Wild Places and Open Spaces

Day 19

See pics here.

Off again on our second safari – leaving just as it started to get light outside (about 5:30am), with high hopes.

There are a few lodges in the area we are in, and all of them keep in touch with one another via radio. If someone sights an animal, they will let each other know, and that way more people get to experience the wildlife. All the drivers and trackers are very respectful of the animals – never are there allowed more than 2 vehicles near an animal/animals. The drivers and trackers are very knowledgeable about the animals in the area, regarding biology and behaviour, but they also know the animals in their area intimately; knowing for instance when the young were born, how old a certain individual is, where they like to hang out, and they even anticipate where they will walk to once spotted. Another important note to mention is that the animals are habituated to the vehicles, and do not seem bothered in the least by them. The animals go on about their daily routines and even make kills in front of vehicles – they simply go about their business without giving us a second thought. Having said this, we stay quiet and seated in the vehicle, and do not make sudden movements.

The ground we cover on safari drives varies – there are dirt tracks we follow for the most part, but these guys will drive through anything…and we have! The land cruisers must have amazing shocks, suspension and powerful tires, because we’ve driven through stuff that we never thought possible. Through thick bush, through water, over rocks….keeps life exciting that is for sure.

Okay, so back to the animals. Our ‘sister’ land cruiser spotted a leopard….and so we were off to find it. And find it we did! She was beautiful…sauntering along the man made path without her cub. The guides said she was looking for food. We thought we may see her take an impala (they are known as ‘McDonald’s’ here – because of the sheer numbers of them ie. fast food for cats) but no luck.

Next, a pride of lions and cubs. There were 3 lionesses and 7 cubs. We watched them laze about and the cubs play with each other. One lioness nursed a bunch of them, and we learned that lionesses will nurse each other’s cubs – they help one another out. Then, in comes walking a Black Rhinoceros – one of the cubs backed away because this beast was new to it, but the rest of the lions were comfortable and did not stir from their positions. It wasn’t until the rhino wandered off again that the little cub felt at ease to come back to the group.

We would later find the rhino again, and get a close up view of it – an immense beast – and came across the leopard again but only for a glimpse and then she vanished into the bush.  Next, a Blue Wildebeest…what an interesting looking fellow!

Well, that was a very successful safari drive…..we have now seen ‘the big 5’ that everyone strives to see when they come here: buffalo, lion, leopard, elephant, rhino. How lucky are we, and we are only on day 2 here!!
Evening Safari Drive

Well, we weren’t sure how Patrick, (our guide/driver) and Tyrone, (our tracker) could outdo the morning drive, but they did. We heard over the  radio that  a male leopard had been spotted. This in itself is amazing, however, that wasn’t the best part…..the leopard was up a tree eating it’s dinner! Patrick got us to him quickly, and right up close and personal. I know we mentioned this before, but it is worth mentioning again – the animals do not seem at all bothered by our presence. The leopard did not even look up at us when we arrived in the land cruiser. It was dusk, but with the help of a light we were able to get an excellent view of the main course that leopard was eating. He had caught a young impala, and all that was left of it at this point was part of the body and a couple of legs dangling from the tree. Not only was it visually stunning to see such a sight (this is major Discovery channel/David Attenborough material), it was also stimulating to our auditory senses…we were within a couple of metres of him and could hear him licking the carcass and crunching its bones. Although sad for the young impala, this is nature at it’s best, and it was absolutely incredible to be witnessing it.

It gets better…..from the bush the leopard heard something and looked up. Hyenas had shown up, hoping to devour any scraps that the leopard dropped. (Remember we said that the leopard did not stir when we showed up? It was so interesting to see that his senses were so acute to other noises in the bush – obviously he and other animals have learned to discern between us and the animals around them). The hyenas were in luck – they found a few scraps. The leopard spares nothing when it eats prey, but whatever is dropped is quickly eaten – nothing is wasted in nature.

We left the leopard, such that others could move in and get a look. By this time, it was dark – the sky clear and full of stars. We could see Jupiter and 3 of its moons. Tyrone had his spotlight out, scanning the area. He told Patrick to stop and go back…..he had spotted something. We got to a tree and he points to a chameleon, no bigger than the size of a child’s hand! How he ever spotted this, we’ll never know. Then, about a minute later, he spots an owl up a tree. Amazing! These guys are good!

Getting back to the lodge, the staff had dinner set up for us outside as usual, but in an area with a fire in the middle, everything lit by candles and lanterns, and all the food done on a large barbeque area over fire. They called this a BOMA – and we found out that this stands for British Officer’s Mess Area, referring to the past British military presence/wars in South Africa. The area had a very pretty ambiance, albeit difficult to see what you were eating. However, it was lovely as usual. Off to bed with a full stomach and anticipation of what tomorrow’s safari may bring!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 13th, 2013 at 5:19 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.