Looking for Rhinos

Today is the day we headed out to find Rhinos in Matabo National Park.   A ½ day adventure in the park was included in our safari but we had the option to make it a full day including lunch for an extra $30.  As the afternoon involved walking around the bush talking about plants etc and visiting cave drawings Jenna opted out along with 8 other people but Alyssa, Kevin and I chose to make a day of it.  At 8:30 we were picked up in 3 trucks and driven out to the park.  Our guides were very interesting especially the one gentleman who spent 2 solid years in the bush and did not hold back on his opinions.  The older fellow was very knowledgeable and a great speaker, he sort of reminded me of John Woods. 

Our first stop in the park was a spot on a dirt road where they spotted rhino tracks.  They explained how you could tell what type of rhino it was and roughly how old the track was.  The one guide which I will call the “Bushman” talked a lot about how just spending time in the bush can help you understand what goes on there (ie. how long it takes a spider to spin its web and how it can tell you how long an animal has been through the area).  Our next stop was a trail that took us to the top of a hill which provided a good view of the area and an opportunity to look for the rhinos.  Although the bushman was of stocky build, wow could he hike through the forest and in bare feet!   It felt a little like speed walking rather than hiking!  Luckily for us we saw rhinos down below near a patch of trees along with some wildebeest so we headed back down and to the trucks.  We were asked to keep quiet while walking into the area where the rhinos were.  We were to move forward gradually so that the rhinos could get use to us before we stopped to really observe them and take photos.  One of the guides explained it is like someone coming into your house and putting their feet up on your coffee table before being invited in. We had to let them invite us in.  It was an amazing experience getting so close to them, especially seeing the mom with her baby. After some time

observing the rhinos it was time to head out and those that were not staying for the afternoon headed back to the camp.  It felt a little weird letting Jenna go back without us but I knew she would be okay as 8 others would be back at the camp with her along with Momma Flo.  Jenna enjoyed just relaxing and taking advantage of the wifi that was available.

We drove to a picnic area in the park where we were treated to a fabulous lunch with 5 different salads, buns and lunchmeat.  I have missed having salads and these reminded me of the type we would have at home such as potato salad.  It’s funny how much the small things count when you’ve been away from home for awhile. 

We passed through the park with stops along the way to talk about the uses of certain plants.  One plant was used to help control hunger when spending many days in the bush by chewing on the leaves and swallowing the saliva.  Some of the men tried it and I understand it is terrible so you really need to be desperate to eat it.  We ended up going out of the park and through some rural villages.  The houses were mostly round with thatched roofs and the people waved when we went by.  We saw some women working in the bush collecting the grass for the roofs which looked like a lot of work.  

Our guide told us that the villages around the park receive funds from the park entry fee so that they will help keep an eye on what is happening such as poaching.  They realize that if the rhinos are gone the people will not come and they will lose income.  We hiked up another trail that took us to a large overhanging rock that had amazing rock art on its walls.  They believe the art to be about 9,500 years old and our guides gave us their take on what some of the drawings meant.  As we walked down the trail we realized that some of the people we saw along the road had walked all the way out to the trailhead to try and sell some of their items to us.  For some reason it really hit me how much it meant to these people to sell even just one item.  There was an older woman there with a small child and the child was helping carve a spoon.  One girl was there trying to sell her father’s carvings.  Seeing them made me wish I could buy something from each of them.

After a few more stops we came across some fresh rhino dung.  The bushman decided to show us what it looks like inside and how warm it was by picking it up so we could see.  He brought the dung to us to “feel” the heat and then proceeded to show us how much water is in it by squishing it with his bare feet!  He played a prank on the kids by sticking a finger in it and putting different one in his mouth so it looked as if he had tasted it, they were disgusted!  It was starting to get dark so we headed back to camp.  It was an informative and fun day and we will see what tomorrow brings.