On Thursday we had to get up early because the meeting point was at the church at 7:30 a.m. After we had a lovingly prepared breakfast with our families, they took us to the bus and we loaded our luggage. Afterwards we and some of our host families gathered in a large circle and Pastor Johannes Engelbrecht thanked us for our visit and the concert and together with the host families said a blessing for us. As a thank you we sang the "Loreley" before finally saying "goodbye".
Shortly after 8 a.m., Massa rolled the bus onto the streets of Hartenbos, which we quickly left behind. At a cool 16 degrees and with a sky covered in heavy, gray clouds, we set off towards Botlierskop. The name Botlierskop comes from a mountain whose silhouette is reminiscent of a bottle with a stopper on top. Signal fires used to be lit on this mountain as soon as ships docked at the harbor that needed provisions, so that the local farmers could load their wagons accordingly and make their way to the harbor. Just 20 minutes later, we reached "Botlierskop Day Safaris," where we were greeted at the lodge with tea and coffee. Soon after, we split up into four off-road trucks and after a short safety briefing by the rangers, we set off on safari.
Botlierskop is a family-owned and operated private area. The area covers 5000 hectares and is home to wild animals, including lions, elephants, buffalo, rhinos, cheetahs, zebras, giraffes, wildebeests, hippos and much more. The trucks drove through the mountainous terrain for three hours. The entire area is characterized by extensive green, fairly flat vegetation. In between there are unpaved paths made of sandy soil and stones. Driving along these paths was a real adventure. In some places we went up and down mountains with gradients of up to 25%, over hill and dale and through waterholes.
The first animals we saw were wildebeest. We learned that the birth of a calf takes only 20 minutes and that the young animals must be able to keep up with the adults after just 30 minutes. After birth, the mother eats the placenta to keep predators away.
It was these predators that we were going to go to next. There are currently two lions living in Botlierskop. Until recently there were three: two females and one male. In a fight a few months ago, however, the more dominant female prevailed and together with the lion she killed the other female. The two eight-year-old lions live on 1000 hectares of land, which is fenced off from the rest of the area to prevent them from hunting and eating the ostriches that live in Botlierskop, among other things. So we drove into the lion area and our rangers quickly found fresh tracks on the ground. We tried for some time to spot the two lions, but without success. We had barely left the lion area when the two animals were spotted at the very edge of their area, right by the fence, which was not accessible via the paths laid out for the trucks. So we drove to the fence from outside and were able to watch the two beautiful animals taking a nap in the sun that had now come out. In fact, lions spend 15-18 hours a day dozing or sleeping. They are only active in the early morning and evening.
The next animals we saw were zebras, eland and waterbuck. The eland is the largest antelope species found. These animals, among others, live together on the same land and benefit from "protosignal communication". The senses of hearing, smell and sight are developed to varying degrees in different animal species. For example, zebras have very good eyesight, while wildebeest have a poorly developed sense of sight. Zebras warn their fellow animals and other animals nearby when there is danger by snorting loudly. Waterbucks, on the other hand, communicate without making any sounds and mainly via their small grey tail, which they wag across the white ring on their rear. Cape mountain zebras live in Botlierskop, which are only found here in South Africa. They are characterized by brown stripes that do not cover the belly and chest. The coexistence of zebras, wildebeest and waterbuck has another benefit: zebras eat the tips of the grasses that serve as their food, so that the wildebeest, which only eat plants that grow no higher than 15 cm, graze the middle parts of these grasses. The waterbucks and eland finally eat the lower parts of the plant. This enables continuous growth of vegetation.
The next animals we were able to observe were the five elephants living in Botlierskop. Shaka was rescued from the zoo and Clyde from the circus. These two are now being reintroduced to their natural habitat in Botlierskop. There is also Shima and his father Sam, as well as the female elephant Tembile. All of the elephants living in Botlierskop are African elephants. The shape of their ears is reminiscent of the African continent.
