The Big Five

My image of South Africa was molded in the Michigan diag shanty that stood in opposition to Apartheid.  It was formed in the words of "Dont Wanna Play Sun City."  It came from Bono, imploring the fans on Rattle and Hum: "Am I bugging ya?  I dont mean to bug ya."

My generation saw the end of white South Africa, the release and ascension of Mandela, the Vuvuzelas of the 2010 World Cup.

My children's first impression is formed by the baby warthogs they ask to bring home, the dazzle of Zebra that cross our path, the troop of monkeys that unlatch our door, penetrate our home and steal our apples.


The Safari excitement comes from that edge where interest and fear meet.  The crocodile that could take your arm if he wanted to, the elephant that could flip your car with a wrong move, the road that seemed to disintegrate under your tires.

The days are 6:00 AM wake up calls, a search for excitement, a peaceful afternoon, early evening rides before dinner and then zipping into our netted beds.

The first day you are struck by the scene, then the need to find the big 5 (Lion, Rhino, Elephant, Leopard, Hippo) and finally something more, which we got when we found a leopard in a tree with a dead nyala in its mouth and a hyena circling nearby looking for scraps.

The crushing of bones and skull in the leopard’s mouth had one child declaring her vegetarianism, like her mother 30 years earlier. This declaration only lasted until lunch, however.


The game drives were about nature, the history of South Africa would come later.  There was some discussion of the vanishing elephants, the ivory trade, the decline of the cheetahs, the need to live as a partner with nature.  But boarding our plane out of Hoedspruit to Johannesburg history walks by when FW de Klerk comes and sits next to us with his wife and body guard.  The transition to Cape Town begins.