Safari time

For today's biology field trip we drove to Tala Game Reserve, a private game reserve near Durban. We packed our lunches, gathered our waterproof gear and loaded the bus, only to find out that our driver was nowhere in sight. About 45 minutes later, and after some kind of communication breakdown, we were on our way. Time in Africa is much different than in the U.S- people value conversations and the general flow of life way more than being on time. One of the first South African phrases we learned was "T.I.A" - this is Africa. T.I.A. means that being punctual takes a backseat to conversations, meals, and pretty much anything else South Africans find more important in life. After a pretty quick 45 minute drive through cow country, we arrived at the Tala Game Reserve. Tala is located on a piece of land that was used for cattle and crop farming in the past, before being converted to a wildlife park about 20 years ago. Upon arriving, just like all of the Discovery Channel shows, we saw a pair of canvas-roofed land rover safari vehicles waiting for us.

We loaded up our packs onto the rover, as I waited in anticipation for my first African safari. Our drive began through a grassland plain, dotted with zebra, wildebeast, kudu and cranes. The grazers were scattered about the countryside in an almost too-perfect setup, some coming within 15 feet of our truck. After passing through a medium-sized zebra herd mixed with ostriches, we descended a small hill, as our land rover navigated the rocky, muddy road down the slope. We entered a bushy area, and as we peeked out of the other side, a group of about 5 or 6 white rhino were grazing about 20 feet away. These things eat SO much! The entire 5 or 10 minutes we spent watching them, they simply munched away on the grass, pretending like we didn't exist. It definitely made for some quality pictures. Just up the road form the rhino, I saw a small grove of trees. All of the sudden, I saw an enormously tall, yellow speckled neck. About 10 giraffes were munching on the trees, grouped together as a cluster of skinny, long-necked leaf-eaters.

We completed our loop in about 45 minutes, stopping for our short field assignment for our biology class (I was definitely in safari-mode, not school-mode). I felt it was decent trade - some vegetation field study for a real-life African safari.