One of the excursion options at Ukutula is to go to a monkey and elephant sanctuary and then to a craft market. So of course I put my name down for that.
7 of us got into the mini van and made our way 1hour to the Sanctuary. First up we had an elephant experience. This consisted of seeing the enclosures, feeling the elephants skin(ears, stomach and legs), walking with the elephants trunk holding your fingers and feeding the elephants. What an experience that was!
Elephants skin is different on each part of their body. It's thick and rough in some areas and smooth but thick in others. The hair of their tail is very coarse. Now the elephants that we were with weighed around 3.5 tonne. This is incredible as when you watch them walk they are so delicate and light on their feet. You cannot hear them make a sound.
One of the added extras at the sanctuary was to ride an elephant. I did not think twice about this and paid what was needed.
In order to get on the elephant we had to get into a platform then swing one leg over the elephants back. The guide then gave us a push to get us in a good position. What a laugh.
Riding an elephant is a whole different experience. You don't realise how tall they are until you are on one. Once sitting on and holding on tightly to the handler in front we started walking. Being able to feel this giant gentle creature underneath me was unbelievable. I could feel it's skin moving with each step. The elephant seemed so used to this that it did its laps around the enclosure with ease. Climbing off seemed to be a sort of lean to the right until your foot touched the platform. And the guide giving you a pull. I can safely say I did not complete this elegantly.
Next came the monkey sanctuary. We were told to leave all bags outside and ensure nothing was in pockets. As soon as we got into the sanctuary a monkey came down and decided to climb on our shoulders. The guide explained that all of the monkeys are basically refugee/abandoned monkeys that people had had as pets.
Some of the monkeys had been taught to pick pocket. This was rather amusing when they put their hands into your back pockets and when one tried to pull out my earrings. I had a water bottle in my hand at one stage, holding it tight, whilst side tracked with a monkey a cheeky little one stole my bottle and ran away. We saw this monkey later, it had taken the cap of the bottle and was drinking my water. Unbelievable! I did not get the bottle back either.
The sanctuary also had lemurs, the guide asked us if we liked to dance and move it move it. This amused us greatly. One of the lemurs had a 3 day old baby clinging to its back. Very cute. We managed to be in the sanctuary at feeding time and see the monkeys having a feast of fruit and veges.
The final part of this excursion was a visit to the local craft market. We were all pretty keen to get some little souvenirs. This was not as easy as it sounds. The aim of the craft market seemed to be to get out without being talked into paying way to much for something small. We had to barter the price down whilst all of the venders are calling at us to go see their shops. I'm not sure if the realised that they all sold the same thing!! Each vender would ask us where we are from and attempt to get us into their stall. Once in they would tell us how they have made this out of stone or hand painted this picture and that you won't find it elsewhere. What a crazy place! Nothing had prices on it. You would ask how much and they would say they will give you a price at once you finished looking. This price would the end up being at least double what it was worth. I ended up feeling like a snob in the market and ignoring everyone while I walked through. If I had of talked to them all and gone into every stall I would be poor and likely still be in there. That's an experience I don't wish to repeat ang time soon.
On the way back to Ukutula, Tyrone our driver stopped at a local butcher/dairy and we brought snacks. I tried biltong for the first time here, not sure on it, it was what Tyrone called a wet biltong. At least I can say I tried it, maybe I need to try a dry biltong next time. Guess we will wait and see.
-Kate