h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

All right let me wrap this one up!

1. Some poor guineafowl likely bought it here … perhaps a wild cat, caracal or jackal got it:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/ExGuineafowl_zps4482b828.jpg

2. But there were plenty of living guineafowl. Again, it’s hard for me to take a good picture:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Guineafowl_zpsef35cda1.jpg

3. This pretty soft, spreading herb I found flowering in several patches. The small, nodding flowers are yellow and were being visited by bee-flies on this trip. I think it might be a Hermannia:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/SoftHerb1_zps64f5fcfc.jpg

4. Here is a large, spreading Umbrella Thorn, Acacia tortilis:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/UmbrellaThorn3_zps932b26da.jpg

5. This is a rhino rock! The rhinos rub themselves on it. They also ‘sharpen’ their horns on it. Their skins are so rough that the rock itself soon gets rubbed and polished smooth. There are several such rocks in the reserve:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/RhinoRock_zpsba28def4.jpg

6. A thicket: this one consists mainly of a Tinderwood, Clerodendrum glabrum, but there are also several other tree and shrub species and numerous herbs underneath. These seem to have grown on and around an old termite hill. This is frequently how trees managed to get established in grassland: it starts with one and then in its shelter many other seeds germinate. Termite hills are a focus because they aerate the soil, have very constant internal temperatures (cool in summer, warm in winter) and the remains and wastes of the termites are a source of nutrition:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Thicket_zpsa9ca1cbb.jpg

7. Red Hartebeests! These funny antelopes are not rare in the reserve. They’re somewhat wary and therefore hard to photograph. Again it would have been better if someone was with me and could snap them while I was driving:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/RedHartebeests2_zps27717644.jpg

And finally …

8. Mother White Rhino and Calf! I saw them this time! From a great distance I managed this shot:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Rhinos2_zps0cd7583f.jpg

9. Another shot of the mom and her calf. She had a magnificent front horn. I really hope they survive:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Rhinos3_zpsc82cf66e.jpg

10. After a while they moved on, and I drove on as well, but the road made a bend and I came out a bit closer. The calf then lay down while the mother continued grazing. Later on I saw more rhinos … a group of at least four, and then later a solitary one. I was very happy to have seen them.

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Rhinos1_zps9fb4feee.jpg

*goes green with envy*

what an amazing day out , you must have been chuffed to bits to see the rhinos.

Thank you for sharing it with us , we have been cooing over the baby rhino