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- - Rhino stories (https://www.fodors.com/community/africa-and-the-middle-east/rhino-stories-303922/)

Of all the fascinating sights I look forward to, the idea of seeing a rhino in the wild intrigues me most. This book by Gullman talks of a wonderful encounter with a baby rhino who actually ran right into her car - on purpose. He was bolting from a lion and thought the car looked kind of like his mother - who had been recently poached. It's a hilarious story sure to please. Roccoco said his rhino pics were his favorite. I'd love to hear about Rewa concervancy if you have been there. Thank you.

I love ALL wildlife but what was something else was when we were driving through Kruger national park and suddenly, right before our eyes, 2 rhinos passed right in front of our van-mother & baby-just crossed the street right in front of us.

On our very first morning at Singita, not more than one minute into our game drive, as we were rounding a corner, we had to come to an immediate halt as there were two rhinos blocking the road about fifty feet in front of us. The great thing is that they were perfectly posed for a photograph with one of their heads pointed in one direction with the others pointed in the other direction. A great opportunity to get both of their unobstructed faces in the picture as well as the full length of their bodies since they were just perfectly lined up. The ranger at Singita joked that they had arranged that for our viewing pleasure and that he was taking requests for the next photo opportunity. I have a beautiful 18" x 24" photograph hanging before my very eyes right now with a black rhino standing in tall green grass (but not so tall that it obstucted the rhino at all). The rhino is half dipped in mud and there are beautiful trees in the background. The constrast between the green grass, the black rhino, half-dipped in mud and the trees in the background made for such a wonderful picture. For my last trip I splurged on the very best digital camera I could find...a Sony F707 or something like that with 5 million megapixel and 10x optical zoom. I didn't have a clue how to use a camera before this trip but this was such a user friendly camera that I had no problem whatsoever. Everybody tells me that my pictures are National Geographic quality and that I should submit them to magazines, but I am content to have them hanging on the walls in my home and my office. The reason why I did eventually choose to return to the Sabi Sand this year, even after already going to South Luangwa was to get more pictures of rhinos and possibly other game that I may not see in South Luangwa.

Places I have seen rhinos, and commentary: Nairobi National Park -- my very first safari and saw a few rhino lounging under trees, but too far for good photos, even with 400mm lens Ngorongoro Crater -- stunning black rhino sightings Kruger and Private Reserves -- saw black rhinos, but usually at dusk, so no photos Mkhaya, Swaziland -- more than one dozen white rhino and some great photos Ongave Reserve, outside Etosha -- white rhino on game drives, and many black rhino drinking at the waterhole while we dined Etosha -- many black rhinos, including one in the day, and several at Okakuejo and Halali waterholes at night (almost guaranteed rhino sightings)

Undoubtedly the best place to see rhino in Africa is the Lewa wildlife conservancy followed by Lake Nakuru. Both populations are protected against poachers and their movements closely monitored. When I visited Kenya last year, I came across 20 rhino (black and white)at Lewa and a dozen in Lake Nakuru in one day. Lewa is superb and has the glorious backdrop of Mt. Kenya to the South and the Northern Frontier District to the north. The landscapes are incredible. One can stay at Lewa Tented Camp (nice) or the more expensive Wilderness Trails which has luxurious accommodation overlooking the plains, tennis courts, a pool, riding facilities and very friendly hosts.

I haven't seen them but understand that since my last visit to Little Mombo a rhino reintroduction scheme has been launched. I'm hoping when I visit in 2004 that rhinos will be established in the area and that I will be lucky enough to see one or more. In the mean time I am noting down all the advice above!