Posts Tagged ‘elephant’

Currently I am sitting in the sweltering heat, it is 37 degrees in the shade and it is only spring! I sit here cursing the fan in my office that does not work and contemplate the sightings and the bush around me.

Even though I am not out driving guests, not on drive as someone has to keep the camp running, that someone being me, I still get to view magnificent animal sightings.

I wish I had my camera with me at all times, I Drove to morning meeting at 7:30 this morning, and found two leopard cubs chilling in the road, stopped fairly close to them and admired there beauty, only then did I notice mum leopard keeping a eye on her cubs as well as us. After about 10 minutes she decided it was enough, collected her cubs and disappeared in the bush, three leopards on the way to work.

I write this in my aforementioned sweltering office, and I do so with a smile on my face, I smile because there are three elephants drinking out my pool, right now.  They are three male jumbos arranged in a neat line next to the pool, from biggest to smallest, slurping and spraying water all over the pool deck. Loving it, did I mention this is also lunch time for the guests, have an African lunch with the elephants, this could be scripted.

With no guests two days ago, I managed to organize an old land rover for a staff drive, two rangers and myself headed out looking for four legs and a heartbeat to photograph, we sat with fourteen lions in the shade for a few hours, yep fourteen lions lazing in the shade a mere three meters from our vehicle!, pity it was so hot and bad lighted for good photos. Still awesome to sit and observe.

Not so awesome was a resident territorial holder, our big male lion called mandevu (mandevu means bearded, or big big beard, hair thing) he decided to take away a legitimate kill from three youngsters that pop up in our area from time to time, this three youngsters are not so youngster anymore and did not want to share, would love to have seen the fight, but it was late at night, I caught up with him the next morning, he looked like he had been dragged over broken glass, very sore and sorry for himself, blood and lion hair dotted the road at the scene. He will make it but will not roar or advertise his presence for a while. In fact he may be lucky to survive this one.

Beaten up lion

Late afternoon traffic at the waterhole in front of the lodge, currently we have a hippo bull in the shallows, trying to keep cool and count a few sheep, or is that count a few hippo cows? The water barely covers half of him, alongside him and amazingly he tolerates it, is a small herd of buffalo bulls. Drinking and mud wallowing around the sleeping hippo. The baboons circle the trees around, a few impala and wildebeest are coming and going, drinking albeit a nervous drink. In the shade are some waterbuck, desperately trying to stay out of the direct sun.

And watching me watch this menagerie of animals is my resident bushbuck, cute little fellow eyeing me out from five meters away.

Ilana on the way back from morning meeting saw a yellow billed hornbill, eating a mouse, a kill was seen! It counts as a kill to us.

Not out driving, but still so much to see…

So where do guides go when on leave from the bush? Leave fro there lodge? Well most of us go back into the bush, on our own private safari. Most of us book into a camping in a wildlife reserve so we can explorer at our own pace, we can “do it” in our own time. That is exactly what I and the beautiful distraction (girlfriend) did. A few days in Kruger to restore our equilibrium.  A few braai’s, some game driving with beer in hand, good company and a blow up mattress in a tent.

Before hitting Kruger hard, we had a much deserved break in a backpackers up north, very bright colors, walls in red,blues,greens and other colors of the rainbow, some décor that looked like to came from a cycadelic 1980’s collection(those same painting in four different colors style), African art mixed with retro modern, in fact I saw a plague at the check in-desk, all framed and with gold trimmings etc,like a doctors certificate in his office  describing it as the best, funkiest backpackers for 2008.

Think they can add a “2008 and all years between including till now” under the funkiest backpackers. As I have stayed in many here and in New Zealand, I can honestly say this was one the best.

From our temporary last-in-the-past-but-still-hip-cool rented room we organized a river cruise on the Oliphant’s river, adjacent to Kruger, what a blast, cruising at a crocodiles pace along the mighty river with elephants and giraffe and more on the river bank. This we followed with a colossal T-bone steak braai back at the dock and an ice cold beer to end the day.

Next day off to Kruger national park.

Driving though a national park in South Africa is not the same as stating and game driving in a wildlife area from a lodge. Big dissimilarity is the amount of vehicles. I guess one gets used to the exclusivity when driving guests in an open land drover, on roads others do not frequent.

In Kruger you will come across all types of vehicles with all combinations of passengers, little mobile fish bowls complete with open mouth occupants and gawking eyes and viewing them was as much fun as trying too and viewing the wildlife in the reserve.

Started off at satara, nice open camp, with oodles to see, lions,buffalo,elephants plains game, plenty of birds, a wild cat in the day and four cheetah that had just killed a warthog 5 minutes before we spotted them, and we only found them, cause I stopped for a Walberg’s eagle in a tree. Stop for the birds and small things and you will be rewarded.

Sometimes the wildlife would come to us, as our last two nights camping, we stayed at Skukuza, the busiest camp in the park, I erected the tent right next to the fence, and of course the resident hyena would pop around the other side of the fence, exactly where we set up house, to check out what we were doing.

Awesome having a hyena no more than three meters away either watching us or calling his whoop whoop on the top of his voice.

This could be creepy every now and then with an eerie hyena stare while you sit and enjoy a cold one…

A greater bush baby was using the tree over our tent as a thoroughfare to get over the fence and out for a nights foraging, was the fence there to keep animals at bay or the real animals, us humans, from afflicting the animals out in the bush?

When one stays in the camping area, be sure to smile and converse with your fellow campers. Many an interesting person we did meet. An interesting fellow from an island north of Australia. A sea kayak adventure guide (reminded me of my river ratings days in new Zealand, I of course did not have the killer tan, nor the dreadlocks as he does) He brought his son and dad to Kruger to experience the African bush.

The son, a very cool surfer kid, complete also with dreadlocks and a killer tan. Like his dad, the kid did not own closed shoes, but was permanently in sandals or barefoot, this cute kid, Really wanted to see hyena, so of course invited surfer kid and dad to view from our tent, to the little kid’s great joy the hyenas did not disappoint, and gave him a good show from meters away as they patrolled the fence. Great to see the amazement on a face that has never seen African wildlife like this. We might just be taking it for granted.

Funny enough beautiful distraction (girlfriend) jumped higher (almost onto me) when our backs were turned and this bone crushing hyena let out a whoop at the top of its lungs. Surfer kid only stood and giggled to himself.

End of Kruger and off to Johannesburg and family visits. The Rest I will give you short version, drank too much, ate too much, did nothing but act like a carrot i.e. veg. had another T-bone at that South African institution “the spur restaurant” came back to the bush.

Good to be back in the bush from the bush, know what I mean.

Hyenas were named spot, Ted and  bangle(she had a radio collar)

Bush is green, animals are still here, lions sightings the last few weeks have been really good - not every day - but close enough to it. Ele’s are in the far north west of the reserve, what do they look like again? The occasional bull near the airstrip close enough to me to game drive there.

2 female cheetah are in the reserve, currently in the boma, can’t wait for them to be released. Read the rest of this entry »

Had a interesting day yesterday, been some quite s**tty drives of late then yesterday morning,  followed a rhino bull for about 1/2 hour, would not get out of the road, he was following a female cow with calf.  She must be in estoruis, but was having none of it and spurring his advances. Saw a opprtunity to get past him -  and he saw me as competition! Lucky I did not put another dent in the car, full 2.3 ton rhino bull charging at me, while I am flooring it out of there….missed me by inches…..! Read the rest of this entry »