Our schedule is supposed to start with a wake up knock on our cabin door from our tracker Thomas for our 6:00 am Sunrise Game Drive. But we set our clock for 5:00 am because 30 minutes for two unrelated ladies to share a bathroom, get dressed, walk the approximately city block and a half to the dining room, pour a cup of tea or coffee or juice, eat a muffin or biscotti, use the bathroom again as back up in preparation for a 3 hour bouncy car ride across the low veld is just not enough!
Maybe 'bouncy' is not the right word. The Land Rover is an excellent and safe way to jolt across the deeply rutted dirt roads, rocks, and then off road into the brush in pursuit of the wildlife we have come to see. At no time have we felt unsafe but it is nice to have a thrill ride and not have to stand in a long line to board like at Disney World! But more about our Safari Mornings.
Morning drives were quite successful. As we set out we have already bonded and quickly agreed to rotate seats so everyone has a fair chance for the best viewing. Everyone is carrying a backpack or knapsack filled with camera equipment. We have two married couples, Phil and Iva from California, and Fred and Linda from New York in our group of nine. The men are gentleman who, along with Thomas and Gus, make sure we are all in the car and settled safely. This is important since getting in requires minor acrobatics to step up on the high running board and then up a high side step and then down again to get in the back row. Always nice to not be carrying stuff while you do this. Just up and over one gets you to the middle row and then the front is pretty easy.
We bundled up because the morning is surprisingly cool. I wore corduroys, a long sleeve long under ware type shirt, tee shirt, zipped up fleece topped by a fleece vest. Mittens and a knit hat top this lovely outfit off. And yes, we are in Africa, and yes we are glad to find wool blankets in the car to wrap up in as well. We are only going about 20 miles an hour but occasional bursts of speed make for quite a breeze.
Our first morning out was amazing. Just what we had come to see. We learned to identify Impala, Kudu, Nyala, in the Antelope family. Then there are the Boks; Bushbok, Grysbok, Waterbok, and Springbok. There were Zebra, Giraffe and so many of each that it became almost to the point where sometimes the silence would be noticeable from the lack of camera clicking.
The real excitement was the first time we spotted the lion cubs and their mothers cross the road right in front of us. Two moms with five cubs following along. It was home schooling of the most valuable kind. The cubs were getting a lesson in tracking to prepare for the hunt. We watched them go into the bush and then drove forward and to the other side of the block just in time to see them come out and cross that road. We did this tracking and following and anticipating for a while until we finally lost sight of them.
We watched a Dazzle of Zebra who had begun to cut one of the injured out of the herd. He stood to the outside while the others ate. We learned that there are several ways to identify the male of the species. One is to look for the ‘fifth leg!” This really is quick and easy to do and requires no great memory of identifying coloration or markings.
A Tower of Giraffe had two youngsters who were play fighting. Practicing for the future. Watching elephants is mesmerizing as they are slowly and methodically ripping, crunching, munching their way across the plain.
Our own speed is determined by the chatter on the two way radio. Gus is the Head Ranger and this is good luck for us. However, all the rangers seem to work well as a team. When an animal is spotted word goes out and the drivers take turns going in to view. Sometimes two cars might overlap the timing but mostly it is one at a time. A spotter tells if it is a male or female, how many in the group, the road they are adjacent to and which 'block' of bush to watch, the type of activity such as if they are feeding on a fresh kill or are mobile and foraging.
Telling the road is especially interesting. There are no signs. You and I could not tell them apart but these rangers are skilled. There must have been lots of time spent driving around the nearly 80 square kilometers of the preserve. Dirt roads are a single lane or less. Or they might be two tire tracks that have been driven on so many times that the grass does not grow there. Yet, Gus knows immediately where to go and how to get there.
The radio squawked and we took off flying down the road, found a double track through the bush and over rocks and through the river. Then came the fun. We left the road and started up a steep bank. The vehicle tilted sharply so that I could easily have reached the grass without much effort. We all leaned to the right. We slid backwards down the slope and started up again, tilted, spun the wheels and struggled to the top of the low ridge.
