From Africa, With Love
This photo is from my first solo adventure when I worked on a horse ranch in South Africa for 3 months back in 2005. The ranch was slap bang in the middle of a ‘Big 5′ game reserve, which meant many an interesting encounter with lions, elephant, buffalo, leopards and rhinos like the friendly looking fella in the picture, as well as a multitude of other wildlife.
The rhinos were probably the least problematic of all the ‘Big 5′ when it came to the encounters I had on horseback.
The lions and leopards were potentially problematic, mainly due to the fact that I was riding lunch!
I was reliably informed on my first day that most of the animals on the reserve looked upon a horse and rider as one – slightly misshapen – animal. It was this that allowed us to get so close to them, but with the elephants I was never 100% sure that it was true. They seemed to take much delight in flapping their ears, trumpeting loudly and mock charging the pesky little humans who were poking cameras at them!
I only had one encounter with the buffalo, but it was more than enough for me – the bull took it upon himself to try separate me and my horse from the rest of the group. I can only assume he had dastardly deeds in mind!
But the rhinos – those guys were great! As long as you didn’t sneak up on them and then suddenly make loud noises (they have very poor eyesight, which accounts for their jumpy nature) you could get very close and they’d just continue with whatever they’d been doing. They kind of reminded me of giant pigs… With big horns sticking out of their heads! They were possibly my favourites, along with the little warthogs who, when startled, ran about with their little tails stuck up in the air like little radio controlled cars!
When this photo was taken we were on our way to visit the buffalo (for my.. interesting.. introduction! It had been a fairly long ride and a hot and humid day, but we all perked up when our guide called us to a halt and pointed out the rhino, who was munching amiably on some hay (the rains were very late coming that year so the owners provided extra rations for the animals). As you can see my horse took an avid interest in the large moving rock in front of him so I tucked him in behind the grey for some reassurance.
On that day we also saw this guy’s mate and their calf, who ran directly to the other side of his mother when he saw us, and some rare antelope (who I shamefully have forgotten the name of). We also had some lovely canters alongside a herd of wildebeest.
So, that’s the first picture from the many, many (probably too many!) that I have amassed on my travels. Don’t worry though; I’m not going to post them all!
