Feb 25 - Cape Town - Safari - Day 2

Ev-Our second day (Feb. 25th) in South Africa was one of our longest. Cass and I woke at dawn to catch a taxi out of the city and deep into the surrounding wine lands. The country was a labyrinth of flat valleys and steep peaks, with bountiful grapes planted in rows as far as the eye could see. It was a beautiful place, but desolate, and we ended up driving for about 3 hours until we reached the Aquila Game Reserve. From there we were given a luxurious lunch (this reserve seemed to be a frequent favorite of rich tourists) and then set out on our safari.

The reserve itself was very large (I would site the actual size, but my conversions from hectares to whatever are pretty fuzzy), but we only needed to traverse a fraction of it to find the animals we were looking for. We came within 15 feet of the hippos, as close as was prudent of the buffalo, and within arm’s reach of the lions and the elephants.

The elephants were perhaps the most interesting of the creatures we saw, as they came right up to the truck and poked around it with their miraculous trunks. They also gave themselves sand baths right in front of us (I believe Cass has it on video) during which they would suck up some saliva from their mouths with their trunks, spray it on their chests and bodies, and then pick up sand and toss it at themselves. By doing this, the sand would stick to them and protect them from both the harsh sunlight and all manner of biting insects.

On our way back, we stopped at an ostrich farm, in which ostriches are raised similar to chickens for their meat, eggs, and feathers.

Our evening was a much different pace from the morning. We set off from the ship and went to a botanical garden partway up the mountain Lion’s Head, which gave us perfect view of the night sky. We spent the night stargazing with several local constellation experts, who were quick to explain the local stories behind the great constellations. Curiously enough, the story for the constellation we often refer to as “Orion’s Belt” is also about a hunter, which seems to be a pattern among cultures all across the world (possible cross-cultural influence?).

What was really striking about the night sky was that it truly was one foreign to us. Most of the constellations we saw were ones not ever visible from the northern hemisphere, and it took a while to get used to seeing the Southern Cross instead of the North Star. In addition to stars, we were able to observe a most interesting phenomenon that Cape Town is famous for. By this I mean the low-lying cloud that drifts down and drapes itself over Table Mountain (the flat-peaked mountain looming directly behind Cape Town) for the entirety of the night, while all the other clouds have since disappeared. The locals call this blanket, in accordance with the mountain’s name, “the Tablecloth”.