Langley Safari Adventure: Part 1

Top of the morning to ya!!  

     My family and I just returned from an incredible weekend with our Swedish friends: the Langleys family. They own a tourism business in White River and invited us to join them on a trip to Kruger Park for their daughter, Katelynn's, 18th birthday. 

     We saw an incredible amount of animals and learned so much from Hylton, Katelynn's father, that I am dividing this into parts... I think it may end up being four parts. 

     I'll try to be as brief as possible and share photos and a couple of videos if they load. Intertwined between the photos, I'll give you some facts I learned today!

  

Katelynn said most people say her dad looks like George Clooney... I initially thought he looked like Cary Grant; but now I agree that all three look like brothers. haha! - He is such a knowledgable man who is clearly passionate about what he does. He also has a great sense of humour! He taught us new words like "Gabro", which is the area of land that is more open and the trees are more sparse. Kruger, for instance, is mapped according to its various soils. You can go from thick bush with tall trees to flat lands with little bushes and sparse trees. That is simply because of a soil change. 

The lovely Katelynn, herself! In the short time that we have known her, she has already been a blessing to each one of the Whitlocks. She is such a mature young woman with a heart for the LORD. 

Dad was REALLY excited about using his GoPro... He actually captured a fight between some male lions we saw. I'm hoping that one will load. Frighteningly spectacular(!!!!!!!!!)... Especially since all 8 lions were - roughly- 50m from our vehicle.

This Silver Cluster Leaf was one of our first lessons... Hylton had us each pick one and simultaneously put them in our mouths and chew. DISGUSTING. With a high concentration of tannin, it completely absorbs every ounce of liquid in your mouth... It is the substance that makes dry wine... well, dry.

This was my reaction to the leaf... I would never survive Bear Gryll's show.

This is a Black-bellied Bustard. If you are a nerd like me and love watching NatGeo with your family, you may have seen the mating display this bird puts up on one of David Attenborough's shows. The Bustard flies vertically into the air and then drops gracefully to attract females.

A herd of female and baby Impalas. The "fast-food" of the bush. They have "M's" on their rear ends that looks like the McDonald's "M".

Mo, Katelynn, and I.

Graham and Dad.

Wildebeest. So majestic.

Zebras... Another animal you see A LOT.

I was all proud of my iPhone photography... But look at the next post that has SOME of the photos Gabbi captured. Blows mine out of the water, for sure.

"Well... That's all I have to say about that."

No Ordinary Sign

  Top of the morning to ya!

 

    The Whitlocks are now living in an eco-estate where we have the privilege of seeing wild game everyday. Contrary to popular American assumption, you don't just see African wildlife walking around wherever you go. You actually have to travel to game parks, etc. to even see animals. Excepting, of course, the monkeys that reside like squirrels in our trees.

    So awesome!



   Anyways, here is a "photo of the day" of sorts.

"Well... That's all I have to say about that."

Been there. Done that... Or Have I??

Top of the morning to ya!!

So, people have been asking us here: Have you been to the Kruger Park yet??? 

My prideful self has been thinking: I lived here before and went twice. Who needs to go again???

Well, today we went and took Dad for the first time. I was excited because there's FINALLY something in this world that I had experienced that Dad hadn't. ;-) Other than that, I was thinking, "Bah! Been there. Done that!! This is for Dad."

If you have ever been to a game park, you know already how many HOURS you have to drive around, observe, chat, and think. Today... I did a lot of thinking.

You gotta love the splendour of God's creation. Let me just tell you. Before we passed the Paul Kruger Gate's threshold, we saw about 5 elephants. I've seen them before. But they are just as exciting EVERY time.

Then I got to thinking, "These are animals that are not regulated. You are not guaranteed to see THE BIG FIVE every time you enter the park. This is no zoo."

Did you know??? The term "Big Five" was coined by hunters for the lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo, and rhino because they are considered the most difficult to hunt on foot and they are amongst the most dangerous animals??

As a child, I only liked one time I went to the zoo. That was the Pittsburgh Zoo and we went with some orphans from Juarez. My new friend, Karla, and I came up with a game where I learned the spanish word for every animal we passed. Unfortunately, I have forgotten the words. :-/

 Other than that one time, I quickly became bored with the zoos for multiple reasons. I never knew I'd have the chance to go to Africa. It wasn't for snobbery. I just didn't feel right going. Why??

1.) They are predictable. You are sure to see ALL of the animals you want to because they will still be lying in their cage.

2.) The animals are not kept in their natural habitat.

3.) The animals are much smaller in the zoos than in their natural habitats due to health (or bad health).

4.) The animals are fatter than their wild counterparts. 

Etc.! Etc.! Etc.!

Today we were stopped in traffic (At a game park??? Who'd a thunk it??!), stopped in a herd of HUNDREDS of Cape Buffalos crossing the road, stopped because an elephant just decided he wanted to stand guard in the centre of the road, ate lunch looking out at LOADS of sleeping hippos and crocs, watched big sis baboon babysitting numerous little ones, saw baby giraffes eating together, and were awed by the incredibly massive size of the Kudu!!! The list goes on... But my favourite was the wreaking giraffe carcass surrounded by Ground Horn Bills.

Graham: "I have never smelled a carcass that big."

Before we even saw this one, we could smell something AWFUL. A few cars were stopped and people were snapping photos. Disgusting! ... But incredible too. 

I love Kruger! The scene constantly changes. You can go one day and see absolutely NOTHING... (Well, you might see a rhino, a few giraffes, zebras and gazelles... and more zebras and gazelles... and even more zebras and gazelles.) 

Other days you can go and see lions, hyenas, and if you get there at the precise/exact/perfect/on time moment... A leopard or a cheetah. Neither of which I have seen yet. 

With this perspective in mind, I had loads of fun. As I marveled at His creation, I found myself praying to God; thanking Him for animals in their natural habitats that we feel honoured to observe and wonder at. I had a lovely day... And I look forward to going again!

"Well... That's all I have to say about that!"

Random Photo: Mo and I saw this grocery shopping at Spar.... Notice the "Best Buy" tag. TIA, folks. TIA.