Arrival at Moholoholo (pics to follow)

I was picked up at the Huidspruit airport, a rather sumptuous sort of place, I guess because so very many wealthy hunters arrive there to hunt at some of the many private game reserves around here--more about THAT later!

The guy who picked me up, Jan (pronounced Yahn) sounded a lot like the Dutch accents I'd heard in Amsterdam. No surprise there; he is Afrikaans. More about THAT later! Jan seemed serious, well-informed, and reticent though helpful. How's this for a startling moment?

I hopefully asked him whether they ever got any elephants into the Center, and he cheerfully replied that, why, yes, they had in fact gotten one in that very day! And the staff was cutting it up for meat at that very moment! Was I up for cutting up some meat?

When I declined the invitation, I think he sensed some distaste on my part and went on to explain that there are way too many elephants in this part of Africa. Most of this area is swallowed up by private game reserves, whose bread and butter is providing trophies for big game hunters.

So some hero got himself a big bull elephant, took whatever parts he wanted for a trophy, and the rest gets sold by the preserve to the Rehab Center. The Center is glad to have the quantity AND high quality meat. In fact, some of the guys are STILL working on it as I write this (Friday).

Short answer: no LIVE elephants here. Babies do occasionally arrive, but their care is highly specialized, and they are transferred to some sanctuary that does elephants specifically.

There IS a very cute young rhino here, goes by the name of Ollie. I haven't gotten a good picture of him yet, because every time I'm near him, I'm on high alert because he likes to play by ramming me. Thank goodness Aramis doesn't have a horn on HIS forehead, or I'd always be banged up!

More--much more--later!