animallovernyc

Please list your thoughts for the top 10 animal activities to enjoy while in South Africa (besides the obvious Safari)

tockoloshe

Penguins at Boulders Beach.

divine54

and for the animal's sake some DON'Ts:

- lion kuddling
- cheetah kuddling
- lion walks

PLEASE PLEASE IGNORE such venues!

div

LuxuryCruiseBible

Div,

What's your opinion of the baboon walks with Baboon Matters? It sounds like locals are split on whether it's a good program or not.

atravelynn

Baboon Walks, contact Baboon Matters
Great White Sharks, I used African Shark Eco-Charters
I would agree on the penguins.

All 3 of these are easily accessed from Simons Town, about 45 minutes from Cape Town.

atravelynn

Oh, but this might be too much like a safari...

Near Johannesburg I went to Rhino and Lion Park. It had huge areas for ostriches, antelope, and rhino to roam. There were smaller areas for wild dogs, cheetah, and lions. Jackals were wild in the area and I saw quite a lot of them.

Though I have not gone, DeWildt Cheetah Sanctuary near Joburg is supposed to be very good. It is not open every day.

Treepol

Hi,

I can recommend the De Wildt Sanctuary with an overnight at the Cheetah Lodge if you have time, http://dewildt.org.za/.

DA & DU also had a good time at Mohololo where they are currently rehabilitating a leopard a forest worker found caught in a snare. Sorry, I don't have any other details yet.

You might also be interested in the Hartebeesport Elephant Sanctuary. Whilst I didn't enjoy the short performance, it was good to walk hand in trunk with elephants and to get close to these wonderful animals http://www.elephantsanctuary.co.za/

I second, the Simonstown penguin suggestion.

Cheers,


Pol

Statefan

We loved our visit to De Wildt.

divine54

luxury

i have not heart of that baboon activity. so i cannot state on that one.

one visit i would highly recommend (also for over night stay) is paul hart's lion sanctuary close to stellenbosch:

http://www.lionrescue.org.za/visitorinfo.htm

paul derserves every support he can get for his effort to save lions.......

div

betsyatl

I highly reccomend Baboon Walks, not only did we walk with the Baboon, but we actually sat with the Baboons. Well, we sat and then they sat on our laps, (this was entirely their choice!) A once in a life time experience. Although, Baboon "Hikes" is more realistic than Baboon walks.

LuxuryCruiseBible

Hi Betsy,

About how difficult was the Baboon Matters hike? I'm just about to book this, but I'm hoping it's not beyond my athletic ability!

We just came back from Alaska and we did a few hikes. One hike included a bit of climbing and that was tough.

Thanks!

Andrea

atravelynn

Here is what I posted about my baboon walk, regarding difficulty.

* For one of the visits, the climbing was rigorous, over rocky hill slopes. We felt like mountain goats. In addition, this area had been burned previously and had charred remnants all over. We all ended up with black clothes by the end of the walk, even the guide. Cold water was suggested for washing the charcoal stains out, and it worked, thanks to the complimentary use of the washing machine at Sea Spray.

The other visit I did was very easy. I'd ask in advance about the difficulty. Maybe one troop is in rougher and one in easier terrain. Even in the rocky terrain, there was no hurry and you could go as slow as needed to be comfortable.

It was extremely worthwhile.

pinkaurora

Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre http://www.moholoholo.co.za/

I also agree with divine54. DO NOT pet cubs!

annhig

Hi, animallover [reading that as animall over, LOL]

as well as the penguins, we enjoyed the following:

in/near CPT - watching the birds on Table Mountain and at Kirstenbosch gardens, and watching whales from the coast at Hermanus

near Plett - whale watching, elephant visiting, the monkey sanctuary and bird garden, the snake sanctuary.

regards, ann