Miss Citizen Girl: Lions, Elephants, Hippos! My first African Safari and a Visit to the Elephant Sanctuary

View from within Pilanesberg

This weekend was full of animals. And it started very early with a 3:25 a.m. wakeup call on Saturday. My team and I were headed for Pilanesberg National Park & Game Reserve - a two hour drive from our hotel - for my first African safari.

When we arrived, we boarded a large open-air truck, that probably seated about 25 people. Our guide was clear from the start, while the park was full of animals and things to see, he couldn’t guarantee that we’d see anything at all. I would have been pretty disappointed to wake up at 3 a.m. for nothing!

Although it has been quite warm in South Africa, and that day in particular was forecasted to be close to 80 degrees, it was very cold on the safari. I had a light sweatshirt on, so I was thankful when our guide handed out blankets for all of us. I was even more thankful when we stopped halfway through, at a small cafe for some hot chocolate.

Our fears of not seeing any animals were quickly tossed to the side. Almost immediately after we entered the park, we saw a small herd of antelope. Beautiful, but for some reason an antelope just doesn’t compare to the Big Five. Immediately after we left the herd, our guide told us he received a report of lions. As soon as he made this announcement, the bus took off, speeding down an unpaved, dirt road. It was a very bumpy ride, which came to a quick stop, when we reached a small pack of female lions. In the distance, we could see four lions, laying in the grass, appearing to be keeping their eyes on some buffalos a fair distance away. The Lions didn’t do much, just sat there, with their ears perked, but it was pretty amazing to see wild lions just a few hundred yards away.

Our CSC team on the safari truck

The safari was certainly fruitful. We saw an elephant, a giraffe, herds of zebras, as well as a hippo and its baby in the water. We didn’t get terribly close to anything, except a couple of rhinos enjoying their breakfast of grass and shrubs. The rhinos were maybe a few feet from our truck.

The safari lasted between two and three hours, before we headed back to our van and made our way back to the hotel. The early wake-up call had me pretty sluggish most of the day, so I ended my day at the hotel spa and headed to bed early.

Sunday was probably one of my favorite days on the trip so far. Two other colleagues and I went to an elephant sanctuary in Hartbeespoortdam. On our way there, we took another bumpy, dirt road, which weaved it's way through a valley of sorts. As we were driving, all of a sudden, I screamed, "Monkeys!" They weren't monkeys though (my brain was too excited to be specific I guess), but instead a pack of baboons, running across the road and up the mountainside to our left. They were too quick for us to take photos, but it was amazing. I never imagined I'd see wild baboons.

By the time we reached the sanctuary, my excitement was at an all time high, with butterflies in my stomach. To be honest, I was hoping to see a baby elephant - I've had dreams of a baby elephant laying on my lap, although I'm sure they're probably too heavy to do that. This sanctuary was home to five adult elephants - so no babies to be found. But there were three male, two female adult African elephants.

As part of the experience, we were able to touch the elephants - which actually made me a bit nervous, because these elephants were enormous. I know that might seem obvious, but standing next to them, is a whole new experience. After spending a few minutes petting the elephant, you could choose to have the elephant kiss you with his trunk. This is where a baby elephant would have been preferred, but in this case, I watched as other participants received a very generous, slimy, dirty kiss. As great of an experience I am sure that would have been, I decided to pass once I saw a woman with dirt and snot covering the entire half of her cheek.

So excited to touch an elephant!

We learned a little about the elephants' histories. One was rescued before he was sent to a circus. Two others were orphans - their parents had been killed and the babies had to be raised at the sanctuary. One came from Kruger National Park (which is where I’ll be going next weekend). The sanctuary is currently looking for a private preserve where these elephants can go to live out their lives, without human interference. While they have taught the elephants verbal commands, they are all actions that an elephant would do in the wild - so for instance, raising their trunks, or shaking their ears. The goal is to keep them as close to their natural state as possible. If anyone has a particularly large preserve in South Africa, let me know.! Apparently it's very expensive to maintain an elephant, because of their eating habits - consuming massive amounts of grass and leaves all day long. I offered my backyard, but apparently that just won't do! Lincoln will be so disappointed.

After we had the chance to meet the elephants, we were taken to another area where we were able to feed them. The food consisted of pellets - similar to treats we used to feed our horses. We’d gather the pellets in our hands and then put them in the elephants’ trunks - which are like vacuums - and they would then feed themselves. Once you were out of food, you had to walk away immediately, because as our guide said, "No food, no friends."

We were given a large bucket to feed the elephants with, but once we ran out, the elephants were no longer interested in us, so they went off for mud baths. At that point, we transferred to yet another area, where we were able to walk the elephants. We’d hold onto one of the fingers in their trunk and lead them forward. Don’t be fooled though, they might be giants, but they walk quite quickly. I actually had a hard time staying ahead of the elephant, because he was so quick on his feet.

There is so much beauty here in this country - so much wildlife and beautiful settings. I'm excited to see more, Kruger next weekend, Amboseli (Kenya) in April, Cape Town as well. So much to see, so little time!