It doesn’t always have to be the Big 5, a silly obsession anyway, given that most people can’t even name all 5 of them.

For experienced safari travelers, it is more seeing the very rare, and endangered, or the very special little moments in nature. And we had both yesterday!

We found a Southern Ground Hornbill, a very rare and endangered bird. It is the largest of all Hornbills, and also the most endangered. These birds grow very old, up to 75 years, so about the age of a human, in fact pretty much exactly that, and they are known for their low fertility rates. They only lay one or two eggs every 4-5 years, and if conditions aren’t perfect, not at all, and this explains their rarity. They just need very good nature conditions to reproduce. If both eggs hatch, one of the two chicks kills the other, that’s the sad way it is. Survival of the fittest … or the lucky.

It takes the parents 2-4 years to rear one chick, and then the chick stays to help with the rearing of the next chick, before leaving. That’s how complex their range of required skills is. These are clever birds, and their longevity is explained by that. Fascintating birds, really. We have more and more of them on the reserve, which is an extremely good sign. But it takes years to see the population rise, for reasons just explained. Good things take time, and this is an excellent thing.

We then ventured further, and with the help of the MRL guides and trackers, we caught up with the elephant herd. What a moving sighting, our guests loved the cute little baby elephant, always close to his (or her?) mum. What a beautiful little moment of bliss. Priceless.