Our Visit to Kragga Kamma

Here is the simple entrance to a very awesome experience.  We had driven to Port Elizabeth and stayed with our friends, Elder and Sister LaPray.  They are the ones who organized the trip to Addo Elephant Park with several other couples.  Sister LaPray is a real animal lover ---very much like I am and she has adopted this little park as her very own.  They are from Texas and with her enjoyable accent, she insisted that we go to "Mah little animal park."  Believe me we were both so anxious that we didn't need much urging.  The other couples opted not to come another day.  We had to leave that day to go back to the Western Cape and we got up early and were at this entrance by 8:00 am.  This turned out to be a great time to go because the animals were up and out eating and there were very few other people there.  It cost us 50 rand each to visit this park, which is about $7 in American money.

One of the first things we saw was this large herd of wildebeest.  If you look closely, you will even see young ones here.  They are so strange looking, they are beautiful.

We had already seen rhino, but we saw several here.  This is the best picture we had.  The thing we liked about this is the background and the area was green and fairly lush.  The animals seemed happy and healthy.

This is a herd of impala that seemed perfectly happy to wander along and actually lie down in the road.  Must not be a lot of traffic usually at this time of day.  Elder LaPray taught us one way to recognize impala is the little M on their bottoms formed by two little black lines and their tail. 

 I think it is a good sign that animals are having babies and they are happy.  Look at this little beauty!  and there wasn't just one!

They ran and played and were so entertaining.

We saw this beautiful nyala too.  He seemed especially serious so early in the morning. 

Next we drove to the cheetah area---this was the first time we had hope of seeing cheetahs. The LaPrays said they had seen a few of them a few times.  They really tried not to get our hopes up.  When we saw the one in the first picture, they told us that might be the best we would get to see.  Here it is . . . can you see him?

 Honestly, I did not see him---I was aiming my camera for the little hole in the trees over there.  He was right at my window--almost too close to see.  He could have jumped on me and I would never have known what hit me!
                             
I was snapping as quickly as I could and the camera would not cooperate.  I probably had it on the wrong settings!  It was focusing on the plants in front, but you can see him still watching us as we drove past.

We thought we were out of luck as we drove away from that, and then we looked ahead and saw these two beauties resting in the road.  We sat there for five or ten minutes and just watched them doing nothing.  Then the time constraints started to make us nervous, so we edged foward in the car to see what they would do. 

They did get up and move, though they didn't seem too happy about it.

One of them lost interest and wandered away.  At this point we drove on convinced that we had seen all there was to see that day and what a fortunate sight we had seen.

As we came past some bushes into a clearing here was one more unbelievable cheetah lying in the grass.  We couldn't believe it and he acted like he couldn't believe we would interrupt his morning nap.  We had to drive on and leave them behind in their little enclosure.  They live in a "gated community" so they won't be bothered by the neighbors. (I know, I know, it is more like they won't bother the neighbors.)   It is like the entrance to the banks down here.  You go through one door into a little enclosure with another locked door ahead of you.  Once the door behind you closes and locks, then the door in front will open.  Same idea with the gates to the cheetah enclosure---you drive in and then the gate locks behind you.  Then the gate in front open and lets you in.  Same for leaving.  They were the only animals not free to roam the entire 4500 acres.

As we left the cheetah area, we were amazed to see this fantastic tree.  We didn't know what kind of tree it is, but I will work to find out and add it later. I can't believe I cut the ends of the branches off in the picture. 

I was trying to focus on the trunk - so interesting.

Here's a beautiful shot of a red hartebeest---we saw a few of these at Addo---what beautiful

animals.  I just love the shape of the horns. 

There was a large herd of ostrich at this park and they had no time to look up from their eating to notice us.  We did not get close to any of them, so this is all I can tell you.  They are pretty animals, although they look like they would be clumsy.  We saw herds of them on farms all across eastern South Africa.  At one time their feathers weere in high demand and a few lucky South Africans became rich selling ostrich feathers.

This park also has zebra---my favorite I think of the African animals.  He seemed to be posing for me.

