A Mini-Safari

Many of the passengers left the ship for 3 to 9 days to go on safari to see the big five of African game: the elephant, lion, rhinoceros, the hippopotamus and the leopard.  We preferred not to miss that much of the rest of the trip, so we went on a "mini-safari" by going to a private game preserve.
Pumba Game Reserve is several miles outside of Port Elizabeth, South  Africa. There were no rhinos, hippos or leopards, but we saw a lot of other African animals, some at very close range.






We traveled by bus to Pumba, then transferred to open sided 10 passenger Land Rovers.  Our driver seemed to know just where to find the animals, even though there were miles and miles of intersecting bumpy dirt roads.







Our first sighting was a herd of zebras and impalas.  Since these animals eat different things, they have no trouble mixing.  There is strength in numbers, so they have an early warning signal if any one of them hears, sees or smells a predator.

My  two favorite animals were the giraffes and the elephants, and we saw a lot of them.

Just ambling across the road

Male giraffe

Females have shorter "horns."

Our guide told us that it might be hard to see elephants even though there were a lot of them.  They can hide easily.  We found out.

Now you see them.

Now you don't.

The elephant looked around to find a choice plant, wrapped his trunk around it and pulled it out.  Then he shook off the dirt and stuffed it into his mouth.

We not only saw lions, but were within 10 yards of them.  They totally ignored us.  Papa was eating a wildebeest that the ladies had killed for him the night before and the rest of the group were patiently waiting to see if he would leave anything for them.

"It's so boring , waiting for Dad to finish eating."

Female lions do not have ruffs.

This young male is just beginning to grow a ruff.

After a meal, its nap time.

We did not see many of the other animals, but here are the ones we saw.

African Water Buffalo

Impala and Wildebeest

Impala crossing the road

Nyalas with impala in the background

Waterbuck

Termite mounds were all over the place.  Some were active colonies, but many had been broken into by aardvarks at night.  Other animals use the damaged mounds for shelter.

Fort Frederick

Darrell saw the sights in Port Elizabeth.

Fort Frederick

Light House and monument

Main building at Mandela University

Our first sighting was a herd of zebras and impalas.  Since these animals eat different things, they have no trouble mixing.  There is strength in numbers, so they have an early warning signal if any one of them hears, sees or smells a predator.