Mother and Son Make The World Their Classroom for a School Year: September 27, 2014

Ant's Nest, South Africa

What an unusual thing to do on safari. We went to another farm that was about 30 mins away and we were capturing a large antelope called a Kudu. Ant had been given 4 Kudu as a thank you for helping a woman whose farm was burning a couple months ago. They like to introduce new animals into herds when they are on game reserves to prevent too much inbreeding. We geared up at 5:30 a.m. and headed out in search of Kudu. We had 2 trucks with trailers attached to transport the animals back to Ant’s game preserve and then we were standing in Ant’s truck and another group was sitting in a safari vehicle and then there was a helicopter with a veterinarian that was flying overhead spotting the Kudu and then shooting them with a tranquilizer gun. Once tranquilized it takes a few minutes until the Kudu is disoriented enough that it it can either sit down or it is assisted to the ground. We then race over in the Jeeps and then jump out and they put a hood on its head to keep it more relaxed and disoriented while they give it shots of B12 I think they said and some others and detick them with some spray like you would put on dogs and give them another shot of some vitamins and then the animal is scooted onto a tarp that then gets lifted by about 10 people and hauled onto a trailer. Once it is on the trailer they take the hood off and then the Vet gives them an anecdote that within 30 seconds it is totally awake and stands up in the trailer and begins eating green leafy branches that we’ve collected and hung from the ceiling of the trailer. It is quite amazing to be able to come right up to the animal and hold their horns (they aren’t antlers since they never loose their horns).

We captured 4 Kudu. Sam was totally fascinated by the whole thing, as was I . When we had the Kudu, they were brought back that reserve and released near a stream between two damns. They will adjust to their new environment and then have their pick of the many female Kudus at Ant’s Nest. It was a tiering morning since there was a lot of riding in the truck standing and balancing in the racing Jeep trying to keep up with the helicopter, since they have to act right away since once they shoot the tranquilizer dart they want to wake the Kudu up within 20 mins. Driving back around lunch I even was falling asleep as we rode back in the seated safari vehicle.

We had a quick turnaround for lunch and headed back out down to their small pond, it is dry season and about ready to come into rainy season, which is their summer. By the pond they had set up a BBQ and a nice lunch under a tree. We had BBQ steaks and chicken and augratin potatoes made on the BBQ grill. We visited with all the guests and then many left right after lunch, including our new friend Julia whom we really had enjoyed getting to know. She is Danish, living in London and just such a fun woman that has had many adventures including the trip we were most impressed with and freaked out by, after we learned about the camel spiders, was her week long horseback ride with Bedouins camping in the dessert in the middle east. She loves to ride and came to Ant’s nest for the riding safaris. We took down her info before she left and look forward to maybe running into her in Singapore when we are there in Feb this year.

Sam and I enjoyed cooling off in the pool after lunch. It was perfect temp and a nice break from a hot and dusty morning. We enjoyed reading by the pool and Sam loved playing with the mongoose that lives near here and watching her many babies run around the camp. Sam was even able to hold the mongoose… I passed on that, and just so happy to have so many animals to play with including the two puppies at the camp.

This evening we went riding again. Sam really had begun to enjoy the thrill of cantering. Sam suited up on Leo and I was on a new horse Hercules tonight. We enjoyed some trotting and cantering again and ran into many impala, and wart hogs, spotting many birds, and getting right up close to an almost 30 year old giraffe. It was really cool to be so close to a giraffe and have it comfortable with us since we were on the horses that they don’t stable and that roam with the other animals at the reserve. We met up some others at Ant’s home as the sun was going down and got to sit and watch the rhino as they gathered for their nightly feeding. There were around 5 white rhinos there tonight. White rhinos are grazers and have wide jaws and get much bigger than black rhinos. The reverse horned rhino was there again with her baby and she was feeling a bit tough tonight and every time her baby’s dad came close she would nearly charge him. She was feisty! We sat and watched then for over an hour, it was so cool to be that close.

Dinner is served at 8 p.m. and we enjoyed pork bellies and bean cauliflower mash and a mushroom pancake for dinner on the lawn under the stars with our new friends Giselle and Christian from Germany. They are a slightly older couple from Bavaria and are very nice and on their first trip to Africa. The guides Jaque and Fred also joined us that fit the imagined bill of African safari guys,… strongly built, knowledgeable, and rather good fun…Sam enjoyed some good guy chat with them during dinner as well.

Under our netting and tucked into bed we have been working on our blogs. Ready to head to bed to go on a game drive tomorrow and see the large herd of Cape Buffalo they have on the other side of their reserve and hopefully will run into the large herd of giraffes as well. Good night...zzzzz