Peace in the wilderness

It was a long 10-day trip that I took recently to South Africa.  I was assigned to cover the Cathay Pacific International Wilderness Experience – and what an experience it was.  But that story will be ready for you next week in Young STAR.

"I may never be able to see as many animals in the wild as I saw at the Entabeni Private Game Reserve again in my lifetime," I said to Gorby (my Toy Poodle) when I got home. Gorby seemed not to notice me, he was busy wagging his tail and showing me how excited he was to see me.  I was excited to see him, too.

We stayed in what was called the Wildside Tented camp. Here the tents recreate an atmosphere of camping out – but with the amenities of hot and cold running water, heating pad for the cold nights and screen flaps that let you see what’s happening outside while you lay awake at night.

Entabeni means "place of the mountain" and it is located in the world heritage Waterberg Biosphere of the Waterberg region. It took us about three hours by bus to get to Entabeni, a 12,000-hectare malaria-free reserve.

Paradise was the first word that came to mind when I entered the Wildside. As far as I could see there was nothing wild in this place – actually a feeling of peace is what came over me. Imagine mountains that that spoke to me of nothing but peace. I know I was told by the ever-watchful rangers that leaving the tent at night was a no-no because animals from the wild are known to trek the camp when night falls.

As I listened to the many dos and don’ts on the first night I was there, my mind was rushing to get to the room so I could lay in bed and listen to the sounds of stillness in the night air.  Of course I had hopes of hearing ‘em lions roaring, too.

Imagine how fortunate I was because for eight days this was going to be home for me – wow.

I wished I were Dr. Doolittle. Yeah, I so wanted to talk to the animals.

"Don’t move. Be still. Don’t stand." These were most of the commands barked to us as we sat in the safari jeep out in the wild.

But sitting still was almost impossible to do. The lions came so close. I had to be held down by my terrified seatmate. Believe it or not, less than two feet away from me a lion cub passed. "Amazing" is not enough to describe the experience.

Entabeni ranger Andre told us that at Entabeni there are nine lions – we saw all of them – how much more could I ask for.

Yet each night before I slept, I prayed to St. Francis to grant me the opportunity to see more animals.

My prayers were answered.

We got to see a family of five elephants. Yes, complete with a little baby. We saw hippopotamuses, zebras, antelopes, wildebeests, warthogs, birds, ostriches, rhinoceros, and even turtles.

More than I imagined I would see in the wilderness – in this lifetime.

So close was I to a rhino that the ranger guide had to literally pull me away so that I would not get attacked.

Here’s the story.

I was standing outside the Lakeside Restaurant taking in the view and the cold winter air as it was our last night in South Africa. I heard something walking behind me, it must have been about three feet away. I turned to look and there they were – two Rhinos – eating the well-manicured grass of the Lakeside Camp. I watched and ran to call the photogs around.

"Go closer," says Jay Kim of SBS TV, Korea. I do as I am told.

"You know that rhinos can charge at people when they are provoked," says the ranger to me.

Although I know that the possibility is great, my mind can’t believe that a rhino peacefully eating grass would have attacking me on his mind.  Nonetheless, I obey the ranger.

Close encounter with a rhino – how much closer can one really get?

It’s hard to tell the story of how I felt when I saw the animals up close. Words are never enough.

Imagine: There we were sitting in a jeep but pretending to be one of the plants and experiencing the greatness of the wild animals – not zoo- caged ones.

I got a glimpse of animals that I may never see again freely roaming in a place where my heart was at rest. Contradiction? Not.

Peaceful is what the experience was for me.

I heard the lions roar, the elephants shout, the baboons yak and the birds sing.

At night while I lay in bed, I felt the stillness of the night and the calmness of being so close to sacred mountains.

Indeed, there is a God.