Walking into Rhino!

Earlier this week we headed out onto the reserve, but this time, not for a drive. We decided that it was time to explore another way of experiencing the bush, on foot! Walking in reserves gives you the opportunity to look at nature in a completely different way. On a walk is when you have time to focus on the smaller or usually ignored thing such as insects, birds, grasses and trees. This walk would be different though, we had heard of reports of two rhinos in the nearby area.

Keeping our eyes and ears open for signs of these prehistoric looking animals, we proceeded on our walk. We discussed a few trees, saw some dung beetles rolling their dung balls, and burying them, we encountered a very inquisitive tree squirrel, looking at us from the safety of his hole in the tree. Shorty after a quick drinks stop, we found signs of what we have been looking for, an area where they had been hiding away from the now heating up African sun, and it lead into a fairly densely vegetated area, giving us only a tiny glimpse of an ear moving. We tried to move around the thicket, but with no luck. We moved back to where we had first caught that quick glimpse, but much to our disappointment, they had moved on. However, only a few moments later, we heard a sound that would make most hearts skip a beat and raise adrenalin levels, the sounds of their giant bodies crashing through the dense vegetation. They heard us! We quickly retreated to the safety of a pushed over tree and tried to determine the direction they were running.

Having seen the direction they were running in, we carefully made our way onto an open clearing they had run towards. We were in luck! We now had a clear view of the rhinos ahead of us. A mother and her calf, walked 40m ahead of us. They reverted back to a relaxed state and we had the great opportunity of admiring them on foot for a few minutes. An amazing experience which should be on most people’s Bucket list!

Walking into Rhino!