Leaving Selati

Today was our last day at Selati. Heidi and I have both had such a great time here, I don't think 2 weeks is enough time. We're only just starting to get used to the sounds animals make, their tracks and learning where they might be hiding, it would be nice to stay for another few weeks to see what else we could find. Every day we seem to find new animals: snakes, birds, lizards, bugs or mammals.
I think the best night we had was earlier this week. It was a very hot and still night and just as the sun started to set we drove in to a large clearing that has some waterholes. We saw about ten elephants in the distance drinking from the far waterhole when another 20 or so elephants entered the clearing from behind the first group and joined them at the waterhole. After having a quick drink and playing in the water all the elephants turned in a direction roughly towards our truck and started walking to the edge of the clearing to exit. Watching such a large group of elephants was amazing, you could see how the cows take care of the young calves and how the juvenile elephants play up and get in trouble - there is always an adult on hand to bring the juveniles back in line with a whack when needed. We had a couple of young bulls come very close to the car to investigate, and it was about this time that the first elephants to exit the cearing meet up with another group of thirsty male elephants entering. The males from the new group started to trumpet loudly letting everyone know they should make way, then from from a concealed spot just behind us, we could hear Shaka, one of the collared male lions, start to roar loudly as well. He was just letting everyone know that he thought he was still the boss of the clearing. All the birds started to pipe up and we just sat there in the middle and enjoyed the show. It must have taken an hour or so for all the elephants to leave and the darkness to fall.

I'm really surprised how quiet animals can be, especially elephants and lions. They hardly make a sound when they walk, and yet when they want to be loud they can be deafening. We were collecting firewood yesterday when we noticed a few trees rustle and branches break only 10 metres in front of us, it was either an elephant that decided we got too close or a giraffe that we started, but we had no idea it was even there in the first place. And its not like they're small animals! On another night we were drivng through the bush and almost ran over Shaka as he was walking towards us silently down a road, he didn't even turn to look at us after we passed. When animals don't want to be found, they can be very very hard to spot.

When we weren't chasing animals, there was not a lot to do in the house at Selati so we needed to make our own fun. For someone with the mind of a 5 year old, such as myself, this was no problem. I think my legacy to Selati will be Dung Beetle Racing. Despite their name, Dung Beetles are pretty cool. They're not dirty and they don't stink. They're large, about the size of a 50c coin, they can fly, they're harmless, easy to catch and are abundant. The rules are very simmilar to cane toad racing, which was the inspiration: everyone catches a beetle, marks it then puts it in a cup. The cup is shaken a bit (gently of course, to minimise any damage) to make it interesting and then placed on the ground. Once the cup is removed the frst beetle to cross the circular finish line wins. Flying is an instant disqualification. The winner doesn't have to clean up the coffee cups from the tea break, so the stakes are pretty high. I'm sure that the next group to stay here will enjoy this new game, and if it catches on elsewhere maybe I'll start a little bettle ranch...

Anyway, today we're starting our last adventure in Sth Africa before heading to Europe. Originally we were going to try to get to Mozambique, but we just don't have enough time; we'd spend 3 days getting to the good sopts, then have a night there before we'd have to turn around for a 4 day trip back to Jo'burg. So instead of Moz, we've decided to hire a car, spend a couple of nights driving through and exploring Kruger really well before heading to a place called St Lucia for a few nights. St Lucia comes very highly reommended by the locals here, its basically a game park on a beach and its the only place in the world where you have rhino & elephants in the same reserve as sharks & whales. And the beaches are suppposed to be excellent. And its pretty cheap. And its not far. All good things. After St Lucia we'll drive back to Jo'burg and then fly out to Munich.