Tales From the Chicken Bus

Day 245

We took full advantage of having a/c and a comfortable bed and slept in till the late hour of 9:30am today. We both felt refreshed and planned on doing some short drives around the camp today then a sunset safari drive through the park. We sat on our bungalows patio for breakfast, the heat once again was intense and I ate my cereal quickly so the milk wouldn’t get too warm.

Even though the chances of seeing animals were slim at this time of day, the heat just being too strong, we decided to go for a drive. Around Oliphants camp are small dirt roads that follow the river, we were headed there. We turned right off the tarred road and down a steep dirt track. The landscape was a bit greener here near the river and around some small streams. Mostly though they were dried up river beds. We spotted kudu, something that we didn’t see yesterday. A kudu is a large antelope with stripes on its side. We saw hippos in the river again and got closer to some giraffe than we did previously. Impala are everywhere here, there are over 200’000 in the park. We also spotted waterbuck near a waterhole and a steenbok. We drove for 2 hours and then returned to the camp. Its hard to get bored of driving around Kruger. You are pretty much guaranteed to see something every time you head out. Thing was we were happy about what wed seen but really wanted to see some big cats, yes we were getting greedy.
After an early dinner and a rest in our cool bungalow we were off on another safari drive with the park. This was a sunset drive and hopefully as the weather cooled we could spot some different wildlife. We drove off and for the first 20 minutes we saw nothing. The heat from the sun was still intense. Soon we came across a group of elephants with a very small baby. They were no more than 5 meters away and the baby was fascinating to watch. Always keeping very close to the mother and the mother always keeping a close eye on us. Our guide told us how you never get in between any elephants and a baby, they will charge you. Further on we spotted a wildebeest. A wildebeest is huge and has large horns, it was an impressive sight. On the other side of the road was a lone hyena at a watering hole. Being the first one we’ve seen it was exciting, the hyena just looks like a huge mangy mut, but could rip you apart. The hyena walked away from the water with his long neck slouched and head lowered. Moving on we stopped at a large watering hole where a waterbuck stood in the distance. We were about to leave and our driver pointed, “rhino”. Wow, this was one of the animals I just didn’t think we would see. A white rhino was far out just walking across the savanah. We took turns looking through our binoculars at the large horned animal.
We began to drive back as the sun went down and we spotted 2 more hyenas on opposite sides of the road. One was a bit in the distance but to our right was a hyena just off the road. He sat like a dog, leaning his head on his front paws and was literally on the shoulder of the road. So close to us I could have stretched out and almost touched him. We sat there just watching him, he never moved much and was un phased by our presence. Just as we were about to leave we heard a noise, lions in the distance. Our guide said he thought it was 2 or 3 but that they were far. Wow, even though we didn’t see them it was impressive to hear and know they were close. Our last sighting was easily the cutest. Sitting just off the road were 7 hyena cubs, small babies that looked just like puppy dogs. At this age hyenas are still cute. We may not have seen a big cat but it was a great drive and a beautiful sunset.

We returned to the camp as the wind began to gust. Strong blasts of wind that sounded like our roof was about to blow off. The heat from the day had tired us both out though and we quickly were asleep. We planned to be out of the camp by 5:30am for our last full day so a good sleep was in order.

Day 244

We spent last night in the town of Phalaborwa, just outside of the gate of Kruger National Park. From Jo’Burg it was an uneventful full day drive here along good highways. The driving really is easy here and it makes me regret not renting a car for other parts of South Africa. Phalaborwa is a bustling and prosperous town that benefits from its location right at one of the gates to the huge national park. By 7:30am the car was packed to go and we exited our air conditioned room into the already extreme heat of the day. It was easily 30 Celsius already and the forecast was highs near or into the 40’s.

Kruger National Park, the size of Israel was one place in Africa that we’d talked about visiting for years. Over 150 species of mammals live in the park, lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, rhino, buffalo, zebra, hyena, wildebeest and impala to name a few. The best part is that you can easily self drive through the park and stay at the several restcamps within Kruger. We entered the central section of the park through the Phalaborwa gate, paid our entrance fees and were given our permits. I started up the Yaris and we drove under the archway into Kruger National Park, we were on safari!

