My Cape Town Adventures: Tiny Flowers to Herds of Buffalo

Sitting right beside the deck right outside my bedroom and hearing the hippos loudly grunt and snort is a moment I'll never forget. As I was sitting on the grass taking in the scenery, a group of six or seven elephants (including a teeny little baby) marched right across the river on the reserve, grabbing a drink of water with their trunks as they crossed.

After our evening drive last night, we had a boma dinner, which is held inside this reed-walled enclosed area under the nighttime sky. The inside is lit entirely with candles, torches and a small fire that sits in the middle of the room, surrounded by the horseshoe-shaped array of tables. During dinner, the wait staff sang some beautifully harmonized African songs dressed in traditional garb. As usual, my stomach was aching at the end of the night from laughing so hard. We were incredibly lucky to have a group that gets along perfectly! The six of us are like a little family by now. After dinner, Jonno brought over a rhino beetle, which was the size of a large mouse and did look like a tiny rhino! The rhino beetle is one of the "little five," also including the elephant shrew, leopard tortoise, ant lion and buffalo weaver.

Jonno had another surprise for us on this morning's drive when we drove around a corner and were absolutely bombarded with the largest herd of buffalo I've ever seen. We were surrounded by hundreds of them, most of whom were laying down on top of each other and just overall going about their business, completely unfazed by our presence. It was quite an intimate experience. Jonno pointed out these tiny birds called red-billed oxpeckers that sit right on top of the buffalo to eat the insects that surround the mammal and don't budge even as the big animals are moving - they are SO cute! I'm not very good at distinguishing bird species and was worried that the bird sightings on safari would be a little boring compared to "the big five," but there are several types of birds that I can recognize and have fallen in love with. Some of them are very vibrantly colored and others have the funniest, quirkiest personalities. All six of us have been calling the yellow-billed hornbills "Zazus." I've also developed a great appreciation for the African flora, as well. Jonno points out trees of interest that have incredible qualities - one has twigs that can be made into toothbrushes, another's logs can produce a liquid when burned that can create toothpaste when mixed with water and whitewashing paint when mixed with milk, one bright blue flower produces a blue ink when rubbed, the weeping wattle is used for toilet paper (aka "white gold") and russet bushwillow can be used for tea after removing the poisonous center.

Jonno says he has another surprise for us this afternoon, so I'm intrigued to see what's in store!
xo Em

Huge herd of buffalo