Kruger National Park . . . Shocking
Friday, January 16th, 2009
Kruger National Park . . . Shocking!
From Maun, Botswana, we drove a long 10 hours skirting the semi-arid Kalahari desert, over the Botswana/South Africa border at Martin’s Drift, to a village called “Allways”. There, we found a quaint, 10-hut lodge called “Motopi” where we were relieved to find a hut (private bath, air-con, and a bathtub!!! – my first hot bath since Uyuni, Bolivia back in October!), for only $30 U.S. Needless to say, it was just getting dark and we were both ready for a few “Castles” to say the least.
The lodge was a real gathering hole for South Africans residing in the area and we ended up talking to some real interesting locals. We first spoke with the manager in charge of drilling at South Africa’s largest diamond mine (Caroline – one karat, H quality, is worth $3,000 U.S.), a white vegetable farmer who employs 6 illegal workers from Zimbabwe (pays them $60 U.S per month and says they are happy and relieved to be there), a game guide who takes tourists out (mostly Spaniards) to shoot wild game on private reserves (he even tells them which particular animal to shoot and when), plus the South African mother and daughter team that rent Motopi. All very friendly and happy in their chosen occupations.
We departed early the next morning and what we thought would be a 2 hour drive to the Punda Maria Camp in Kruger Park, ended up being a 4 hour drive since we drove through many small towns and villages that weren’t even on the map. We were surprised at how populated the area was enroute to the northern part of the Park. The area appeared very poor with most residing in mud huts with a thatch roof. This appears to be a predominantly poor area of South Africa compared to the areas we saw in Cape Town and north through the Clanwilliam area where we’ve been a month earlier.
Kruger Park borders Mozambique to the east and is about 350 km long and averages 65 km across. All the “Big Five” game can be found in the park (African bufflao, elephant, lion, leopoard, and black rhino). They are supposedly known as the “Big Five” because they are the most dangerous animals to hunt, with the clever African buffalo being the most dangerous. It attacks without warning and will circle around and take a hunter from behind.
On arrival at Kruger, we entered the park ($28 U.S for 2 plus the vehicle), and went to the Punda Maria Camp. Here, we stayed in a concrete casita (private bath, air-con, fridge) for only $48 U.S (much cheaper than staying at a private game reserve outside of the park). It was very clean, quiet, and had a decent restaurant and shop. Also, a big pool in a natural setting surrounded by playful, vervet monkeys.
We went on a night safari ($17.50 U.S each), and were accompanied by 6 “birders” who were on a quest to spot an elusive type of nighthawk. We stayed at one spot for over half and hour, out of the vehicle, while we waited for these birds to fly in. Just before dark, we spotted them and were told to get back inside the jeep for “safety reasons”. Even though the guide had his rifle at the ready, he was not prepared to take any chances. I had asked him earlier before we left if he had had any encounters with wild game. He most certainly had and has had to fire his rifle at game on more than once occasion while conducting walking safaris.
Since I was sitting in the “spotlight seat”, I shone the light for 3 hours as we drove around in search of wildlife. Most exciting were the herd of 100 – 200 African buffalo, the amusing, bouncing springhare (which bound just like a kangaroo only they are the size of a rabbit with a long tail), a bushbaby (large cat with a bushy tail), and a chameleon that somehow the guide spotted. We also saw some kudu, greysbok, steenbok, and duikers (all belonging to the deer-like, hooved family).
The next morning, we drove for another 4 hours to the next camp at Letaba. Even though it was only 178 km, the strict 50 km/hr speed limit (with frequent stops to admire game) made the journey that much longer. Once again, we were pleasantly surprised with our accommodation (private hut, with bath and air-con, fridge, screened in porch, overlooking the river) for only $50. We enjoyed another excellent meal overlooking the Letaba River (less than $30 for both of us)
After watching an informative one-hour National Geographic Video on the African Elephant inside the Elephant Museum at the Letaba Rest Camp, we had a “sundowner” on the park bench overlooking the river. I noticed a Waterbuck alongside the river and motioned for Fred to come and see. As he was admiring the Waterbuck, he couldn’t help himself but had to “touch” the wire fencing in front of him. It was 10-strands of wire, and every-other strand had an insulator so I knew it was an electric fence. I warned Fred not to touch it, that it was electric, but he said “No it isn’t, see.” As he touched one wire, nothing happened . . . then . . .the big ZAP! You should have heard the snap – Fred sure felt it! He had his laugh at my reaction to the mock-charge of the elephant in Namibia, well, I had my laugh at his reaction to getting zapped on the fence! It was definitely a stronger current than our horse fence!
We awoke the next morning to a cloudy, cool day. We decided to see how far we could get towards our next destination – Mozambique. As we drove through the park, given the cool temperatures, this was the best game viewing day yet in the park. We saw a several spotted hyaenas walking down the road, giraffe, zebra, hippo, a small croc, warthogs, elephants sparring in the middle of the road where we had to wait for about 15 minutes while the two bulls challenged each other for dominance, almost backing into our car, and most excitedly – a few lions circling, then running down a small herd of African buffalo. This was amazing to see, and after a big kick by a buffalo, the lion backed off and the buffalo crossed the road behind our car. Just a typical day in Kruger!
After another 10-hour drive, crossing the chaotic border from South Africa into Mozambique (took us about an hour – we needed visas, third party insurance, etc), we made it just before dark to Casa Lisa Lodge (recommended by Greenwood Accommodations – private hut with bath, no fan/air con, no electricity – for $55 U.S). We were relieved to find the place before nightfall as we hadn’t seen any other lodges/hotel accommodations north of Maputo. Because of heavy rains earlier in the day, the Maputo roadway was a washout, with huge potholes and water up to the wheelwells on the car. We couldn’t believe the number of people out and about, operating their “stores” right alongside the roadway. After travelling through the Western Cape of South Africa, through Namibia, and Botswana, Mozambique definitely appears to be a third-world country.
Luckily, a delicious chicken dinner was prepared for us, savoured with a couple of glasses of South African Shiraz (dinner for two with drinks for under $30). We had another early night since we were mobile again in the morning – destination: Tofo.
Cheers,
Lisa n Fred
frednlisa