🙂 Having dinner with Lawrence Anthony. Baby rhinos on our doorstep. Meeting the elephant stars of the book.
🙁 Sadly Lawrence passed away not long after our visit and both the baby rhinos were poached. 🙁
We were highly excited to visit Thula Thula after reading the fantastic book: The Elephant Whisperer. Lawrence was the herd’s last chance of survival – dangerous and unpredictable, they would be killed if Anthony wouldn’t take them in. mNumzane was a rogue male whose Mother and brother were shot in front of him. Lawrence won the trust of both him and the wise matriarch Nana, who guided the herd and her warrior sister Frankie. These elephants introduced Lawrence to their babies and rumbled in delight when he introduced his newborn grandchild to him. They would wait at the gates when he went away on business on the day of his return as they knew he was coming home. On the day of his funeral they all gathered at the house.
The accommodation was fantastic and we had two baby rhinos sleeping on our doorstep every evening. It was a long drive from Ngwenya and the Stop and Gos did not make it any easier! The rhinos had a babysitter to look after them all day.
Our game drives proved to be very successful as we got to see all the stars of the book!
We had a delightful picnic in the bush.
Followed by impala poo spitting competitions! There were thousands of flying ants everywhere – the guides said that they are a delicacy. The heavens opened and we were quite nervous as our vehicle was slipping on the steep roads and we feared that we would veer into one of the powerfully electrified elephant fences! All in all and adventurous safari exoerience!
Meeting Lawrence was a highlight and he entertained us with fascinating stories over dinner
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We took a trip to the local Sangoma who threw bones for us. He said that Paul and I would be very happy and that the girls would both become very successful Healers in their future careers. Our guides told us that he was a very respected witch doctor and that people came from all over KZN to be healed and to buy remedies. He gave us a purple powder to sprinkle in our bath to protect us and to attract wealth.