This is probably the youngest one we saw.  The variations in the stripes are so fascinating.

The giraffes were equally fascinating---such graceful movements for such a large animal.  It was very exciting to see so many and so close.

Before we talk more about the giraffe however, we have to talk about these water buffalo that we saw next.  When we drove up to where they were, they were all laying down in this grass.  We couldn't really see them very well because they were on a hill a little above us.  So Vic said, I think I'll just open my door and stand up so I can see them a little better.  We all thought that would be okay because everything seemed so calm.  But, WOW!  When he got out of the car, most of them actually jumped to their feet.  It was really surprising and he jumped back in the car.  We could see them better now anyway!  But they were mad, so the males kept bellowing until everyone got up and moved away.  We felt bad to have disturbed them, but we really didn't think it would bother them that much.  They are considered one of the most dangerous of the animals in South Africa.  They are like bulls at home - unpredictable and grouchy.  They will charge you for no reason.

I suppose you noticed the houses in the background.  This picture was one of the first times I really realized how close we were to people or civilization.  You expect something like this to be way out in the country, which this really is.  It's just that people live way out in the country around it.  I don't know which came first, the chicken or the egg, but they seem to co-exist peacefully.   I expect that is partly why the cheetahs are in a locked enclosure.  It sort of ruined the whole jungle atmosphere, but you just have to accept it. 

 Here the males are urging the others to get up and get going. 

 When we saw them later on down the road, the baby was actually where we could see him better and we realized why they had been so protective.  This bad boy looks like he is ready to take one side out of our car if we don't straighten up!

It was neat to see their protective attitude and realize how much they value their young.  I love how healthy and shiny they look.

Yes, you would think Vic had learned his lesson about getting out of the car, but no!  Now we had a real problem.  We are all out of the car---thank goodness there were no animals around.  We got our car stuck in the sand in the road.  It must have been about a foot deep and somehow we got to a point where we couldn't move.  Actually we were kinda high-centered on it.  We sat there for a while and then decided that we should get out and someone would come. 

Sure enough, within minutes someone was there bawling us out about getting out.  Elder LaPray looks pretty animated as he is telling him why we are going down this road---it seems we had taken a wrong turn somewhere.  But we had really just followed the arrows on the signs.  At least we thought we had.  Actually the road was okay, but we were traveling the wrong direction which they thought made a difference in whether we would get stuck or not.  This man had a tow rope and pulled us out and got us on our way.

One fun thing we saw because we were out of the car was this gigantic, bright green grasshopper!  I have tried to zoom this picture better, but it seems like my program just can't do it justice.  He was amazing and just stayed around with us.  He even hopped on the car window as we were driving away as if to say, Please! take me with you!

Okay, I did it!  Here's a better shot of the little monster!  What great coloring huh!  I have to admit that I have been a little disappointed at the insects down here.  I have hardly seen any---let alone any interesting ones.  Well, I've seen a few cockroaches in the Elder's flats --but not very big ones--and we have had a few June bugs fly into our flat in the evening, but that is about it!  I did had a little tiny gecko by my front door one day, but he was so tiny he ran under my rug inside my door and I was afraid I would kill him if I lifted it up.  This kind of restored my faith in South African insects, and I would never have seen him if we hadn't gotten stuck in the sand.

 I promised some giraffe pictures and we really got them.  It was so exciting to drive up and see them standing right beside the road.  Again, we were within a few feet of them.  They look like they are being so patient with us don't they? 

This picture may not look any closer than the last, but we are right beside them now and that one is looking right down into the car.  He doesn't look too impressed, does he?  Their coats are really beautiful and they kind of glisten in the sun.

 As we were driving away from the giraffes, Sister LaPray suddenly said "hold up!" for her husband to stop---she saw a picture she wanted to get.  This was a great photo opportunity---in fact the best I think I have had in all of my wandering through South Africa.  Two giraffes were perfectly lined up so that you could see one under the other's legs.  Does that make sense?  Well, take a look!

