Following on from last week’s blog post, it’s time to resume our tour around the new Out of Africa collection from Erstwilder! To catch up on part one, click here. I’ll ask you at this time to keep arms and legs inside the vehicle and please refrain from feeding the animals. Let’s go!

Perfect Pachyderms

Elephants are my favourite! From a young age I’ve been fascinated with them and they have always been the animal I rushed to see on zoo visits. I even got to feed an elephant a few years ago and it was a dream come true! Now I get to rock this majestic creature with pride, with the Mother Ella brooch and Pair of Pachyderms earrings. The brooch features an adorable mum and bub combo in a purple and grey colouring, with the baby elephant nuzzling up to her mum! The delicate earrings pick up the purple colouring from the brooch, in ever-complementary Erstwilder style. Fun fact: elephants actually don’t like peanuts! This is a myth brought about by cartoons, but they won’t eat them in the wild or in captivity.

The Cast of the Lion King

It wouldn’t be an African animal collection without some subtle (or not so subtle!) Lion King references in there! Mother-Cub Love definitely has some Sarabi and young Simba vibes happening, and these two made from marbled resin look so very content together. And unmistakably a reference to crowd-favourite Pumbaa, Young Warthog is all about the details with a textured resin body, a tail set at a jaunty angle, a big pink nose and luscious eyelashes! Fun facts: A warthog’s name comes from their ‘warts’ or protrusions on the sides of their face, a combo of bone and cartilage that protects their face when they fight. And a lion’s roar can be heard up to 8km away!

Colourful Companions

Erstwilder is always my go-to for adding a pop of colour to my outfit, and/or complementing the bright colours I’m wearing! So these two (Cheetara’s Chum and Khary of the Kalahary) are the perfect colourful companions. Look at all that detailing on the cheetah brooch – that’s a huge amount of effort that’s gone into his spots, so striking against the bright yellow resin of his face. And the kingfisher is resplendent in a mixture of bright blue, turquoise, magenta, and yellow solid and textured resins – you won’t lose him in a hurry! This guy is based on the African pygmy kingfisher, the smallest of all the kingfishers. And a fun fact about cheetahs: as I’m sure you know they can run super fast, up to 112km/h! But as this uses a lot of energy, a cheetah chase is limited to about 200-300m before they tire out, so they have to pick their sprinting time carefully.

Feeling Foxy

There’s a couple of foxy chaps amongst this collection and they can’t wait to be your friend! Bat-Eared Bestie is made from marbled grey resin with black and white solid resin detailing, so stylish with his big ears and fluffy tail. Meanwhile Finnicky Fennec is a strong rival in the ear stakes! With his huge fluffy ears, sweet face, and little whiskers, this fennec fox is a pastel dream. Foxes are usually compared in size to house cats, but you’ll find the fennec fox more like a kitten! This cutie is especially jumpy, reaching heights of 2 feet up or 4 feet forward, so they might be little but they’re very hard to catch. The bat-eared fox is a huge help to farmers in controlling the termite population, and the males of the species take one for the team and stay home with the kids while mum forages for food.

Monkeying Around

And of course, this collection wouldn’t possibly be complete without some monkeys! In classic Erstwilder style you can go from the real (Acacia Escape) to the surreal (Short-Sighted Sophie) with ease. I think the Acacia Escape necklace is just too sweet and such a good idea – an adorable monkey mini-brooch (we’ve nicknamed him George) that you can place to swing off a gorgeous acacia tree necklace! And sweet Sophie gets all my glasses-wearing love! This cutie has such a happy faced, topped off with a pair of glittery red specs, and her pale magenta colouring is so unique. Fun fact: you might not believe it, but a ‘barrel’ really is a collective term for a group of monkeys!

And that concludes our African safari tour! An elephant-size thank you to Erstwilder for letting us take photos of their outstanding work, and to @cmjsnz for his expert picture-taking skills. Remember to check out the first half of the Out of Africa collection here, and shop the range through Erstwilder and their stockists. Let me know your favourites from this range in the comments!

Miss Hero Holliday

xo