24th June Ant's  Nest

Today was our last day at Ant’s Hill – so it was going to be a good one.  We decided to ride to the Ant’s Nest as the Rhinos were over there. It was a really long and fast ride. Great riding and again so much to see.  We saw many of the usual suspects but still had to stop and stare at the Giraffes for a long time.

Giraffes graze on Acacia trees for no longer that around 15 minutes on each trees and always move in an upwind direction. That is because, after the Giraffes start feeding, these trees release a very bitter tannin into their leaves making them un-palatable. We learnt that the Acacia is one of the only trees that can communicate. As well as releasing the tannin into their own leaves, they release a hormone into the air. The trees down wind sense it and also release the tannin, thus getting rid of the Giraffes before they start eating.  Isn’t nature wonderful!!!!!

We then saw the troupe of Baboons.  They are huge (almost as tall as as a German Shepard) and run along with the babies sitting on their backs. An amazing bonus we were lucky to see.

After a few hours riding we found the Rhinos. They are huge, massive and really big! We just stood around them watching for age.  The group we were with was the dominant male, two females and an 18 month old.  They just wandered around grazing. The big male walked towards us very slowly with his head down in a threatening manner. Raina believes her heels touched each other as she kicked her horse when told to move. Sarah says she wasn’t as calm as she may have looked as she moved her horse away, and she didn’t look all that calm to begin with. She was about 1.5m away at one point.  Later that day, Chase the guide, referred to when the Rhino charged us. So it is fact. We were charged by a Rhino!!!!

We learnt a very interesting tidbit about our good old friend Zazu, the Hornbill. The forming of the relationship between a mating pair of Hornbills is rather unique and intensive. They spend quite a while developing a bond and take the time for a substantial amount of trust to be developed. This is because when it comes time for the eggs to be laid the hornbills do something very strange. They find a hollow tree and the female hops in. The male then proceeds to make a mud door and seals up the hollow except for a small slot type opening. The female plucks out all her feathers, makes a nest and says goodbye to sunlight for several months. The male then spends the time it takes for the chicks to hatch and grow, delivering food through the slot. So you can see why there needs to be trust between the pair. Interestingly if you watch the Broadway version of the Lion King or the extended DVD edition there is a song that Zazu sings called ‘the morning report’ . The Hornbill often forms a relationship with mongooses. The Mongoose lives deep inside an old termite mound and cannot see the sun. As the sun rises they stick their head down the mongoose hole and sing a wakeup call, or perhaps give a morning report. They then go foraging together. The Hornbill acts as a look out for danger and the Mongoose flushes flying bugs that the Hornbill snaps up. One line in this song goes, “crocodiles are snapping up fresh offers from the bank, showed interest in my nest egg, but I quickly said no thanks” ALL THIS TIME!!! ZAZU HAS A WIFE AND CHILD! Locked away in the basement!

While we’re talking about Lion King revelations, here is another. Female warthogs have warty protrusions just below the eyes, the males have this as well as an extra set down near the tusks. If you watch the Lion King, pay attention to Pumba’s face. PUMBA IS A GIRL! So a whole new theory occurs to Sarah, Pumba was not ostracized because he had particularly fowl smelling farts. But because he was a man stuck in a woman’s body. And Timone and Simba were the only ones who would accept him as a him.  

On the ride back, we decided to send Raina some of the way back in the car. Her horse was much slower – as was she. So off they went for the fast ride.  But – Raina did still have some influence. Her horse decided that he wanted to run in second place in the pack – though riderless and untacked – and would not let anyone pass. So he still slowed them down.  Meanwhile Raina was travelling in the car and saw Monkeys!!!!  Then Mongooses!!!!

We got back to the lodge and had yet another great three-course lunch. As we were sitting around after lunch we saw what appeared to be an eagle or hawk flying high and circling, but turned out to be a vulture, and a rare one at that.

In a deep state of depression as it was time to leave Ant’s Hill, we proceeded to have a few beverages for the car trip, and slept about half of the way. We stopped at a BilTong shop and bought some for the trip, yum yum yum.

As mentioned before Raina had seen Monkeys at Ant’s but Sarah had not – much to her bitter disappointment – but as we were driving back to J’burg we saw some more crossing the road. YAY!

We skipped dinner, nibbled on BilTong and crashed out for the night. What a day!

We learnt a very interesting tidbit about our good old friend Zazu, the Hornbill. The forming of the relationship between a mating pair of Hornbills is rather unique and intensive. They spend quite a while developing a bond and take the time for a substantial amount of trust to be developed. This is because when it comes time for the eggs to be laid the hornbills do something very strange. They find a hollow tree and the female hops in. The male then proceeds to make a mud door and seals up the hollow except for a small slot type opening. The female plucks out all her feathers, makes a nest and says goodbye to sunlight for several months. The male then spends the time it takes for the chicks to hatch and grow, delivering food through the slot. So you can see why there needs to be trust between the pair. Interestingly if you watch the Broadway version of the Lion King or the extended DVD edition there is a song that Zazu sings called ‘the morning report’ . The Hornbill often forms a relationship with mongooses. The Mongoose lives deep inside an old termite mound and cannot see the sun. As the sun rises they stick their head down the mongoose hole and sing a wakeup call, or perhaps give a morning report. They then go foraging together. The Hornbill acts as a look out for danger and the Mongoose flushes flying bugs that the Hornbill snaps up. One line in this song goes, “crocodiles are snapping up fresh offers from the bank, showed interest in my nest egg, but I quickly said no thanks” ALL THIS TIME!!! ZAZU HAS A WIFE AND CHILD! Locked away in the basement!

While we’re talking about Lion King revelations, here is another. Female warthogs have warty protrusions just below the eyes, the males have this as well as an extra set down near the tusks. If you watch the Lion King, pay attention to Pumba’s face. PUMBA IS A GIRL! So a whole new theory occurs to Sarah, Pumba was not ostracized because he had particularly fowl smelling farts. But because he was a man stuck in a woman’s body. And Timone and Simba were the only ones who would accept him as a him.  

On the ride back, we decided to send Raina some of the way back in the car. Her horse was much slower – as was she. So off they went for the fast ride.  But – Raina did still have some influence. Her horse decided that he wanted to run in second place in the pack – though riderless and untacked – and would not let anyone pass. So he still slowed them down.  Meanwhile Raina was travelling in the car and saw Monkeys!!!!  Then Mongooses!!!!

We got back to the lodge and had yet another great three-course lunch. As we were sitting around after lunch we saw what appeared to be an eagle or hawk flying high and circling, but turned out to be a vulture, and a rare one at that.

In a deep state of depression as it was time to leave Ant’s Hill, we proceeded to have a few beverages for the car trip, and slept about half of the way. We stopped at a BilTong shop and bought some for the trip, yum yum yum.

As mentioned before Raina had seen Monkeys at Ant’s but Sarah had not – much to her bitter disappointment – but as we were driving back to J’burg we saw some more crossing the road. YAY!

We skipped dinner, nibbled on BilTong and crashed out for the night. What a day!