Saturday September 28.

Saturday September 28th

We are settling in nicely to our routine on Lindani Farm where my parents live. It is situated in an area of South Africa known as the Waterberg and is about a three and a half hour drive north of Johannesburg. Our closest town is about a forty minute drive away. The kids’ homeschooling is coming along well, and I think we will have two budding naturalists by the time our five months here are done. We may all know a little Portuguese by then too, thanks to Pimsleur.

My older brother has a farm adjoining my parents. He makes his living by raising Cape Buffalo. This is serious business as disease free Buffalo are very desirable. A bull sold two weeks ago at auction for $4 million (US dollars). I think that was a record. Depending on the quality of the animal, prices can range anywhere from a few thousand dollars into the millions. There is much speculation here as to whether the market represents a bubble, but nevertheless prices just seem to keep going up. My brother’s prize bull was killed a few months ago, gored by another of his very cranky bulls. Estimated loss of the one animal: $800,000.

My brother truly loves his Buffalo. Each of his 100+ animals is named, and he speaks to them as one would a much beloved family dog. He has been building his herd for many years now, carefully selecting for quality as they breed. About twice a year he will sell several animals, picking the lowest quality animals to part with so that the quality of the herd is always being raised.

This morning the whole family was up very early to see the Buffalo he is selling be tested for TB and a few other diseases. This entails a scratch test similar to that for humans--administering a scratch on the skin and then reading the results several days later. So the Buffalo had already been darted with tranquilizer the preceding Wednesday and now they had to be darted again so that the Vet to read the skin scratches. The whole process involved significant manpower because each animal needed to be carefully monitored while it was sedated--making sure it was upright and breathing properly.

One of the female Buffalo called Big Girl is apparently resistant to the sedative. In the photos above you can see Lindsay (who is the local Buffalo whisperer) trying to coax Big Girl to the ground (the dart can also bee seen in her hind quarter). Not something I would want to try myself. These are not animals to be trifled with. A large bull can easily toss a full sized car. With the help of Manie, Big Girl finally came to ground and the testing finished. I was amazed to see once the tests had been checked, an antidote to the tranquilizer was administered, and literally within seconds the Buffalo were on their feet again. It was a great experience for us and the kids, not soon to be forgotten.