Animal Encounters

After one very long day on the bus, we stopped in Port Elizabeth, and in the morning we went to visit lions. First we saw some antelope in the park. In retrospect, I wonder if they were being bred as lion food.

 The male lions really were as majestic as I always imagined Aslan, but at the same time they seemed quite lazy and I got the impression that they were perpetually napping.

The females were much more active and were busy fighting over some disgusting carcass fragment. I loved watching the way their shoulder blades move as they walk.

 

  I even got to pet lion cubs! After they stopped trying to eat my pants, I had fun scratching the rough hair on their bellies and watching them stretch and suck their thumbs like human babies.

 After a day in Port Elizabeth, we continued to Plettenberg Bay, and Becky and I went to an elephant park. Elephants were native in this area, but they’ve been driven to extinction by hunting. In the park, they raise orphan elephants and are working on breeding them. We got to ride one named Harry. They brought the elephant up to a platform so we could climb onto the saddle and sit behind our guide. Along the way, we got to feed Harry some pellets. It was odd to just keep dumping food down his nose, but I guess elephants can hold several litres of water in their trunks.

 My favourite part was feeding the elephants carrots, pineapple, and butternut after we got off. It was so cool to feel the powerful tip of its trunk and get elephant saliva?snot? on my hands. I also enjoyed feeling their rough skin.

  Our third stop along the way was in Mossel Bay. When I went hiking along the cliffs by the ocean with Caroline and Becky, we saw these fat little creatures for the first time.

 Depending on your language, this is an imbila, dassie, hyrax, or rock rabbit. In my Zulu class in the US, we read the story of how, because of his laziness, the imbila failed to get a tail when all the other animals did and was then so embarrassed that he ran to hide in the rocks. Because I'd heard of them before, it was exciting to see them running around everywhere on the rocks.

In Cape Town itself, I was very excited to see an animal that reminded me of home: squirrels! The squirrels in this park are the only ones I’ve seen in South Africa, and they were just as fearless as their cousins at IU.

  Later, we saw tons of sea lions at the waterfront. I love the awkward way they flop around (notice the one photographed in mid-flop) and plop into the water.

 On our last day in Cape Town, we rode a train to Simon’s Town to see the largest penguin colony in Africa. These penguins were formerly called jackass penguins because their call sounds kind of like a donkey, but now they’re known as African penguins.

 I’ve waited until now to use this superlative, so I really mean it—the penguins were the cutest thing ever! Look at this baby!

 And the adults are totally cute too. I love the way they waddle around awkwardly on the beach like C3PO on Tatooine, and then dive gracefully into the water.