Lee and Carol Grim, of International Falls, were offered the trip to South Africa when a study abroad program was offered by William Bowerman, who studied eagles in Voyageurs National Park.
Bowerman is currently studying fish-eating eagles in South Africa. The Grims recounted their trip for the public with a slide show of pictures in a colloquium April 17 at Rainy River Community College.
The Grims joined 19 people on the 14-day experience that focused primarily on the Kalahari Desert included visits to South Africa, Botswana and Nambia.
Since the trip was a university-sponsored study abroad program, there was required reading and tests that had to be completed before the trip.
“We bought the books that were required and we did study each night in an effort to try and prepare ourselves for getting the most out of what we were going to see, hear and do,” Carol Grim said. “In addition to the required books I read a History of South Africa which was a cast-off from the college library. It gave me a feeling for how the Europeans came to South Africa and what their philosophy was in terms of government.”
Along with the required text, Carol brought along a copy of the book, “Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Stories.” The group decided that it would be interesting to read aloud from the book each night before bed.
“The first night we read three stories,” Lee Grim said. “The cooks in the back were fascinated because these stories were about the Kalahari and they were just beaming because we were reading stories about their culture.”
The group toured Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and encountered all sorts of African animals. The park is one of the biggest birds of prey mecas in the world with eight species of eagles as well as goshawks, falcons, kites, owls and secretary birds.
The group was escorted by lion guards who carried large rifles to protect the group from the king of beasts. While stopped, Lee asked a guard if he was a good shot and the guard replied, “well, sort of.”
While traveling within the park, visitors are not allowed to get out of the vehicle unless in gated “safe” areas. While on a stop in a safe area, the group came upon a lion-proof restroom and Lee had a hard time getting inside.
Once he figured his way inside of the restroom he remarked on how amazing it was that such a facility existed when one of their lion guards remarked in a gruff voice, “It doesn’t work very well if you don’t close the gate.”
Along with lions, the group encountered rhinos, giraffes, wildebeest, springbok along with other mammal, reptile and bird species.