Yesterday was our day off and we all piled into the minibus for the two and a half hour journey to Hartbeespoortdam. I'd been looking forward to this trip, but Isabelle and I had decided to wait until there were more volunteers and we could share the fuel costs - plus it is more fun with a group!
Our first stop was the Elephant Sanctuary. This was an amazing experience. They run tours at set times and you go through as a group, first learning a little about elephants and the history of the sanctuary, then getting right up close to feed, touch, and walk with the elephants. The intro talk was really interesting. I enjoyed getting a close look at an elephant skull - I didn't know that they only have 4 teeth, but go through 6 sets throughout their lifetime! At the moment they have 5 elephants, and are hoping to reintroduce them to a game reserve when they find somewhere where there is enough space for them. They also want the elephants to be behaving as a family group and to relocate them all together.
We all had a chance to feed them small pellets that the elephants just loved. They see you coming and hold out their trunk, and you just drop a handful of pellets in there! You have to get back nice and quickly though as apparently their patience can run thin if you're standing too close and don't have any food left!
We moved to another area to touch a different two elephants who are more used to human contact. I expected to just get a small stroke but this part was great. Two people at a time went to an elephant and they showed you all the different parts, where it was soft under the trunk and under the belly, and super hard on the knees. We also got to feel their ears (quite like pastry or a pizza base!) and under their feet, plus have a look inside their mouth! Their tails were also fascinating, the hairs were just like thick wire.
Finally we went out to the main area again where we each had a chance to walk an elephant. I stood in front and held my arm back with my fingers cupped, with my thumb ready to hold the trunk. The elephant pops his trunk in your hand and follows as you walk! The trunk feels very heavy, they seem to just let you have the weight of it. You can feel their breath too! A very cool experience.
For lunch we went to a huge African market which was a lot of fun to look at though we did get somewhat harassed by the stall holders. We were grateful to have Hardus with us who knows the place inside out and exactly how much we should expect to pay for something. It would be a little daunting alone!
Then it was just down the road to the monkey sanctuary. This was a beautiful spot. They have a huge area that feels like a rainforest, with gorgeous wooden walkways through it - I think about 3kms worth. They take in monkeys that have been rescued from various environments - quite a few used to be pets. Here we couldn't touch the monkeys but they were not at all shy and came very close - we got to see some month old babies who were just gorgeous. They also had a few lemurs, both ringtail and common brown.
It was an amazing day - I'm so glad I've had the chance to do some of these extra experiences while I'm here. This country just has so many opportunities to see animals and get up close to them, it's incredible.
Photos below and there are some extras on my phone I will post as well :)
We leave for Kruger park first thing Saturday morning. I may get a chance to add some more tomorrow, but otherwise I'll be offline until Tuesday night. Then I certainly hope to have a lot more photos to share!
No comments:
Post a Comment