Durban - Tala game reserve

Our first port of call in South Africa was Durban – so time for a game park. We had a couple of buses that were then divided into three safari vehicles. If you look closely you can see Dianne, Kate, Pamela and Mike (a friend of Laraine who we caught up with in Paris last year). The park is quite large but the chicken farm in the backgound was certainly not part of the reserve!

Of course there were plenty of South Africa’s game park McDonalds – the impala - plentiful food for the large cats!

There are quite a range of ‘antelope’ these are the Blesbok.

And we were very lucky to see the well-hidden Nyala. Their stripes are a giveaway but meld well with the bush.

Bird life is also plentiful, but they were not the core focus for today's shots. This viewing platform on the banks of a dam enabled all sorts of wildlife to be viewed. If you look carefully in the middle of the reeds is a pied Kingfisher. There are also a number of hanging Weaver bird nests.

I cannot recall this birds true name but ‘Jesus bird’ did stick – so named for its ability to walk on water…..

What I did not appreciate was that Wildebeests are also part of the antelope family. This Impala froze when he saw us but did not seem to appreciate what a silhouette he cut. The Wildebeest also seem fully aware of their family member.

The Wildebeest did seem to be constantly on the move but at least being in a small game reserve were not prone to migration given food was plentiful.

We all love Zebras but there were some facts I did not know. First, they never look slim – they have four stomachs one of which is geared to fermentation, so they are always bloated. Apparently chasing them can be a noisy and smelly affair!

The alpha male is also very aggressive and will kill younger (less than one year old) males. They also mate with pregnant females so violently and repeatedly that they abort so their gene pool then dominates. Not quite so attractive now are they?...

However, giraffes are a different matter. They are so elegant and relaxed. No chance of a heart attack here! Apparently, the Acacia bushes, after being eaten for a few minutes, produce a bitter sap and the giraffe then moves onto a new bush. Isn’t nature wonderful? Although I do wonder how anyone found that out. I also didn’t know giraffes have no vocal cords so sounds are pretty limited to the likes of snorts.

Maybe its their peacefulness that makes them so mesmerising.

Finally, of course were the rhinos. These white ones are relatively tame compared to black ones. That said one white female with a new born had the previous evening charged one of the vehicles. Mum and Dad in this picture seemed relatively content allowing junior to be photographed up close.

They have just had their horns sawn back (using a chainsaw while sedated) to mitigate the likelihood of poachers getting the wrong idea.

So did we enjoy that? (Pamela, Mike and Linda.)