The beauty of the animals

After having a few months break from game driving I was ready to go again! In February the other volunteers and myself headed to Kruger National Park for the weekend. Kruger Park is like a drive-thru mall for viewing animals. Not even 5 minutes into the park we were watching a mama and calf elephant enjoying their lunch and a herd of Elan's looking at us like we were their the new channel on TV. Despite having seen many of the animals already it is still amazing to watch them and be in their presences. On our way to stop for lunch we had to drive over a bridge that was a little washed over by the river below, which suited the crocodiles fine! We sat and watched them (and they stared at us!!) as they splashed their mouth in the overflowing water. When one of the crocs started to move towards the tire of the taxi we decided it was wise to move on, really not wanting to test our luck.

After living in the village with the basics for over 2 and half months at that point I welcomed the shower, air conditioning, flush toilets, window screens and swimming pool- I felt like I had just landed in another world! Although I kept thinking about the kids and friends I had in the village who would of loved to spend the whole day playing in the pool..........

We did a sunset drive and had a wonderful guide who explained that the park has over 15, 000 elephants, yet it should only have about 7,000. So what do you doing with an extra 8,000 elephants? This question has been debated and many people are trying to come up with some solutions but it is a big problem.

Watching the Zebra's drink at the watering hole, seeing the little baby warthogs chase after their parents, and having a giraffe stroll across the road reminded me of the great beauty of these animals and how fortunate I am to see them in their own environment.

When I was back in the village I shared my photos with the kids and students and told them about what I saw. It is my hope that when they have kids they'll be in the position to take them to the park and see the animals- and spend the whole day in the pool!