Only 15 minutes from Dawn's house is a small nature reserve. You can drive your own car thru it. You just can't get out of your car except at designated bird or animal blinds along the lake.
It certainly is not like the game drives we went on in Madikwe but since we were in our own car and only going about 5 miles an hour with no traffic Piper got to sit in my lap & watch out the window to see the animals.
These are a few of the animals we saw today.
Blesbok
More Zebras.
Eland, the largest antelope.
White Rhino.
You will notice they do not have a horn. They have been removed by conservationists to protect the Rhinos from being poached and killed for their horn. They are worth a lot of money in China and other South East Asian countries.
This is a baby so it has not had it's horn removed yet. When we were in Madikwe our guide informed us this was not a good solution to the problem. The reserves need to hire anti-poaching patrols that live full time in the bush to prevent the killings.
Ostrich.
Wildebeest.
While we were driving thru the reserve we saw some rangers trucks and then we heard a shot. When we drove out the gate we saw this zebra hanging just inside. We stopped to ask why it had been shot. First the Ranger said she didn't know it had & then said it was to feed the lions they had in another area. We thought this was a little strange since it is supposed to be a nature reserve. They obviously are skinning it to sell the hide. Hopefully the money goes to support the reserve. We were quite surprised that this was hung in full view of the parks visitors.
We finished off the day with my favorite swimsuit model! Her mom's skinny legs always seem to be in the picture too. :)
Love the pictures
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