Lion King...in Real Life :)

I have to say, the giraffe has become my most favorite animal ever!

Safari. Probably one of the most epic things I will ever do, and will most definitely be the most memorable moment of my time here in South Africa.  Our Safari excursion was in the HluhluweUmfolozi Valley and I have to say I felt like I had stepped into a scene of the Lion King.  My first thoughts were, "I can't believe I came all the way from California and am now on a Safari in Africa," and, "I can't wait to see an Elephant!" Thankfully the latter came true and I got to have a meeting with the most beautiful elephant who chose to name Ernie...Ernie the Elephant :)

Ernie the African Elephant

Meet Ernie the Elephant. As we drove up in the jeep to get a better look at him, we assumed that he might just stay in the bushes and we would get or pictures there.  To our surprise he decided to emerge from the bushes and greet the random humans driving around in a jeep.  As Ernie got closer to the jeep, the rest of us got a little more scared.  If I wanted to reach out my hand and touch him I definitely could have, that's how close he was! Thankfully, our tour guide told us Ernie was simply curious, and walked over to the jeep just to say hi and that he was not an actual threat. Needless to say, I was glad to make a new friend and glad to finally see an elephant!

I am not exactly sure what type of bird this is, but I stumbled upon it walking out of our rondavels in the morning. I noticed it because of the beautiful colors, we definitely don't see birds like this in the states too often.  I think that these may also be the type of bird we saw sitting on top of the rhinos, representing the Symbotic Relationship of Mutualism.

I actually didn't get to see the lions, but the other jeeps did and I stole this picture from Brittany Weser :) I was disappointed not to have seen the lions but I was still able to learn a few fun facts about them.  I learned that their habitats are usually savannas, grasslands, dense bush, or woodlands.  They are never found in jungles or the forest.  I came to the conclusion that Hluhluwe and Umfolozi Reserve was a savanna because of the large open grass areas with few trees here and there.

2 white rhinos, and a small little birdy!

Here is the white rhino, which you can tell apart from the black rhino because of their wide-lipped mouths for grazing.  One interesting thing about the rhino is that their horn is made of keratin, which is the same thing that our hair and nail cuticles are made of.  Who would have thought something that fierce looking is made out of small hair fibers??

For some reason these little monkeys are so much more fun and cute when I don't have to worry about them attacking me...