Rhinos and Hippos

St Lucia tiny town but very quaint with hardly any people.

On Monday morning we headed out for our Couples retreat. April 17-20.  We headed to Ghost Mountain Inn in between at least 3 Game Reserves.  You guessed it !  We went on 2 more game reserve drives and went to a Zulu Family village that was known to our driver.  We seemed to be constantly eating buffet style and it was very good.  The location was up the coast from Richards Bay, our old stomping ground for S&I. 

This baby took forever to drink. They don't bend well!

   Mkuze drive was first with a few rhino and zebra.  We are getting to be hardened wildlife watchers and were almost bored except for the driver was interesting and quite the talker on the rhino and it’s poachers. 

We had the same driver for 3 days and learned that these reserves have been particularly hit hard by foreign poachers looking for the rhino horn to the Chinese market.  They get about R50,000 for one horn and they butcher the rhino to get it.  Just 2 weeks before they had killed quite a crop of rhino. 

Crocodile Curry was more tender than chicken and chunkier!

As soon as we pushed the button...

Mariachies African style.

Hluhluwe our next reserve has the largest population of rhino, but has lost over 1000 of them in just 2 years.  They are down to only 3000 and will be out in just a few years if the government will not step in and consider it a priority.  When poachers get caught they can be killed by the rangers, but they are not authorized to do it. 

  

38 years old and engaged for years .26 members of  family live in compound.

The modern home Zulu village was interesting, but did not offer all that much new information.   I did find out that the modern Zulu man still pays cows for his wife and when she is a Virgin and not related to royalty can  cost up to 35 cows.  If this man, while waiting to get enough cows, gets his bride pregnant with child he now must pay extra for the bride but also pay for the child’s  support also.  More cows!  (at R5,000+per cow)

The ranger said this zebra had an encounter with a lion and lived!

Like Disneyland but better!

Can't remember this little bird that keeps the zebra clean of parasites.

Monkeys of St Lucia-lots of them!

 

We left the conference and spent the night in St Lucia. 

(this little town has 38 B&B’s and reminds me of Balboa Island with lots of German tourists)  This was an adorable seaside village, that has the claim to fame of having wandering hippos walk the street at night.(hippos eat grass and graze at night because their bodies do not control their temperature—they also do not swim but  can hold breath up to 6 minutes in water—must stay fairly close to the shore line) 

Mom and baby!

We didn’t see any hippos walking because we got lost when going to the restaurant that is closest to the mouth of the estuary. 

These guys stand up on the bottom and if too deep just hold their breath.

They are supposed to be very dangerous and can run faster than a man.  The next morning we went on the boat that takes you to see the pods of hippos(one pod per km).  An estuary is this huge fresh water river going to the ocean just teaming with interesting wildlife.  It was so windy on Friday morning that the crocodiles  were all in the water and no hippo fighting went on.  We saw 1 croc on the bank our whole trip at the reserves.            

  Saw 3 new seminary and institute teachers up there the next 2 days and did individual inservice  on Friday and Saturday morning.

  We got back on Sat night for Sunday in Dundee for their Branch Conference.

 The DeKlerks had it together and the talks were great. She had lunch prepared for the whole Branch, which she does about 3 times a year.   

   Monday was hectic and so was Tues.  We ended up with a bakkie in our garage.The Dransfields ended up spending the night on Monday and going to dinner.