admire the fact that Jukani is not a zoo; since it is a wildlife sanctuary, the priorities of the animals are put over that of people. Having said that, it’s fascinating to be able to see a wider species of big cats, not always seen in game parks, up close and personal; they will walk up right in front of you.

Some facts we learned during our tour:

• The government supports cat hunting, or trophy hunting, because it brings in money
• Hyenas can break a giraffes leg with one bite
• Lions have no stamina. While they’re quicker than hyenas, hyenas have twice the heart size and can run for 5 kilometers
• White Lions are on the verge of becoming extinct, and only found in Africa
• Jaguars are the most versatile hunters and can swim with their eyes open to catch fish
• Wild dogs are family oriented and will stay with an injured dog until it either gets better or dies.
• Bengel Tigers kill more people than any other cat combined, making it the most dangerous. They are known to stalk their prey for 6 hours before making the kill.
• A cheetah’s top speed is 120 km per hour, but can reach 100 km per hour in the first ten seconds

The South African Animal Sanctuary Alliance (SAASA) consisting of Monkeyland, Birds of Eden and The Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary are the current winners of the Lilizela Service Excellence Awards – Best Visitor Experience ‘Wildlife Encounters’; Skål International Sustainable Tourism Award – Best Major Attraction; winner of the ‘Best Animal Welfare Initiative’ and overall winner of the World Responsible Tourism Awards.

From Addo Elephant National Park to JBay

5:30am, and we were at the gate ready to enter Addo Elephant National Park (thanks for the suggestion Savi and Vid!). For a while, we had only seen a mouse and a hare, so we were a bit concerned that we wouldn’t see much wildlife due to the chilly, damp morning.

After a bit of time, the elephants slowly made themselves visible – first a baby elephant, then a pair of elephants, then another. We watched as an elephant approached two other elephants and sat amazed as they began to fight. They wrapped their trunks around each other and interlocked their tusks; they rough-housed for about forty minutes. All the while, no other cars joined us, so we felt like we were given our own very special moment with the elephants.

It wasn’t until we hit the southern portion of the park that we saw a breeding herd of elephants. They weren’t at all afraid of the cars, and walked in between them without hesitation. All in all, it was a very successful game drive.

After a fabulous braai with some friends we met at Bulungula, we attempted to sleep. It was a freezing cold night by anyone’s standards, but especially when you consider the fact that we were in Africa! After much tossing and turning in my tent, I finally fell asleep wearing three layers of clothing, a fleece sweatshirt, an earband, gloves, and wool socks…Who would have thought?!

The following morning, we were up at 5am to go on one final game drive before continuing with our road trip. We didn’t have much luck, but the highlight of the morning was seeing a cape buffalo right next to my side mirror! 4 of the Big 5 down, 1 to go!

We headed back to camp to grab breakfast, and heard from our friends that they saw two male lions walking down the road that we drove down. Considering the fact that all of us left the campsite at the same time, it is likely that we missed them by a few seconds! Such a bummer.

As I was in our tent packing up, I looked up to see one very hairy leg on the tent above my head. I froze. It moved, and a second hairy leg made an appearance. I can handle most things, but gosh I hate spiders…especially ginormous, hairy Rain Spiders. Luckily, the boys took over breaking down the tent…

We decided to head to Jeffrey’s Bay (JBay) via the Southern exit of the park so that we had one more opportunity to see elephants. I first heard of JBay many years ago when my brother was watching the movie Endless Summer II, which featured a segment filmed there. It is well-known amongst surfers as being one of the best surf breaks in the world. JBay reminded us of a small Californian beach town, and a surfer’s paradise. There isn’t much to do other than beach it but, obviously, that’s the draw to JBay.

The whole time I was there, I couldn’t stop thinking about my brother and how much he’d love it! Anyone that knows me knows that my brother has always had a passion for surfing (as I type this, he’s streaming the Volcom Pipe Pro on our TV). While on the search for the perfect shirt for him, I began chatting with one of the shop owners. As it turned out, he just happened to be a former ASP judge for the major surfing competitions in Hawaii; ironically, he knew some of my Mauli Ola Foundation friends, Kala and Hans! Small world.

Travelers Tip: Head to the Surf Shop outlets before 5pm. The Billabong outlet is a must, as most shirts are under $10 USD.

iSimangaliso Wetland Park

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park has two entrances: the Eastern Gate and the Western Gate. With almost a full free day in St. Lucia and not knowing what to expect, we decided to explore both sides of the park and embark on our first self-drive safari. We were advised to start at the Eastern Gate; the turn offs are clearly marked and the roads are well-maintained.

We saw zebra early on, some antelope, warthogs, monkeys, and cape buffalo far in the distance. At the uMziki viewpoint, we met a group of four that were circumnavigating the world on their boat, not for the first time. Fueled by my own wanderlust, I asked which were their favorite places. Their answers? Reunion Island, French Polynesia, and the Galapagos islands. At least I could say that I have been to one of their top three places in the whole world! After heading to Mission Rocks, located on a beach with great swell and misty spray, we decided that we weren’t that impressed with Eastern iSimangaliso and were hoping to test our luck on the Western side.

