The Big 5

Our destination for today was Inverdoorn, a game reserve, where we had a safari tour! Inverdoorn is home to South Africa's Big 5. The Big 5 animals are selected for the size, strength and survival skill. The animals identified a the Big 5 are the lions, buffaloes, leopards, hippos and rhinos. 

We had an awesome tour guide! He told us facts that we never even knew! Did you know that under the lion's mane are his vital organs? Did you know an elephant's tusk can regrow depending on where it was cut? Did you know that a giraffe only sleeps 30 minutes? Did you know cheetahs are the hardest animals to breed? Did you know their skin is only used for royalty in South African culture? 

Our tour guide really opened our eyes to the importance of maintaining an ecofriendly environment for the ecosystem. Animals are part of the circle of life. As much as it sounds like the Lion King movie, we all are important to each other and man is possibly the biggest threat to the equilibrium. This is because of the pollution that we create. The tour guide explained to us that the toxins in many of the plastic items are found in the females' milk which then effect the babies. This has a major effect to the animal population because the toxins in the milk kill off the next two generations. 

Luckily, yet sadly, South Africa is way ahead of America in terms of maintaining an ecofriendly environment. Soda cans are turned into art whether it be a plane, car or used as a roof in their paintings. 

We were so lucky to see the animals and support the game reserve. The animals were rescued for various reasons. One of the elephants were once a movie star. The other was a part of a circus. The rhinos are well taken care of and protected from pochers. The game reserve maintains the natural home of the animals and offer their guests a glimpse of the beauty in animals and their environment.