This is the picture I got with my little cheapie camera---what a great shot!  It shows how far away the other one is---although I'm sure he is much smaller than the close one.  He did not look like a baby, though.  Sister LaPray is a great photographer for recognizing the great shot!

Animals are always so awe inspiring--whether they are tame or wild.  It makes you wonder what their role is in the whole scheme of things when you look into their eyes and they seem to know more than you do about the universe!  How sad it is that we can't let these animals roam free in South Africa, but we can't.  It is the same at home with most of the wild animals.  They have no place left except parks like this to survive. This was a very small little park, but it was so enjoyable to feel so close to nature and realize what great blessings we have from God.  The beauties and bounties of this earth are endless indeed.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.  These are the last of the animal parks!

From East London to Port Elizabeth -

I don't want you to think that all we did was see animals as we drove through South Africa.  If you look at the map, you can easily see that we drove almost completely across the southern tip of the African continent.  As we left East London early in the afternoon, I tried to catch a few pictures of sights along the way.  We didn't drive through a downtown area, but this little piece of the city gives a picture of what most people who live in East London might see as they shop.  They do have some great malls though, so don't think this is all they have.  It reminds me of Pocatello in the fifties!  No, not my fifties----I mean the 1950s!

This was an interesting selection of dresses shown here---I have not seen display like this anywhere else in South Africa.  I love how they get shorter and shorter and then turn into shirts and pants.  Of course, Vic wouldn't stop so I could shop!  Mr. Wizer Wholesaler sounds like a garage sale in action to me!

I did get him to drive over by the ocean because I wasn't sure we would get another chance and I still hadn't stepped in the Indian Ocean.  I walked out on these rocks to get that opportunity.  I was excited because I had heard that the water in East London is easily 10 degrees warmer than the water in Cape Town.  It really was!  I couldn't stay long because we had lots to see and had to get going!  If it hadn't been so rocky, I would have probably stayed much longer!

The drive out to the ocean featured a little kinda theme park or something and we noticed these lines as we were driving in, and realized we were driving on a Daytona 500 type track or something.  So we took one run around with tires squealing! Now don't spread that around because Elder Herbert is the "Car Czar" and we don't want young Elders getting any ideas. 

Oh, pardon me, it was the East London Grand Prix Circuit and you drove about 3/4 of the way around and then they detoured you over to the beach and a small water park that was behind the stands.  I'm not kidding!  I barely got Vic to slow down long enough to snap this picture of the grand stand.  Actually he was lining up on the lines and waiting for me to say Go!

The water park was cute!  Can you see the little splotches of blue up by the cream colored fence?  It had a few slides that were maybe 15 feet high and I could hear the people screaming and screaming as they went down. This makes sense because many of the people here are very, very afraid of water. We have a little trouble with many of them getting into the water for baptism. They are sure they are going to die! It is really quite a sacrifice and demonstration of their faith for them to get into the baptismal font!  This isn't a great picture because I was so far away, but you can tell the slides weren't very high.

 

Here you can see Vic back at the car and how far I had to walk to get to the water.  I suppose this is covered by water at high tide.  Many of the beaches we saw were pretty rocky.

Fishing is a popular thing to do down here.  Not many people have a pick-up truck to drive to the fishing hole.  Somehow these long poles really struck us as funny but when you think about it, probably many of the people who fish are getting fish for their table or to sell for a living.

We had heard about the termite hills from other senior couples, so we weren't totally surprised by these.  We were a little shocked at how many there were and that there were no houses nearby.  The termites must feed on the soils or plants in the area.  Maybe they are relatives of the dung beetle! None of those are rocks---they are all large termite hills probably at least two feet high.  We saw a few with the sides broken out, so there must be some animals that prey on them.  There were many of them along the highway but not all as numerous as seen in this picture.

As we were driving I saw a giraffe over on the crest of the hill.  We stopped to take a picture and really didn't realize that there were four of them there until we got the pictures home and watched a slide show of them!  There must be an animal park over there.

 These are some of the sights we saw as we drove along.  There were lots of bridges over rivers that were flowing into the ocean.

