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Day 8
- Kara Foster
- Aug 12, 2017
- 2 min read
//Saturday 8.12.17//
This is it. The day I got to walk the paths of the author of Circles in a Forest. The same paths that the main character walked during the story. We were able to see the types of trees mentioned in the book and walk to the waterfall that Saul tried to take Kate to. It was unbelievable.
The forest was beautiful, and in some places very much like home, and others very much like something out of a fantasy novel. We heard the Louries, birds often mentioned in the book, and our guide, Meagan, was extraordinary, informing us of various plant lives and natural workings of the forest.
After our walk through the forest, we went to the Knysna Elephant preserve and were able to feed and get up close and personal with the wild elephants being cared for there. This experience was the one I was looking forward to most, but once in front of the elephants, something in me became frightened and I had to push myself to feed and touch the elephants. They are such beautiful and unique creatures and while there is a sweetness about them, there is a tough, strong side of them as well.
Elephant facts we learned
Elephants are born wth the tusks they have. Some, like Sally, are for with only one tusk and will only have one for their whole lives.
An Elephant is pregnant for 22 months.
Elephants were hunted for their large tusks, and those are genetic, so many of the Elephants wth those genes were killed and those genetics became rare.
Elephants live about 60 years, their lifespan determined by the amount of teeth (molars) they have (they regrow them about 6 times in their life).
All that to say, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting an African elephant today.
