PART 1 OF LUAN AT THE GAME LODGE

Luan woke up the next morning, knowing that his holiday was nearly at an end. 

To him it felt so sad but he also knew that he would go back to his wonderful forest and have so much to tell his friends at school. 

His mother made them a lovely breakfast and they all sat eating and talking about this holiday that was so nice. 

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His parents told him that they are going to a game lodge and that they are sleeping there for the night. He had to pack his clothes as they were not sure if they were going to come back to the house that they were renting for the holiday. Luan was so excited and started doing everything his parents asked him.  

As they got into the car he asked where the game lodge was and they told him it was a bit far and they were taking another plane to get there. They were going to fly to Port Elizabeth airport, and they will be picked up from there to go to the game lodge.  

There were people waiting for them and they drove to the lodge. He was very impressed as it was so beautiful and he knew he was going to sleep there.

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They were welcomed and shown where there rooms were.  It was beautiful. 

The lady who showed them said they must take hats, their cameras as well as binoculars. 

They were leaving on a drive in a little while and she will come and fetch them.

Luan was so excited as he knew that the animals he was going to see today, he had only seen in pictures before.  

It was not long and the lady said that the Rangers were here and they could come.

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Luan was very surprised at the Rangers transport, but was told this is the best way to see the animals.

They started driving and he could not believe the animals they saw on their trip.

The first animals they came across were giraffes and they seemed very tall to him. The ranger explained that they eat the top fresh leaves off the trees. He also told them that giraffes do not sleep very long and then they are ready to carry on eating. He also told them that they have very long toungs as well as their tails are of the longest that you get in wildllife animals

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They sat there for a while and then drove on. But Luan was still looking back at these wonderful animals.

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He did not think that there would be more beautiful animals, untill the ranger said be very quiet I see a Leopard in a tree.

I am going to stop and you can all take pictures but try not to let him jump as then he will leave and we will not find him again.

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Female leopards give birth to usually 1-2 cubs.

Cubs are born a grey color with very faint rosettes.

Cubs are born blind and start to see in 10 days.

Cubs live with their mothers for 2-4 years.

Mother leopards teach their cubs to swim, climb, hunt and how to protect themselves from predators.

    

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Oh mother is he not the most beautiful little thing you have ever seen, I wish I could hold him. The Ranger told him that if you touch him his mother will really grab you. Just like all mothers animals love their children very much, and she will think you are going to hurt him.

That is so good as my mother and father love me very much and they are taking me to these wonderful places.  As they were driving they suddenly saw this enormous elephant.  Luan actually got a fright because he never realised just how big they were.

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It is standing in the middle of the road and Luan was stunned, just a  little behind him there was a baby as well.

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Oh just look how cute he is, he is running to his mother.  He must be thinking that he will loose her as she is big and he is small.

They all laughed at this lovely little baby elephant.  The ranger then told them about elephants then.

 

Elephants are the largest land-living mammal in the world.

Both female and male African elephants have tusks but only the male Asian elephants have tusks. They use their tusks for digging and finding food.

Female elephants are called cows. They start to have calves when they are about 12 years old and they are pregnant for 22 months.

An elephant can use its tusks to dig for ground water. An adult elephant needs to drink around 210 litres of water a day.

Elephants have large, thin ears. Their ears are made up of a complex network of blood vessels which help regulate their temperature. Blood is circulated through their ears to cool them down in hot climates.

Elephants have no natural predators. However, lions will sometimes prey on young or weak elephants in the wild. The main risk to elephants is from humans through poaching and changes to their habitat.

The elephant’s trunk is able to sense the size, shape and temperature of an object. An elephant uses its trunk to lift food and suck up water then pour it into its mouth.

An elephant’s trunk can grow to be about 2 metres long and can weigh up to 140 kg. Some scientists believe that an elephant’s trunk is made up of 100,000 muscles, but no bones. 

Female elephants spend their entire lives living in large groups called herds. Male elephant leave their herds at about 13 years old and live fairly solitary lives from this point.

Elephants can swim – they use their trunk to breathe like a snorkel in deep water.

Elephants are herbivores and can spend up to 16 hours days collecting leaves, twigs, bamboo and roots.

To be continued

Hope you enjoyed my story, have a wonderful day.