Animals We've Seen and One Tim Has Declared Delicious

Everybody comes to (South) Africa to 'see the animals' and we're no exception.  However, the four of us still haven't settled on 'The Big Five'.  What do you think?  How about lion, elephant, water buffalo, hippo and maybe the leopard or the rhino.  Personally I think the giraffe deserves a place and maybe even the zebra (did you know there is a plains zebra and a mountain zebra that almost became extinct?).  I saw a tee shirt today printed with the Ugly Big Five and could identify a jackal and some sort of javelina-looking animal among them.

We're nowhere close to any of the major game parks but we have seen a remarkable number of animals right by the side of the road.  My last post ended with a close up of a glorious male ostrich.  Here's the rest of his crew (I have no idea what a family group of ostriches are called - herd, band, pride, pack?)

Raising ostriches for their feathers used to be really big business in an area of the Eastern Cape and, of course, there's always ostrich steak (no, that isn't the one Tim declared delicious).

The wildebeest doesn't make the top five but we saw a lot of them too.

Some came with birds . . . 

And the one animal we saw in abundance, the springbok, a graceful, elegant creature with a gorgeous coat.

Every time we returned to our accommodation, (Mein Heim 'my home' in German), we were greeted by one of the five resident peacocks (think he was the alpha male).  This display was frequently accompanied by high-pitched squawking and a lot of strutting.

We were both absolutely delighted to find that Mein Heim is also an equestrian center so we had the joy of wandering around the stables and pastures, getting to know the 25 or so horses stabled there.

Notice the barbed wire adorning the uprights!

We wandered freely around the stables, getting to know the horses.

This is dressage land and all these horses are warm bloods or thoroughbreds, not an Appaloosa, Mustang or quarter horse in sight.  And these guys are big!!  Everybody we see getting ready to ride uses a mounting box.

This has been a lovely stay and a great time doing some sightseeing and a couple of days not doing much of anything except eating, reading, and hanging out.

The weather has been almost perfect, a bit warm but we're used to that.  After eight days, we've sort of become accustomed to the electrified fencing, dire warnings about personal safety and appreciated the warmth and hospitality of everyone we've met.  

Still curious about the animal Tim declared 'delicious'??  He was sorely tempted to try something local and exotic on one of our grocery runs when he saw this enormous case of meat.  One of them was labeled the 'cave man special'.

And this just had us laughing out loud - 4KG (almost 10 lbs) of chic feet.  Chicken feet??? 

Before I tell you what it was, I have to assure you I have his consent.  In fact he suggested it when I started to write this post ('animals we've seen and one Tim has eaten' was another title he liked).

Drum roll please:  it was springbok.  That elegant, graceful, beautiful, gazelle-like creature is raised for meat, and, yes, it is absolutely delicious.

And since we're on a food roll right now, I have to include this sign on a coffee shop right outside the parking garage where we were grocery shopping:

As Yogi would say, 'Wherever you go, there you are.'

We're off to Graaf-Reinert, the 'Jewel of the Karoo' and the fourth oldest town in SA. 

(Oh I did check it out.  The Big Five are:  elephant, lion, cape buffalo, rhino, leopard.  And a family group of ostriches is called a pride - who knew??)