Dodging Elephant Dung in South Africa – River Lodge, May 7th and 8th
As I cycled on my third day through the bush of South Africa, our group found huge piles of fresh elephant dung dotting our path. I gleefully began dodging these as if I were biking an obstacle course. Without thinking I yelled to no person in particular, “How many people can say they dodged elephant dung while on a mountain bike!” The riders around me laughed and gave me a thumbs up. Another unique experience among so many we would have on this trip. And so began our second day at River Lodge – our second stop in Kariega Reserve.
We had arrived here after a wonderful stay at Ukhozi Lodge for two nights. We had awoken the day before (Sunday morning) and cycled 10 miles to River Lodge, our current accommodation for the next two nights. Located on the Bushman River, River Lodge had a wonderful river-view. One of my favorite things to do was to bike down the 1/2 mile pathway along the river to our rustic villa, which was quiet and secluded.
Kariega has an Anti poaching unit (APU), which has been very effective during the past 10 years in thwarting poaching. Unfortunately, other game reserves have not been as effective. In the last decade, almost 10,000 African rhinos have been lost to poaching. Over 80% of the world’s surviving rhinos now live in South Africa as the populations elsewhere in Africa and Asia have been decimated. The killing has slowed slightly but at least one rhino continues to be brutally killed by poachers every day.
Kariega Game Reserve was particularly hard hit in 2012. In March of that year the reserve suffered a devastating triple poaching. One bull died during the attack. The second bull died 24 days later due to injuries sustained during the poaching; but the cow, now affectionately known as Thandi, survived the ordeal and after enduring a long and painful recovery, has gone on to gift the world with five calves and two grand-calves to date.
The events of March 2012 catapulted Kariega Game Reserve into the forefront of the war against poaching and motivated the Kariega Foundation to develop a holistic approach to rhino conservation with core motives to protect and preserve the Kariega wilderness and the animals, as well as rejuvenate the neighbouring communities to create education opportunities that inspire youth, in particular, to join the conservation movement. And in short, this is why we are on this trip. While at River Lodge we were able to meet a local from the community who gave a talk on what the community is doing to help local youth obtain a better education. What she described sounded much like the work Elizabeth did as a School Psychologist – a great way to approach each child as an individual. In some ways, their approach seemed more advanced their our own education system. However, make no mistake – this approach is the exception in South Africa due partly from the fund’s contributed by Kariega Game Reserve.
After arriving at the River Lodge, we were shuttled to the Owner’s Homestead for lunch and a lecture on the history of South Africa from a local historian and lecturer. His talk totally mirrored (with some nuances) James Michener’s “The Covenant.” So I asked him what he thought of the book. He said it does an excellent job of summarizing South Africa’s history through great storytelling. After lunch we went on another Safari Drive, the highlight of which was interacting with a herd of elephants with our jeeps.
The next morning we took a beautiful 16-mile cycle ride from River Lodge to a high plains area and back. Elizabeth opted to go on a guided bush walk and then a boat trip to Kenton on Sea. While she was on the boat ride down the river to the Indian Ocean, I took a spa treatment with a full body massage. Before a dinner that included wild Eland, we listened to another interesting lecture – this time on land and animal conservation by the veterinarian that saved Thandi! Yes, another full day!
