Yesterday, when we hadn’t seen a text from Lisa telling us if she had made the flight, we waited, hoping we’d hear she’d arrived in Nelspruit so Tom could begin the drive to the airport. Finally, she texted, saying Airlink allowed her on the flight at last minute, and she didn’t have a signal to text once she boarded the plane. She was waiting for Tom at the airport.
He took off immediately and arrived 90 minutes after refilling the little white car’s petrol. It was easy for Lisa to find him at the small airport. When they arrived, I was busy feeding eight zebras while she squealed with delight, seeing her first wildlife at our house. It was very exciting for her and us.
Since then, they’ve been coming in droves, and she loves every moment while we enjoy having her with us. We sat on the veranda, had dinner, and chatted well into the evening with countless animals stopping by, including the elusive genet.
After her long trip from the US, at about 9:00 pm, she headed off to bed while we tidied the kitchen and also headed to bed.
This morning, the names of groups of wildlife were discussed, and although we’d written about this topic years ago, we thought it was a good time to write again for our new readers and those who may have missed the original post.
“If you have a knowledgeable guide on an African safari, you will likely learn all sorts of new and interesting information about the animals you see, including their collective nouns. What is a collective noun? It is a word used to describe a collection of animals, people, or things.
Most people usually know that a group of lions is called a PRIDE, that a family of elephants form a HERD, or that ants can be found in a COLONY. However, do you know the name of a group of giraffes? Or even a group of hippos? How about a group of rhinos? Learning these names will make you seem like an aficionado on safari!
An armoury of aardvarks
A shrewdness of apes
An army of ants
A troop of baboons
A cete of badgers
A cloud of bats
A herd of buffalo
A coalition of cheetahs
A bask of crocodiles
A murder of crows
A pack of wild dogs
A herd/parade of elephants
A flamboyance of flamingos
A tower/journey of giraffes
A band of gorillas
A pod (raft) of hippos
A cackle/clan of hyenas
A leap of leopards
A conspiracy of lemurs
A pride of lions
A troop of monkeys
A band of mongooses
A parliament of owls
A pandemonium of parrots
A prickle of porcupines
A crash of rhinos
A venue of vultures
An implausibility of wildebeest
A dazzle of zebras”
As we busy ourselves on our laptops, we’re constantly distracted by visiting animals. It’s a wonderful day.
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, April 3, 2015:
