East London,South Africa

East London ,South Africa.

Such a lot is simply wrong ,in South Africa ,a great struggle for both cultures ,but today we had an amazing time, to remember forever...!
Our guide Deon, an older Afrikaans man, had many questions to answer and we learnt such a lot ,very impartial in a surprising way.
Our journey was to Inkwenkwezi ,a private Game Reserve, about an hour away from our Port ,on a small river, in a long stretch of coastline.
This Reserve covered 4000htrs.On arrival, after drinks of ,pleasing things ,we transferred into old Landrovers ,converted ,with high seating in 3 teirs ,rickety, but remarkably comfortable ,as we jostled over deeply furrowed tracks ,very slippery after rain ,steep in places ,rocky in others, and just a bog in more…
Not seeing anything on the first ½ hour, we thought my previous track record could be an issue…THEN…on the hills many Impala’s and a pretty larger variety of the Antelope, a Blessem ,or the like… Spotted Rhino’s ahead ,and several Giraffes. In getting to them we saw lovely Zebra ,now everyone has a wish, mine was simple, to see the Zebra in their natural habitat… Thrilled to bits, very healthy fat ,large ones at first, their stripes between, almost yellow..Rhinos ,a Mother and daughter ,very placid, looked interested, we were close, then just settled down for a rest ,they have very poor eyesight. Here they surgically remove their horns ,to deter poachers.
In certain countries in Africa there simply are none, or just a handful left , the statistics are horrendous…Now it is law to shoot poachers, for the Rangers, as so many of them have been killed as well..
On to the Giraffes ,beautiful creatures, grazing on their favourite Acacia’s ,so serene ,all ranges of size, mostly male, and a young male that just gazed at us ,so intently ,with his beautiful eyelashes…They have unusual tongues ,with not many blood vessels, which enables them to eat the prickly thorns trees.. Nature is very accommodating. We had time to watch them closely. More Zebra ,as we climbed higher, one quite young inquisitive child, that was my favourite, so very cute…!
Here they have White Lions ,rare and so huge..up close…. We drove very near to the pride of 7, resting in the grass. Very regal, the Grandmother very old ,the male looked techy, and was very close, surrounded on 3 sides by our jeeps, I could see he was unhappy ..[open vehicle ,no guns ,just our driver /guide ,Brandon] This huge male,stood up,and walked straight towards us, Brandon said ..do not scream, keep perfectly still , just stay quiet and keep your arms inside…it sauntered past ,glaring…he reckoned he knew its body language, from its eyes…! I was on the outside…Not so Keen.!! However beautiful creatures..they are vicious though, up near the fence was a pile of bones, a Giraffe was browsing over their side, and 2 males dragged it through, smashing the fence. Though contained, the Lions still live in huge acreage ,and feed themselves from the animals within……On our return we saw a large female Ostrich ,and more Blesse, a bigger antelope variety..
It was all what dreams are made of, so amazing and what we came for.
Our young man ,so nicely spoken is leaving after 7 years. His university education ,costing so much ,would have taken 70 years to repay,[His Father Paid] he said. He is going to Yellowstone US to work with the Wolves, that have been introduced in recent times..Very excited ,and he will marry a girl from the US. He told lots about life for a young person in South Africa, when asked, it is such a battle ,of course ,wages so low, and progress impossible, but he is a dedicated and so knowledgeable of all the animals .If he earns outside of Sth Africa he will be taxed 45% of what he makes as a citizen, there are moves to revoke this, but for now…!
He quietly told the man sitting in front with him, when asked about his background ,his Grandparents were murdered on their Farm when he was a little boy…Dreadful details…What a tragic thing ,but it is still happening .High unemployment here, some areas have 90% in the townships, the official figures say 23%,but everyone scoffs at that ,and say It never counts those who have just given up looking for work, 65% quoted today..
Interesting that our man Deon ,said today, he had worked for the Government all his life, but when every thing changed, he had to get off his backside and make a life for himself ,and it has changed him for the better. A very troubled economy ,in a quite beautiful country.
Under sunny skies today we had such a wonderful African Experience ,never to be forgotten.
Bye from us heading to Port Elizabeth.Read more