Day 9

In the morning we visited the Knysna Elephant Park. The park is a protected area where lone (or orphaned) elephants come to be rehabilitated and cared for. I've always had a special fondness for elephants. I love how the mothers care for their young like human mothers. I was surprised at how well trained the elephants were. I suppose that is the result of them spending so much time in such close proximity with humans. I expected them to be more wild; I thought we would have to go looking for them in the park but it was more of a grown up petting zoo experience. We got to feed them! A big sloppy elephant trunk reached out and took large chunks of fruit directly out of our hands. I felt like a kid again :)

The second animal of the Big Five we encountered that day was the lion... sort of. We were very fortunate to have a private lecture with Gareth Patterson, the "lion guru". He spent years with lions rehabilitating them and teaching them how to survive in the wild. He even taught them hunting skills. If I hadn't heard it straight from his mouth, I never would have believed that a human man could teach hunting skills to a lion. But Gareth was nearly a lion himself. He was so in tune with the lions that they thought of him as another one of them. In recent years Gareth has been doing research on the illusive herd of Knysna elephants, but he is still a very committed activist for conserving the lion population, which is quickly dwindling due severe to hunting and poaching.

Professor Zanecchia with Gareth Patterson

Afterwards we enjoyed lunch while Ms. Susan Campbell, an activist lawyer who talked to us about her personal story of battling for conservation. Actually, she started off battling against it, because she inherited some property on the waterfront in an area of fynbos. Little did she know when she began construction that she was not allowed to build there because the fynbos were protected. In the end she was able to compromise and build a non-invasive (and very cool!) lodging made up of a few structures in pockets of the fynbos. It is always great to hear a story about someone who doesn't care about something and maybe even finds it annoying but who is then forced to confront it, and in doing so actually comes to appreciate it. Knowledge is power, as they say. Now, Ms. Campbell is fighting big forestry and building groups who want to develop in areas where the fynbos are currently protected. The South African fynbos are very grateful to have her on their side I'm sure.

Later that evening we arrived at the Gondwana Game Reserve. In the pouring rain. We were all drenched and starving but the Belet's (our amazing, amazing hosts) had a nice warm BBQ diner waiting for us. I was tired but I couldn't have been happier.