Us and our Slovakian Safari Friends
In our tent
Elephant and baby
Buffalo
Our Campsite
We saw everything we wanted to see and more. When we went to meet the group of guys we would be spending the 3 day safari with we were surprised to see they had been diving with us the week before in Tofo. It was 5 Slovakians all wearing the same safari hat, pretty hilarious. As we arrived it the park we were greeted with a baby elephant and informed that it is baby season and we would be seeing miniatures of everything. The drive started in a modified pick up truck with 3 rows of seats in the back and open windows. The weather was a bit cool but this turned out to be a good thing as it brings more of the animals out and about. We wrapped ourselves up in a blanket and began our journey.
The first thing we came across was a giant elephant very close to the road, and then a moment later a heard of buffalo crossing the road. The buffalo stopped to stare at us for a moment and then continued moving on. We looked forward to continue our drive and saw a wart hog in the middle of the road scurrying across to the other side and in to the bush. Pretty ugly and mean looking creatures. Next we came across an enormous wrinkled white rhinoceros grazing in the savannah grasses. It stopped to look up at us with goofy smile. He almost looked friendly, but I think the smile is a bit deceiving. He is called a white rhino because the Dutch first saw them they thought they were very wide and called them a wide rhino and over the years the translation became a white rhino, the other one is called a black rhino and they are much more rare in the park. After that we spotted a solitary zebra with perfect parallel strips, they looked so flawless like they were painted on.
By this time it was almost 8 am and we had already seen so much. We pulled into our camp area, a fenced in miniature town. With a store, restaurant, bar, gas station, bathroom and shower facilities and housing any where from luxury to campgrounds. Our rest camp was situated in a back corner and consisted of several rugged plain gray tents all set up with mattresses. Also there was a dining area set up with a breakfast buffet of fresh fruits, cereal, yogurt, and pastries. This is where we would be spending the next 2 nights, with all our meals prepared for us between our drives into the park. Just outside the fence we could watch impala graze in the area and in the distance an elephant climbing a mountain.
Baby Lion
Baboon
Giraffe
After breakfast we began our next drive, which ended up lasting all day. As we pulled out of the park our guide would stop many of the other tour trucks to chat about what animals they saw and where they saw them. They were sure to talk in either the local language or to use code words for the animals so we were not prepared or expecting anything particular. We came across every type of small deer like creature you can imagine, water buck, sable, kudu, reedbuck, wildebeest, bush buck, suni, and more. A group of female impala and one male with huge spiraled antlers as he kept watch over the ladies and worked on his hard job of impregnating all of them. As we continued on I made some small requests for a giraffe and maybe some monkeys. Moments later a 15 foot giraffe appeared on the side of the road and with in moments several more randomly through out the horizon. We came down a hill then and into a valley where we found some baboons and velvet monkeys making lots of noise and running about fighting. From there we moved along in search of one of the big 5 we were missing, the lions. After hours of driving we finally found them, sleeping under a tree far in the distance, about 8 of them, with a few of them just little pups, amazing. Throughout the drive that first day we saw tons of elephants, giraffes, monkeys, rhinos, another heard of buffalo in the distance. And all of these animals had a little baby hiding by its side. Truly spectacular.
We returned to our camp as the sunset for a nice walk around the park and an impala stew for dinner, complete with some local fixing of pup (a corn meal based potatoes like dish) very popular in the area. And with a wonderful bottle of South African Shiraz.
Zebra and baby
Velvet monkey and baby
We woke the next morning to begin the day at 6 am with a short drive before breakfast. On our way out we were informed of a group of lions feeding over a kill. We came to the spot with several cars stopped to watch as the lions 2 large females feeding on a buffalo and another female with her baby close by laying on the ground relaxing. They were just close enough to get some amazing photos. We enjoyed a quick breakfast while watching some of the local bird life. A spectacular shiny blue cape glossy starling also a yellow black and white crested barbet, as well as several helmeted guinea fowl running around the camp.
Me and my camera
Lions Feeding
Lepord
Hippo
Giraffe
We began our day in search of some hippopotamus and a leopard to complete our sightings of the big 5 most dangerous animals in the park. As we pulled out of the park we heard the loud noises of a bunch of elephants running and making loud grunting noises. One of them ran into the road and looked at us like it wanted to charge us but then continued galloping off to the other side. As we listed to that one grunting in the distance we noticed a herd of elephants moving towards us to follow after him. We watched in awe as a group or 30+ elephants of all sizes crossed in front of us. Spectacular.
Moving on we came to an area where we were aloud to get out of the car. We walked down a fenced path to a viewing area over a pond, where we came across several hippopotamus. With a further look we noticed a crocodile just below the surface moving past. The area was filled with beautiful yellow masked weavers that were squawking loudly. Also standing in the shallows near one of the crocs was a little egret feeding on some of the small fish swimming by. From there we moved on in search of the leopard. On our way we came across an elephant that appeared to have 5 legs. Our guide pointed out that the other leg was indeed its penis and as we got closer to him he must have been un happy to see us as we watched it slowly shrink back to normal size were we could no longer see it. But it really was the size of one of his legs, kind of scary.
Moving on again we came across tons of cars stopped looking under a bridge at a sleeping leopard far in the distance, we moved to the top of the bridge just above him and our guide began to make hyena sounds to convince the leopard that there were hyenas in the area that would go to munch on his recent kill. As he began making the noises we looked down and just below us we spotted the leopard awake and move from his spot over to him dead impala and begin snacking. It was incredible to get to see this all so close up, and some amazing photos. From there we stopped to have lunch at one of the fancier rest camps. There were beautiful bungalows looking over the river that we had been traveling by and it was filled with hippo of all sizes, including a little baby one. After lunch we continued on back to camp to enjoy our last dinner.
The next morning we woke early for one more quick drive before heading off. Not much was out this morning but some last elephants, a couple of giraffes in the distance. At this point we felt like we had all seen pretty much every thing. We did come across a group of baboons on a rock. The male was going to one female after the other and quickly mounting and mating with them. Apparently the women can not get enough so the one male has a lot of work to do to keep them all happy, even the young babies. Every few seconds as they finished, they would make a loud noise. Rather hilarious to witness. All in all it was a great way to end an eventful safari.
Russ in one of the safari hats
Rhino and baby
Me and the Giraffe
Monkey family
Baby Lion
After the safari we went back to Nelspruit and rented a car to drive around a bit and to get us to the airport in Johannesburg four hours away. We drove to the mall in search of the civilization we had been craving so much. And much like my last few reintroductions to civilization it was a bit too much for my senses. My eyes got really big and started to hurt after a few minutes. The mall was packed full of people and things everywhere. We tried to shop a bit but I gave up. Russ got some ice cream and we used high speed Internet for the first time. I forgot how fast it could be. On our way out we went in to a grocery store (they have lots of these in the mall here) to buy some snacks for the ride. I got a little frustrated when all I wanted was cheese and there were too many options and it was located in 3 different sections, does that make any sense. Anyways we made it out safely and began our drive.
The countryside was truly picturesque, lush and green and tropical it surprised me a bit. We arrived at the Johannesburg airport a bit early (or so I thought) and were looking forward to getting settled and ready to fly. The ticket counter informed me that we were very late and about to miss our flight (apparently I cannot read military time). We ended up going from the rental car to being on a plane in less then 15 minutes, sounds like a record. Anyways from there we flew through Doha and then to Bangkok and finally at midnight local time into Phuket. Making us 14 hours from home. And barely any time to look back at our quick goodbye to Africa.
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