Duku Duku not only sounds like a cool name, but it is also the gate through which we entered the Western side of iSimangaliso. Travelers Tip: The map sold at iSimangaliso are the same for each park. You only need to buy one at the first gate and, unfortunately, the maps were not quite as detailed as we had hoped.

After much driving, we saw our first group of giraffes (supposedly a group of giraffes are called a “Tower,” but that just sounds strange to me)! They’re every bit as lanky, beautiful, and graceful as one would imagine. It hit me yet again that I was actually in Africa, seeing these wild animals in their natural habitats rather than behind enclosures at the zoo!

We kept driving along and saw an elephant in the distance! We observed the elephant for a while, then shortly thereafter I spotted a white rhino. As we watched it graze, it became clearer as it drew closer to our vehicle. Pleased with what we had seen on our first self-drive safari, we finished the route and decided to take a turn down toward Charter’s Creek. As we turned and began driving down the dirt road, we saw a lone giraffe, perfectly framed by the trees down the hill below us. As we approached, we saw the giraffe right next to our car, munching on some leaves. That was the first time we realized that the animals really weren’t afraid of our car. We came across “our giraffe” several other times and watched it walk down the road ahead of us. After realizing that it wasn’t going to leave the middle of the road anytime soon, we decided to put the car and reverse back onto the main road. We passed a pack of wildebeests, exited the park, and easily found our way back to the hostel just before nightfall.

“We’ve Got A Kill!” – Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park, Heritage Tours

“We’ve got a kill!” our guide exclaimed as she screeched to a stop in front of the two of us. We met Stacey, our guide from Heritage Tours, at the Nyalazi Gate, hopped into the car and raced into Hluhuwe-Umfolozi Park. Within 60 seconds we saw two lionesses feeding on a carcass in clear sight. Talk about a rush of adrenaline at 6am! We watched them eat and then Stacey realized that one of them was about to cross the road so she quickly, instinctively, turned us around and, before we knew it, the lioness ran right in front of our car! We turned to watch the other lion chow down on breakfast. Stacey realized yet again that she was going to cross the road, repositioned us and, as predicted, lion number two ran right in front of our vehicle! Quite a way to start our first African Safari indeed. Travelers Tip: a lens of at least 250 mm is highly recommended for game drives. Anything less and you may have difficulties spotting some wildlife clearly, much less capturing the image.

The Hluhluwe-Umfolozi park is about 10,000 hectares, which is only a fraction of the size of Kruger National Park, but well worth the visit. Hluhluwe-Umfolozi used to be two separate parks, but merged due to having the highest concentration of rhino in the world. While both parks are accessible, 80% of the predators are found in Umfolozi so we spent most of our game drive there.

A bit about Umfolozi: Umfolozi is actually the oldest wild park in all of Africa, and the second in the world (following Yellowstone). It was formed solely for the protection of rhinos. It was originally the hunting ground for the Zulu Kings and protected by the royal family prior to the formation of the wildlife reserve. South Africa holds 80% of the world’s rhino population but, sadly, one rhino gets killed every six hours for its horn in South Africa alone. If it weren’t for Umfolozi, it is likely that rhinos wouldn’t exist today.

We continued our game drive post-lion excitement and, soon after, spotted a black rhino! One of only 5,000 in the world. Because black rhinos feed on leaves and branches, they are typically found deep in the bush and not in the open. An easy way to spot the difference between a black rhino and a white rhino is that black rhinos typically have their heads up (reaching higher for food), while white rhinos typically have their heads down (feeding on grass).

Afterwards we stopped for a light breakfast with refreshments provided by Heritage Tours; this was a great way to break the ice between the international visitors. As we moseyed along, we spotted some giraffe. We learned that there are 9 different giraffe species in Africa, but that South Africa is only home to one – the Southern Giraffe. We continued along, saw some elephants, and were brought to a stop when white rhinos (and baby rhinos) were crossing the road directly in front of us. We sat observing them for a bit of time before driving along.

Toward the end of our game drive the animals were seeming to be sparse as it was about mid-day. We were looking for wildlife to spot on our way back to the entrance gate, when we saw yet another black rhino…but this time it was right next to our truck! It was a very rare and special sighting indeed.

Our half-day guided safari came to an end around 11:30am. We knew that we had made the right decision in doing a guided game drive (over a self drive) for Hluhluwe-Umfolozi pretty soon after entering the park, as some of the dirt roads are in rough condition (many potholes) and it would have been easy to get lost. We highly recommend using Heritage Tours; their guides are extremely energetic and passionate about their profession. They had numerous safari vehicles within the park at once and communicated with each other throughout the day to ensure that everyone had the opportunity to see the best sightings. But, despite this, Heritage Tours will provide you with an entirely individual experience, as all the vehicles do not travel along as one band of cars. If you’re short on time and only have the ability to do a half-day safari over a full-day, DO IT. We promise that you won’t regret it! The half-day safari, combined with the highly trained guides, made for a full adventure.

Check out our experience below!

Galapagos Islands

Installment #2: Navigating the Galapagos Islands