A few yards forward and there was the rare site we had risked our lives to see. Lion cubs playfully cuffing each other and Mama resting after enjoying a breakfast of fresh Kudo kill. The hunt during the last evening had been successful and they had taken down a female and male animal. The long curled horns of the Kudo could be seen jutting above the dry winter grass. The red meat of the head dripping from it. The cubs would stop for a little more to eat and then roll and tumble about trying to get their Mom in on the act.
This was followed by another close encounter. Leaving the slight rise we backtracked down the slippery slope and made our way to the South River Road. Here there were just coming out of the brush a male Rhino, several females and a little baby. We watched as they paraded across the road. While they walked in front of us I noticed that their legs are very thin by comparison and the skin is not wrinkled. Their rolling gait reminded me very much of a fat girl in tight jeans.
Momma White Rhino was distracted by some especially tasty treat and fell out of line. Soon she was behind us. She looks quite threatening because of her long, spiky, dark horn. I think I remember that that horn is not really a horn but a mass of tightly clumped hair and works as a very effective weapon when clumped together over time. But the females don’t fight and so it grows to great length, a couple of feet or more.
When she realized that baby was far ahead she started toward us but was a little tentative until she recognized that we were not a threat, sitting quietly in our car. The only noise was the sound of clicking cameras. She came along side us much like the elephant.
She swerved off and joined the others who by now were moving toward the riverside.
We had an interesting insight watching the family behavior for a while. The baby and young stay ahead of the Mom. They do not follow her like other species do but run playfully ahead and then run back only to run off in another direction. They move quite quickly for their size and surely look as though they need to grow into their skin. Dad seemed placid and munched away letting the family take care of itself. He would however be an awesome defender if there was a threat. But there are not many threats. A lion is smart enough to know that the rhino outweighs him and could lower that horn and then fling King Lion far if needed.
The morning drive ends each day with a delicious hot breakfast cooked to order and a buffet, depending on your appetite. We then regrouped and went out for an hour hike. I was glad to have flexible boots and a walking stick for this. After driving out to Astronomy Point we set out single file over a two rutted lane. The viewing for me, and I think some of the others, was not so good. Our ages required some of us to spend most of our time looking down. I would watch carefully each step over the rocks, clumps of vegetation, and unevenness of the land. I stopped frequently to unpocket the camera and take pictures of the various flora that Gus was pointing out. I loved the way he sometimes leaned on his loaded but not cocked rifle while describing the Leadwood Tree, or Marona. He put ants in the Antlion hole to try to get him to come out of his hiding. Gus broke off bits of leaf or branch to demonstrate the small and texture.
Our third morning, before our flight back to Joburg, we topped off our Karongwe adventure by taking a pretty long drive across the preserve to see the Cape Buffalo. We had been asking about them as they were by now the only one of the Top Five we had not seen. Gus would say, “Don’t worry, we’ll see them. I know where they are.” And indeed he did. Driving to a far side of the private park we entered an enclosure that contained the entire herd of Cape Buffalo. The country requires an extended quarantine for them and they were soon to be released into the natural surroundings to mingle with the rest of the animals.
It is not that they were not in natural areas but they were separated from the other species. These majestic beasts are the ones that look as though they have an old fashioned handlebar mustache on the top of their foreheads. There is a secondary enclosure that houses the bachelors. Those nineteen are new to the herd and need to be under additional quarantine.
Gus was not sure when the buffalo would be released into the general population. Apparently there is a farmer who wants his portion of the preserve returned to him to graze cattle. This would require him to drive them through the park to what used to be his land. The court decision has reversed a few times but Gus was hopeful that the issue will soon be resolved.
After an hour of walking in the blazing sun on the dusty trail we were ready to go back for lunch. Lunch was always a hot meal for which the order was taken at lunch. We had such a sampling of wild game offered. A couple of choices each meal and prepared by our Chef Michael in a variety of ways. Always delicious. Then our dinner order would be taken. They did try to have an idea of what they needed to cook so there would be not too much waste.
And so this is how our mornings went!
Unfortunately I cannot post pictures from here because of internet limitations. Lots when I return1
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