Upon arriving, we saw two little meerkats running around in the parking lot. I mention this because these are my favorite animals from Africa. We checked in at reception and went out to wait for the tour to start.
The reserve was set up to save elephants that are "problem" elephants, prior performing elephants and elephants that may have been nearly exported illegally. They currently have five elephants - two young males just entering sexual maturity, two females, one of which is 17 years old (the matriarch of the herd), and one bull elephant that is just being introduced to the herd.
The experience is designed to be very interactive with the elephants, as well as informative. Participants get to start by observing the elephants, then feeding them, then are presented with an informational program and tour of the facility. Everyone then goes out to the forest to really get in touch with these beautiful animals.
When I say "get in touch," I mean it. The guides take you to an elephant and you touch and observe almost every part of the animal. Participants are then treated to an "elephant kiss" as you can see by the photos of Kimber and Sidney.
Finally, everyone gets to go back and "walk" the elephants. The elephant latches onto your fingertips with the "finger" on the end of their trunk and follows you around the track. Some people ride the elephants, but that seemed just a little too cheesy.
One issue that was brought up is the difficulty in reintroducing the elephants into the wild. Populations have exploded, and each individual elephant requires a substantial amount of land to graze. Even the largest reserve in South Africa, Kruger Animal Reserve, is currently at almost double its capacity for elephants. Another issue is that elephants, being very intelligent animals, may not want to stay where they are taken and have been known to return to the place they came from within a few weeks.
We relaxed a bit the next day and did a little shopping in preparation for Christmas. Bill invited some friends over for an impromptu Christmas Eve party, and we prepared a poike pot by the fire. Poike pots are small cast iron cauldrons in which meat, veggies, wine, and almost anything else can be dumped in and set by an open fire for stew. Bill chose to add about 20 Thai chilies, so the stew was a little spicy, but very tasty. Sidney and Keti were playing in the pool, and as they got cold, they would go over and warm themselves by the fire.
We did the stuff everyone does for the kids on Christmas Eve after the kids went to bed, and Bill started smoking a pork shoulder roast for Christmas dinner. It smoked all night and part of the next morning, but more on that in a minute.
The kids got up around 7 a.m. and started in on presents. Regina was very good to help us out in making sure Sidney was well represented with the other two kids. Sidney had a great time, as did Rielly and Keti and the adults, and the gifts were all well received. After filling themselves with junk food and breakfast, the kids went to play with their toys.
After much preparation by Regina and Bill, Christmas dinner was served on the patio. The weather was beautiful (as it was for our entire trip), the food was excellent, and the girls ate in their bathing suits! South Africa is definitely not the place to go if you want snow for Christmas!
Kimber and I spent the later part of the afternoon packing. The next morning, Bill and I took it easy with the kids while Kimber and Regina went for pedicures. Oh, yes - Sidney also had her first motorcycle ride! Bill took her for a ride around the block. The helmet was almost too heavy for her and she sort of just laid down on the gas tank for most of the ride, but she enjoyed it! In the afternoon, we finished the last minute preparations for our departure and headed to the airport.
It was very sad for us to leave our friends, and Sidney said she especially would miss Keti.
Our flight took off into a thunderstorm, and the lightning was very cool to see as we rose through the clouds. We flew all night to Frankfurt, where we spent our five hour layover in the business lounge eating and resting, then flew into Stavanger.
Imagine our surprise when we landed to this white landscape! It apparently snowed all day on the 23rd and part of the day on the 24th. It hasn't been warm enough to melt much, and the forecast doesn't have temperatures above freezing for the next week. I can feel my tan disappearing by the second!
Thanks to Bill, Regina, Rielly and Keti for their warm hospitality and friendship during our visit. We love you guys!
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