Elephant sanctuary
Sunset over Sondela and our camp
We made it safe and sound to Sondela, (no more traffic police)! Sondela is a nature reserve which families can come and camp, go for game drives, horseback ride and see the wildlife rehabilitation facility. The one thing that all of us could not stand about this campsite was the fact that it stunk like urine! Chris then told us that it was from the Potato trees. They were not in the campsites but all around and let off the most wretched stench! All of our tents, clothes and shoes smelled like them. After getting used to the lovely trees, we took a swim and explored the campsite. Chris's wife, Anita also came along for this part of the trip and made us the most delicious milk tart! We then left for the elephant sanctuary.
We arrived and met the founder, Roy. He told us all about his history with elephants and how he got started. Right now he has 6 elephants, all of them orphans from former elephant culls. They were ages 8 - 15 and had been in the sanctuary for 2.5 years. We then were able to interact with the elephants. We learned that the reason an elephant never forgets is because they have organs in their skull which retain every scent they have ever smelled. They are now being trained for anti - poaching and are used in mine detection. Roy and his trainers showed us just how keen their sense of smell really is by getting them to smell each of us, then take our shoe and give it to another person all via commands. It was pretty spectacular to watch. After our interaction section, we got to go on an elephant ride!
Mel and I were on Chuchuro, a 13 year old large male. Our trainer's name was Duncan. It is quite the feat to get up on an elephant, you basically need someone to lift you on while the elephant is lying down! Once all aboard, the elephant then stands and we were off! It was quite the view and quite the stretch of the legs! (You think horseback riding is work, try this!). We went all around the sanctuary and saw some zebra, nyala and eland. It was really really hot this day, so we were all sweating, and Melanie was in the middle, so our joke was that she was stuck in an Duncan and Alysha sweaty sandwich! Halfway through the trip they took us a to a water hole where the elephants had a nice long drink. We then headed back to the main building and walked through a shallow pond. To get off the elephant is hard as well. The elephant must lay down first, which basically feels like you are falling off backwards and then someone comes on and lifts you off! The ride was pretty incredible despite the heat and will be something we will ever forget. After the ride we had another lecture from Roy and then went back to the campsite for an evening game drive.
Our game drive was about an hour long and we had the coolest guide! She was in her 3rd year of wildlife management and was doing a year at the Sondela nature reserve. She was very animated and told us many stories and made many comments about life at Sondela. She could also make this incredible warthog noise which we were able to experience when we saw one! On the drive we saw 5 giraffe including babies, some warthogs, a zebra and we heard some black backed jackals. After the drive we had some dinner and went to bed.
We arrived and met the founder, Roy. He told us all about his history with elephants and how he got started. Right now he has 6 elephants, all of them orphans from former elephant culls. They were ages 8 - 15 and had been in the sanctuary for 2.5 years. We then were able to interact with the elephants. We learned that the reason an elephant never forgets is because they have organs in their skull which retain every scent they have ever smelled. They are now being trained for anti - poaching and are used in mine detection. Roy and his trainers showed us just how keen their sense of smell really is by getting them to smell each of us, then take our shoe and give it to another person all via commands. It was pretty spectacular to watch. After our interaction section, we got to go on an elephant ride!
Mel and I were on Chuchuro, a 13 year old large male. Our trainer's name was Duncan. It is quite the feat to get up on an elephant, you basically need someone to lift you on while the elephant is lying down! Once all aboard, the elephant then stands and we were off! It was quite the view and quite the stretch of the legs! (You think horseback riding is work, try this!). We went all around the sanctuary and saw some zebra, nyala and eland. It was really really hot this day, so we were all sweating, and Melanie was in the middle, so our joke was that she was stuck in an Duncan and Alysha sweaty sandwich! Halfway through the trip they took us a to a water hole where the elephants had a nice long drink. We then headed back to the main building and walked through a shallow pond. To get off the elephant is hard as well. The elephant must lay down first, which basically feels like you are falling off backwards and then someone comes on and lifts you off! The ride was pretty incredible despite the heat and will be something we will ever forget. After the ride we had another lecture from Roy and then went back to the campsite for an evening game drive.
Our game drive was about an hour long and we had the coolest guide! She was in her 3rd year of wildlife management and was doing a year at the Sondela nature reserve. She was very animated and told us many stories and made many comments about life at Sondela. She could also make this incredible warthog noise which we were able to experience when we saw one! On the drive we saw 5 giraffe including babies, some warthogs, a zebra and we heard some black backed jackals. After the drive we had some dinner and went to bed.
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