August 2, 2017
I had the glorious experience of getting close to two white rhinos on my recent trip to South Africa. The name of the game preserve will have to remain secret — as Bonnie and Clydes\’ horns have grown back since they were poached a-few-years-ago — making them potential targets again.
We got close to them in the bush on our first visit. The two occupied the compound on our second.
The last poaching incident was an \”all pro\” operation — with the poachers coming in by helicopter and tranquilizing the pair — instead of shooting them dead and then taking their horns.
But the poachers did almost kill the pair by over-tranquilizing them and then leaving their bodies on their sides. (I learned that rhinos are too heavy to lay on their sides for very long and can incur internal damage as a consequence.) It took the park rangers 3 days to find them, and many more days to nurse them back to health.
Bonnie can\’t birth a calf to this day.
This morning\’s Times featured an article about a S. African woman who runs an animal park. She was photographed next to the body of-one-of-her-rhinos that had been slain by poachers. The subtitle to the tragic scene was: rhinos might be saved if their horns are sold.
I have been advocating rhino farming for quite some time now and figured that this is the best way to satisfy the Asian aphrodisiac trade while saving these majestic beasts. I\’m pretty sure that thousands of horns might be harvested from these rhino farms — to grow back in 4 years… Why couldn\’t Asians be born with bigger dicks? Or, is it all about stamina?
You have to be tough to live in Africa — whether you are Man or Beast. You definitely don\’t see the welfare culture US perpetuates. A S. African has to have the pioneering spirit: ready to deal with Mother Nature; or, humans not being such.
Towards the bottom of Africa lies a quaint little coastal town known as Knysna. It is mid-wayish between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth and lies on a beautiful stretch of road known as the Garden Route.
Knysna, Plettenberg Bay and the Woodridge School were each devastated by recent wild fires.
Everyone who bore witness to these fires was markedly affected by the devastating power of Mother Nature — but it sounds like everyone is staying. 700+ homes burned and the pioneer spirit remains.
Take Martin (a former PGA golfer out of Sweden) and his wife Therese — who own the Head Over Hills resort on Knysna\’s East Head. They watched the Knysna fire completely burn the West Head of the Knysna Lagoon and saw the sparks floating over the sound ignite 5 homes on the East Head — dangerously close to the resort.
Still, within a few days after the carnage, the resort perched on the cliff was back open for business — and you wouldn\’t even know about the devastation behind you — because staying at Head Over Hills feels like you are sailing on the Indian Ocean.
A mixture of European and S. African hospitality — with a rare, breath-taking view, makes one think that all things good are possible — and that even rhino poachers have the capacity to become rhino ranchers.