Why Did the Rhinoceros Cross the Road?

We round a bend and see a white rhino, browsing through the tall yellow grass.

“I’ve taken so many rhino photos already,” I announce sanctimoniously. “I’m not even taking my camera out.”

Another rhino. Ho hum.

But this is my dad’s first-ever safari and he isn’t sick of rhinos yet. Chris, our guide, stops the car and we settle in to watch.

The rhino comes closer, oblivious to us. He looks so beautiful in the golden morning light. Did I just say I’d had enough of rhinos? I whip my camera off the floor and start shooting.

The rhino disappears into the grass. We start to pull away. Then the rhino appears again and decides to cross the road.

Pretty.

Nice profile, Mr. Rhinoceros.

I’ve never seen a rhino sniffing before. Look how his huge horn is totally flat on the ground. So cool. Chris says another rhino must have peed there.

He’s walking away. Sad.

Wait, he’s back! Look at his curly tail! So cool!

Hmm, he’s giving us a sidelong glance. Maybe I shouldn’t be leaning so precariously out the car window. I don’t want another near-death rhino encounter.

Now he’s really going. Sad.

This week I was reminded that the Pilanesberg Game Reserve is an extremely underrated place. Pilanesberg is beautiful, wild, filled with animals, and only two hours from Joburg. It’s an especially great park for seeing rhinos. I’ll be writing more about our recent visit to Pilanesberg in a future post.

My dad is on his way home to America tonight after a two-week visit to South Africa. We were so busy doing fun things that I hardly had time to blog while he was here. I plan to blog like mad this week to catch up.