Rhino Conservation in Action
Photograph by Mitch Reardon, Samara Karoo Reserve
In South Africa, a philanthropic safari initiative allows small groups of high-paying guests the chance to witness rhino conservation in action.
My fourth day on safari in Phinda Private Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, starts much like any other. First, there’s the welcome jolt of a pre-dawn alarm. I splash cold water on my face, gulp down some coffee and get ready. Outside my cabin, the tetchy crowing of hadada ibises is met by thunder overhead: baboons, charging across the roof, onto the deck and away. Nyala antelopes gaze out from the sand forest as I join my group and, together, we pad through the half-light to our open-topped safari vehicle. So far, so normal. But soon, normality will recede, and something extraordinary will take its place.
We’re about to join a team of rhino experts in the field, so it’s essential that we’re up and out early, while it’s still cool. There’s a slight mist in the air, and the forest’s giant Lebombo wattle trees loom like ghosts over the track.
Source: National Geographic
