Curious zeba
Big Boy in Moholoholo
Baby rhino (also Moholoholo)
I like rhino best - but obviously he's not in the wild...
I wonder what you'll find the most difficult in your four propositions :-) "What can I do, What can I write, Against the fall of Night". A.E. Housman
It was a baby rhino. I'm not sure about the second horn budding, that spot may just sit there and develop later on. Rhino was cool - as all rhinos he was almost blind, but this one was accustomed to the presence of humans. The moment we entered the pen, it would amble towards us - like a monstrous dog. It just mingled and wanted attention; it was stunning. First time I've touched a rhino. Rhinos are, however, also very skittish, so we were warned to always stay aside of him. It would charge if it would be startled by someone in front of him - and even the charge of a baby rhino can do damage...
I rumbled through my hard drive, but the most spectacular picture I've is still in the Netherlands!!! Argh. I've been lucky enough to have swum with the world's only hippo accustomed to humans - Jessica.
Of all the four goals, I'm hedging learning surfing will be the hardest, considering Johannesburg is not at the coast... There is a distinction... I want to learn surf, meaning not give up before I reasonably can, but I just want to attempt horseback...
as for surfing, it's hard paddling and waiting, then the rush.
bodysurfing is really fun, i prefer having nothing between skin and wave, and the bouncing you do with your feet on the sand in the backwash and leaping for best positioning is like radical capoeira, flips, kick, lunges, spins...
with the magnificent antagonist of the water...
best sport i ever enjoyed...
riding depends so much on the horse you're on. some are like armchairs and if you start with one that's really serene-to-the-point-of-dull, you can relax into it, and build the musculature necessary for a more 'interesting' ride.
i am riding out my horse regularly into the surrounding woodlands, and it definitely has parallels with how i felt about the ocean, and the sense of energised immersion.
good luck, those particular choices i can vouch for having brought much pleasure and satisfaction, with the added benefit of being builders of health and strength, applied in your 30's, will make a big difference in how you experience your body in later life.
tip from an old man!
great to have your dutch take on s. africa, and points beyond, what makes ET so cool. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
