We are wrapping up our final morning at Zulu Nyala watching some type of large beetle meander about the patio outside our room, or at least we think it’s a beetle. There are a lot of large beetles in this part of the world. A neighborhood monkey was also hanging about, but a worker straightening the nearby pool chairs scared him off. It’s a beautiful morning, however, more like the weather we had anticipated and not the freezing wind we encountered on arrival.
We did our final game drive last night and it seemed the elephants were following us wherever we went. Now understand that this is a small reserve, and it has been extremely dry due to a two-year drought, and as a result the staff has been throwing out hay in spots as supplemental feed. The result is that several species tend to gather in those spots to chow down; normally there would not be a bunch of zebra, wildebeests and rhinos all hanging about together. We figure it also makes it a bit easier for the guides to get guests to the animals, which makes this something like a big zoo. Our next stop in the Sabi Sands area, also a privately operated reserve, is much larger and we will likely observe more “normal” animal behavior.
That said, we ran into the reserve’s three female elephants on three occasions last night, each time a surprise encounter that showed how they can dominate simply due to their size. The first time we were watching a mishmosh of animals feeding when all of a sudden in trot the elephants. (It’s interesting how quietly they can move for such large animals; ditto for rhinos.) They barge into the middle of the feeding scrum and all the other animals scattered. The elephants paused for a few seconds, then trotted of. The other animals went back to feeding.
Next we watched them basically push three rhinos that were drinking at a watering hole out of the way. It was pretty much, “get out, it’s our turn.” The rhinos complied, and it’s not like they are slouches in the size department either. The last chance encounter came as we sat on a trail that was on the berm of another pond, with nowhere to go right or left when elephants came right up behind the vehicle; the folks in the last seats were getting nervous but the creatures just trotted off.
We did run into some baboons yesterday for the first time, they were kind of amusing. Next stop should be quite different. Hoping to see some of the big cats, lions and leopards.
It's What We Do 
Love the photos – they are just beautiful. I'm enjoying your telling of the animals behavior there in the wild – they are all awesome creatures and sounds like such fun watching the elephant to push aside a rhino!! baboons are usually funny and this one looks like he's on a mission to somewhere. Keep enjoyingMom
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