Further down the mountain, four of the seven giraffes living in Botlierskop suddenly appeared in the bushes right next to us. We learned that the females always travel in groups, while the males are solitary animals. Young animals stay with their mother until they are seven years old. Giraffes prefer to eat leaves early in the morning and almost exclusively because at this time of day there are dew drops on the plants and they can therefore drink and eat at the same time. Their tongues are an impressive 45 cm long and can wrap around and pluck individual leaves from branches. An adult animal has to eat around 35 kg of leaves a day, which is less than 5% of its total body weight. Giraffes avoid drinking from water on the ground wherever possible. They have a large heart weighing around 12 kg, which pumps 40 litres of blood through the body every minute. There is a distance of about 1.8 m between the heart and the brain. If a guinea pig bends its head down to drink for more than 5-10 minutes, the pressure of the blood flow to the brain decreases and the animal eventually becomes unconscious, which can lead to death in the wild.
Two mountains further on we came across a herd of water buffalo. The water buffalo is one of the most dangerous animals of the Big Five. The "Big Five" (elephant, rhinoceros, water buffalo, lion and leopard) are so called because these five species of animals were hunted the most in the past for their "trophies". The most dangerous hunting was the water buffalo. At the top of the head where the two horns are fused, the animals wear a kind of helmet because the keratinized structures there are extremely hard. If a bullet hits this area of the head, it does not harm the animal at all, but rather the hunter, who should then flee as quickly as possible. As our ranger so beautifully put it: "The elephant does not forget, the buffalo does not forgive." Water buffalo have excellent hearing, sight and smell. Along with the other four of the "Big Five", water buffalo give no indication when they are tense or about to attack, which is what makes them so unpredictable.
The next animals we saw were a small group of ostriches. These animals have excellent eyesight but are not very intelligent. The eye weighs around 60 g, while the brain weighs just half as much at 30 g. They have extremely strong legs and can break a lion's jaw with a well-aimed kick. The dominant female in the group chooses a place to lay her egg, while the other females build their nests in a circle around it. If there is an attack by predators, this increases the probability that the offspring of the dominant female will survive and the strong genes will be passed on to the next generation. The females and males take turns incubating the eggs. While the females with their brown plumage sit on the eggs during the day and blend in with the surroundings, the black males sit on the nests when darkness falls.
Before we headed back, we were actually able to see a few rhinos. Unfortunately, poachers still hunt these animals to get their horns, so the exact number of rhinos living in Botlierskop is not disclosed. We were also asked not to post any pictures on social media so as not to reveal the location of the animals in Botlierskop.
Exactly three hours after we had started our safari, we returned to the lodge where a very, very tasty lunch was waiting for us. After the obligatory "Grubbafodo" and a short singing performance for the staff, we set off for our next accommodation in nearby George at around half past one.
There we would be staying for the next two nights in the hostel of the "Carpe Diem" school. "Carpe Diem" is a school for children with special needs. Pupils between the ages of 6 and 18 with physical learning and mental disabilities receive lessons adapted to their needs. In January 2024, a fire broke out in the school, completely destroying two classrooms. As a result, a benefit concert for the school was held that evening at 6:30 p.m., organized by the "Rotary Club George".
After we moved into our rooms in the hostel and had a short rehearsal, we were part of this benefit concert together with three other choirs. The "Mountview Primary Youth Choir" started off, followed by the "Carpe Diem Koor". Then the men's choir from George (George Mannekoor) performed. During their last song (Banana Boat :D) we stood behind the stage and a half-hour program followed, which was dominated by rousing pop songs. Our pianist Kyoko played her fingers sore on the rather out-of-tune piano and did an excellent job despite all the circumstances. At the end of the concert, the headmistress said enthusiastically that she had never known that such sounds could be coaxed out of this piano:) After we had finished our program, our men sang "The Old Barbarossa" together with the "George Mannekoor" and then the women joined in again and together we sang a South African song that we had just learned, which was a lovely end to the evening. Afterwards, the headmistress thanked everyone involved from the bottom of her heart, and especially the Rotary Club, for their support, and found very touching words for us. Our music touches the soul and connects people. Together with the headmistress and the audience, "Amazing Grace" was sung as a blessing and finale, which was very moving and during which all the singers on stage put their arms around each other's shoulders. After this lovely evening, the NKC then had burgers in the school cafeteria before we spent the evening together (and without WiFi ;)) in our rooms.
