Travel Tips

Gnus -- a.k.a. wildebeest -- have always seemed faintly comic to me. They remind me of a sort of a cross between a buffalo (bison) and a rather skinny milk cow. The reserve has a hundred head or so of these guys.

The game drive takes place in this odd looking critter... Designed and built by the South African military back during the days of the sanctions against the previous apartheid government, it was considered one of the world's best troop transports. The vehicle is amazing! It'll go places many 4x4s can't manage. Transporting up to 20 or so passengers, it took us up 40 degree slopes and over rough country tracks with seemingly no effort at all. I asked what sort of angle it would have to get to before it tipped over. The guys said they didn't know; they'd never been able to get it that far! Apparently the center of gravity is VERY low, indeed! You may bounce around in it a bit, but you don't need to worry about its turning over!

I'm not sure I had ever seen a baby rhino before. I'm not sure I'd consider him cuddly, either, but he sure is cute! One thing is definite: I'd certainly never seen one suckle before.

Botlierskop has nearly two-thirds of the world's entire population of the severely endangered black impala. These creatures are sublimely graceful when they run.

The baby giraffe here was only about 10 days old when we saw him -- at a distance, unfortunately. According to our driver/guide, they are 6 feet tall when they're born. If they were any shorter, they'd starve to death because they wouldn't be able to reach their mothers' udders.