Day 28: Big Five plus Wine

Today we got an early start. Mark picked me up at 6am and we headed out to a big five game preserve. The morning drive want very scenic because it was dark and rainy. However, when we arrived we were greeted with a wonderful breakfast. While waiting for our ranger to arrive after breakfast, I had my face painted in the tradition of Xhosa tribal women preparing for marriage (why? It just sounded cool). 

Once our ranger arrived, he took us and a group of 15 Chatty Cathy's from the US (here on a church mission trip) out on the preserve. The preserve was actually fairly small (22,000 acres), so the animals weren't exactly in the wild. It was really more like a zoo with a drive thru. 

Wikipedia says the African big five are as follows:

Cape Buffalo

These guys were in an enclosure because apparently they don't play nicely with the other animals. 

African Elephant:

Our ranger said these two males get angry at times and charge without warning. They seemed to be mellow today. 

African Leopard:

The only one of these I saw was stuffed and behind glass. The sign said it died of a snake bite. I forgot to take a picture. 

African Lion:

We saw two different types of these. Both sets were in enclosures -- sandbox issues again. Our guide mentioned that lions mate 20 times per day. To that, one of the Cathy's shouted out "ain't nobody got time for that!" Moving on...

African Rhino:

These guys (Higgins and Lady) had been poached for their horns a few years ago. It was kind of sad to see the reddish holes where their horns used to be. Our guide commented on how much of a problem poaching is and the lure of money for items such as rhino horns and elephant tusks. 

So after a morning with the animals, we headed off for a little wine before calling it a day. We made it just in time for the tail end of a wine tasting not far from my cottage. I'm so glad we did. It was just enough wine with excellent food pairings to top off a wonderful day with a great friend. 

And now I'm exhausted!  Cheers!