Well,
this is Africa and I suppose I do owe you some animals. And one of them
we got just a quick view of as it was running away as we entered the
Garden Route National Park. But it is definitely an iconic African
primate.
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| Baboon Running Away |
Now,
before we get too much further into African animals, I should acknowledge
that other than the better-known animals, I’m pretty ignorant of the
names. If you’ve ever seen the one-act play adaption of the Diaries of
Adam and Eve by Mark Twain, I’m like Adam in that play. I can name
something as "a four-legged, curvy tailed, bare-rear, walks on four feet,
black and brown creature” while Eve would respond, “Oh, you mean a
baboon.” So, if any of you want to play Eve to my photos of animals,
please feel free to do so. I am going to try to give you names based on
either the few notes I was able to take, or by undertaking some research (thank
you Lord Google). But I don’t claim any knowledge here so if you have an
alternative name, please jump in. And sometimes I just won’t have a name
so could definitely use help.
This
particular baboon was one of a group of three, fairly far from us and
running away as we stopped to enter the park. Baboons can be fairly
aggressive, especially if you’re carrying anything that looks interesting to
them (and they have a very low threshold of interest) but not these.
One
of the small mammals in the Garden Route National Park is the South African
Rock Hyrax, also known as the dassie or rock rabbit, and in Swahili, nimbi.
It is a common animal in sub-Saharan Africa, rising to the level of
minor pest in some areas. It feeds on plants and apparently some insect
and grubs. Here we have one doing what they are said to do some 95% of
the time — resting.
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| Hyrax |
ts
closest living relatives are the sea cow and the elephant. I’m sure all
of you can see the very close resemblance. OK — see the small white
marking on the upper lip. Nope — not a white mustache. These
are tusk-like incisors sticking out and one of the reasons it is
closely related to the elephant. No — I don’t know if it is ivory.
The
rock hyrax classically has grey-brown fur, but in wetter areas — and this
was definitely wetter — it can be, and was, dark brown. It was standing
on the log, down in the brush, off to the side of the trail. It seemed as
interested in me as I was in it — or perhaps it was asleep.
In
case you are considering eating this critter, Wikipedia notes it is non-kosher
(citing Leviticus 11:4-5 and Deuteronomy 14:7). And if that doesn’t deter
you, remember Joy Adamson had a rock hyrax called Pati-Pati.
One
bird in the park posed very nicely, letting us see its fairly short and blunt beak.
If there is an ornithologist out there, perhaps we can learn what that
beak is meant to be used for. I especially like the reddish-orange
feathers just hiding under the wing flaps. If my Google research is
accurate, this is a Red-Winged Starling even though the feathers are much more
of an orange color. Only the male of the species has the orange coloring.
The
bird eats many things such as seeds, berries and fruit, plant nectar, and insects.
It also will eat carrion and even certain smaller birds. It will
also perch on giraffes and take insects from the back of the animal. It
is widely distributed, not endangered, and rises to the level of a pest in
some areas.
 |
| Red-Winged Starling |
Another
bird was much more colorful. It had a long, thin, curved beak
that is probably good for collecting insects deep inside a plant or
flower. It is most likely the Southern or Lesser Double-collared Sunbird.
 |
| Southern Sunbird |
This
is a male because of the green head, and the red band across the chest.
The long, curved bill is one of the common features of sunbird.
The bird feeds mostly on flower nectar but does eat fruit and, when
feeding the young, insects and spiders since we know how much kids like them.
It can hover like a hummingbird but doesn’t do so often.
After
our walk in the Garden Route National Park we headed to Knysna (more about
there in the next postings) along National Route 2 (often referred to as the
Garden Route). Along the way we came to the Bloukrans River which forms
the boundary between the Eastern and Western Cape provinces. The center
of the bridge is 216 meters (709 feet) above the river and it is a
beautiful arch bridge.
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| Bloukrans River Bridge |
Hmmm.
Now I wonder what that is at the top of the arch. Well, let’s look
at it a bit closer.
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| Bungee Jumping Arch |
Oh
boy, bungee jumping. Now none of you
will be surprised to learn that I did not try the bungee jumping. I could
use the excuse that we arrived shortly after the last jump of the afternoon,
but that would be just an excuse. This is supposed to be the highest
commercial bridge bungee jump in the world and is run by a company called Face
Adrenalin, although I’m sure the adrenalin goes plenty of places in
your body other than just your face. Face Adrenalin, according to their
website, has a 100% safety record and also has a great deal of liability
insurance.
Now,
you might want to know, if you look at these two pictures, how you get to that
portion of the bridge. The traffic signs at either end of the bridge
forbid you from stopping on the bridge itself. Well shortly before the
east end of the bridge is a turnoff to a parking area where you can both take
pictures and get a snack. And there is also the Face Adrenalin office
where you can sign up to bungee jump (or you can do it online).
There is a zip line from the edge of that area across to the bungee
jumping area.
After
this short stop we continued to spend the next two nights in the town of
Knysna.
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