Not more than 10 minutes of driving did we come across a large group of impala, something we were to discover is very common here. We stopped took a bunch of photos and were surprised how easily we saw these impalas. “Look, an elephant!” I shouted as a large elephant moved across the road behind us. Another slowly strolled through the grassland not more than 10 meters from us. Wow, this was an incredible start we both thought. A further 30 minutes down the road we spotted lots more. Impala, zebra, hippos, waterbuck and then just past one of the restcamps we came across a group of about 60 buffalo. Believe it or not but the buffalo is one of the most dangerous animal in Africa. They will attack unprovoked, especially old males. We slowly drove right by the huge buffalo as they lay in whatever shade they could find. Most were just off the road and not phased at all by our presence. The day was going great and surpassed my expectations already. I mean we spoke to people who said the wildlife viewing was great but you just don’t believe it till you actually are here.

Just before Oliphants restcamp, our stop for the night we came across a giraffe. A giraffe is a funny creature, such an odd comical animal it was incredible to see this one in the wild and so close. He was eating leaves from a shade while trying to shelter himself from the sun. Such elegant looking animals giraffes, I could watch their graceful movements all day. We arrived at the Oliphants camp shortly after 10am. The camp is fenced in with high electrical wire, finally though it was not to keep out criminals but lions! Sitting on a cliff with the wide rocky Oliphant river way below the camp has an incredible setting. We found our bungalow and cranked on our air conditioning. “This heat is ridiculous!” Jordana commented as we unloaded our stuff from the car. I agreed, I’m not sure I have felt heat like this before. With no breeze and not a cloud in sight it was easily 40 Celsius and not even noon. Even the staff said it was hot. The Oliphant camp is a beautiful place complete with restaurant and a well stocked shop. Unfortunately the main restaurant was closed for renovations but the fast food counter was open. We both had a fish burger and veggie burger while we tried to stay cool.

We bought popsicles and went to the shaded viewpoint to sit on some benches. With an absolutely amazing view of the river and surrounding savannah we hoped to spot some animals from here. Far below in the river we could see hippos in the water and one even walking across a shallow section. We could even hear there snorting and grunting. As good as it was we were absolutely roasting, even sitting in the shade was unbearable so we returned to rest in our cool room for a while.

At nightfall we signed up for a night safari drive organised by the park. The advantage of this is the high height of the vehicles, much easier to spot animals. Also after 6:30pm the gates of the camp close and nobody other than these vehicles is allowed on the roads. As we waited to depart we had our third popsicles of the day to cool off. Bridgeman, our guide and driver introduced himself, switched on a bright spotlight and off we went. There were three other lights along the sides of the truck to spot animals with. We started the drive and soon spotted some hippos in a valley that were out of the water. They were munching away and were quite a sight, during the day they are always submerged in the water. Next we saw some elephants and of course impala. Impala are everywhere in Kruger. Unfortunately the drive wasn’t that successful and the only other new things we saw were a gennet, a small cat that looks like a mongoose, a spring hare and a bush hare. The spring hare is hilarious, picture a rabbits body with mini kangaroo legs. The bush hare is just a plain old rabbit. That was it. We pulled back into camp after 2 hours and the driver apologised about the slow night, wasn’t his fault. I figured it might have something to do with the weather. It was now after 10pm and the temperature was still in the 30’s. I’m lazy in this heat as well. So lazy in fact that we walked right back to our very cold room and crashed for the night. We were more than thankful for the a/c on this night.

Day 242 We spent yesterday hanging out in the trendy Melville area of Jo'Burg and booking some travel plans. This part of Johannesburg was certainly not the bad you always read about. It was full of independent shops, great ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 240 "52 murders a day, a rape every half hour and a car theft every nine minutes", those are the nationwide South Africa crime statistics and the majority of those occur in Johannesburg. I read this as we drove ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 239 We arrived in the Drakensberg yesterday to glorious weather and a stunning view of the tallest mountains in Southern Africa. A large area of grasslands led out behind the backpackers lodge towards the mountains. The sunset across ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 237 Jordana and I slept in to about 9am this morning, it feels good to have a day where we don't have to be up at 6am for a bus or be ready for a tour. We walked over ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 236 We arrived in Durban late last night and checked into the Hippo Hide hostel. A decent place who's selling feature is the pool. Durban is a large city of 4 million on the coast that has a ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 233 As I peaked out our window I saw the rain falling. It made leaving this wonderful place a bit easier. Although not in the sense that the "road" out of here was now turned into a river ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 233 I thought about changing my breakfast order this morning to yogurt and fruit but the veggie sausage is just so good. We sat outside for breakfast in the cool morning air while we stared at the rollings hills ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 232 As much as there is to do here at Bulungula it is also a fantastic place to just kick back for a day of relaxation. With no cars, no electricity, no tv's and no crime and beautiful beaches ... [Continue reading this entry]