We round a bend and see a white rhino, browsing through the tall yellow grass.
“I’ve taken so many rhino photos already,” I announce sanctimoniously. “I’m not even taking my camera out.”
Another rhino. Ho hum.
But this is my dad’s first-ever safari and he isn’t sick of rhinos yet. Chris, our guide, stops the car and we settle in to watch.
The rhino comes closer, oblivious to us. He looks so beautiful in the golden morning light. Did I just say I’d had enough of rhinos? I whip my camera off the floor and start shooting.
The rhino disappears into the grass. We start to pull away. Then the rhino appears again and decides to cross the road.
Pretty.
Nice profile, Mr. Rhinoceros.
I’ve never seen a rhino sniffing before. Look how his huge horn is totally flat on the ground. So cool. Chris says another rhino must have peed there.
He’s walking away. Sad.
Wait, he’s back! Look at his curly tail! So cool!
Hmm, he’s giving us a sidelong glance. Maybe I shouldn’t be leaning so precariously out the car window. I don’t want another near-death rhino encounter.
Now he’s really going. Sad.
This week I was reminded that the Pilanesberg Game Reserve is an extremely underrated place. Pilanesberg is beautiful, wild, filled with animals, and only two hours from Joburg. It’s an especially great park for seeing rhinos. I’ll be writing more about our recent visit to Pilanesberg in a future post.
My dad is on his way home to America tonight after a two-week visit to South Africa. We were so busy doing fun things that I hardly had time to blog while he was here. I plan to blog like mad this week to catch up.
How have I never blogged about 44 Stanley Avenue, the coolest shopping and dining complex in Joburg, which is only five minutes from my house?
I guess it’s wrong to say I’ve never blogged about 44 Stanley; I’ve mentioned it countless times over the years (see here and here) when writing about specific restaurants or shops that are there. But I’ve never written a dedicated post about 44 Stanley as a destination and it’s about time I did – especially now, with the holidays upon us.
I’ve been dreadfully uninspired lately, struggling to think of anything I want to blog about despite having a long list of great ideas (many of which you, my readers, provided in September). I’m finding it hard to feel positive about life at the moment. But on Saturday Thorsten and I got the chance to visit Indwe Park, an indigenous garden and sculpture park in Braamfontein, and I knew I had my topic for today.
Given this week’s political nuclear bomb blast, it feels like a weird time to publish a light-hearted post about my recent (pre-election) jaunt through the United States. But I’m hoping you’ve have had enough of the U.S. election horror show – I know I have – and are ready (at least temporarily) for some wholesome American travel adventures. If so, please read on about my four-day visit to Maine, the northeastern-most state in the lower 48, with my sister, Susanna.
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It makes me smile, when I see it.