 And even beautiful sights on the other side of the road-----the river as it flows to the ocean.

We couldn't decide why this bridge ended like this, but it seemed to come in handy for the families that were playing under it.  We decided it might just be a walking bridge or maybe the government just ran out of money.

Here we are in Port Alfred---a little retirement community about half way between East London and Port Elizabeth.  Here's the sign on the way into Elder and Sister O'Dell's apartment complex.  The bottom language is Xhosa--it is the click language.  No clicks here though---it is pronounced about exactly as it looks.  You have to have a G, C, or X to make a click.  The th is just the t sound. The ph is just the sound of p.  Other than that, it is easy as pie!  How would you like to teach this in first grade? 

 We drove down by the beach after church on Sunday----we were going to see where the apartment was that the O'Dells didn't like.  It is right across the street from this.  They don't really like the beach, and there were all kinds of people around here on weekends partying.  I can kinda see it---I guess.  They also said the sound of the ocean seemed to keep them awake at night.  So they moved across from the golf course and got a much nicer apartment for less money because of the location. 

Here's a pic of Sister O'Dell and I.  She is the tiniest little thing--I look like a giant next to her!  The wind was blowing like crazy and we could barely stand up!

On the way home they took us past the pineapple farm and we saw the largest pineapple in the world.  Cute isn't it!  It looks like we are about to break that fence! 

We were able to snap a quick picture of the O'Dells here.  They are such a cute couple---newlyweds really as this is a second marriage for both of them. They are funny, fun and always ready to help and do their part.

That night Sister O'Dell showed me fun things she has found in South Africa.  This is a little curly scrap of fake hair attached to a head band.  I'm sure it is meant for people who have brown hair, but how fun  it was!  I know I look pretty dorky, but it was hilarious!

This close-up is actually pretty frightening, but who cares---I look like my hair is brown!  I'm laughing so much my face is about to crack!  Funny--Vic didn't like it!!  

On Monday morning we got up early and went to Fish River Sun Country Club for buffet breakfast.This is the entry way to the clubhouse.  Those nests are built by weaver birds and they enter them through the bottom.  The males build the nests and then the female goes in and decides if it will meet her high expectations.  If it doesn't, then they just leave it and he starts all over.  They like to build the nests over water, so you see these nests often over backyard swimming pools and fountains. 

It is called the Wahoo Restaurant and we were supposed to look like we were saying "Wahoo!"  Did not do a great job, did we.  They serve one of those buffet breakfasts to die for.  Every thing you could ever want---yes they make your omelet after you put your fillings in a bowl.  All kinds of fruits and fruit smoothies and breads and rice and you name it.  I am going to have to work so hard when I get home to get all this weight off!

The golf course is just on the left and this is the pool and I guess there are apartments or hotel rooms there on the right.  Can you see the ocean there in the background?  This place was amazing. 

Before we left I wanted to take a picture of some the animals on the golf course across from O'Dells.  I had to climb across some high grass and I was looking down as I approached the fence.  There are several herds of springbok, hartebeest and some tortoises.  I don't really know what else is there.  As I stepped up to the fence, I had the camera up by my face and I looked in and saw this.  I think they heard my scream back in East London!  I was okay once I realized it was just a tiny lizard on the fence---it looked like he might be ten inches long when I first saw him on the camera which was already zoomed as far as it could go. I took this picture after the scream.  He was holding on for dear life!  I'm sure he thought he was about to be eaten by a gigantiac screaming beast!

Don't know if you can see them, but there are the springbok on the golf course.  It is a small course and much cheaper than the country club, and Elder O'Dell can go over and play 9 holes once in a while without interfering with his missionary work.  He serves as the Branch President in Port Alfred and they both spend quite a bit of time working with branch members and the missionaries.  Sister O'Dell is the favorite of the missionaries because she always manages to feed them often and well.

I think I will stop for today and start a new blog tomorrow - you probably need some time off from reading this to get back to your life!!  It's so hard because I just don't want to leave anything out!!  Good night all!