This weekend, a subset of our team (Frank, Latha, Sandra and Joanne) took a break and headed up to Pilanesberg Game Reserve in an attempt to see Africa’s Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, water buffalo, and rhinoceros).
On the way, we stopped for a brief visit at the Sterkfontein Caves, the most famous of 13 excavated fossil sites in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. We took a guided tour down into the caves and descended 60 meters below ground to see where “Mrs. Ples” (~2.3 million years old) and “Little Foot” (~3.5 million years old) were discovered and excavated.
Then, we headed up to Pilanesberg to experience a game drive. Our ranger, Mohammad, was extremely knowledgeable about all of the animals and most especially, the birds. We were able to see three of the Big Five up close and personal – a lion, a herd of elephants and a white rhino family. In addition, we saw numerous beautiful birds, impala, wildebeest, hyena, zebra, giraffe, fox, warthog, rabbits, hippopotamus, etc. The variety of species was impressive.
While we enjoyed the sites, we were keenly aware of water and the preciousness of this resource throughout the weekend. We noticed large green water tanks on many of the farms and homes by which we drove. We encountered many bodies of water on our game drive...both streams and lakes. And, we crossed a bridge across the Hartbeespoort Dam which is fed by the Crocodile River and the Magalies River. As we crossed the bridge, I pondered exactly how we can help the City of Tshwane to get to the other side of its water challenges.
#ibmcsc
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