It's a Jungle Out There

Every few months we get a chance to bust out of the norm and have a day to smell the flowers.  Since it is winter now in South Africa there aren’t many flowers to smell.  So we headed to one of the national parks to feast on the sights, sounds and scents of the wide open spaces that many amazing animals call home.  Probably because of the time and season, most of the creatures, great and small, appeared to be on the “Witness Protection Program” and were difficult to find.  Never knowing what might jump out at us kept the adrenalin flowing and provided a nice change from the concrete jungle of Johannesburg.

After driving through the park for several hours, we stopped and walked through a caged area across a wooden plank bridge, reminiscent of Knott's Berry Farm, to view a breathtaking scene with giraffes, baboons, crocodiles, hippos and birds.  There was a sign inside the shelter that said, “Silence Please.”  We sat there quietly and watched the real-life “Wild Kingdom” scene unfold before us.  The hippos swam in right on cue and put on a show of strength.  A “nervous-wreck” giraffe tentatively hung out near the water for an hour trying to gather the courage to maneuver its spindly legs and long neck into a drinking position.  The baboons taunted the giraffe and ran all over the place like monkeys!  The beautiful birds just sat on a branch and joined us in watching the surreal complexities of a scene unfolding before us that could have been a throw-back to the Garden of Eden.  Peering through the “window” into God’s handiwork was almost a sacred experience and brought to mind the strains of music that house these words by Cecil Alexander 1818-1895.

"All things bright and beautiful

All creatures great and small

All things wise and wonderful

The Lord God made them all."

Here are some photos I took that represent a few of the magnificent creatures we enjoyed visiting.  Welcome to our day in the jungle!  (if video runs slow change to 360p)

 

Weaver birds with their nests: