Day 3: Skukuza to Olifants

Wednesday 29th July 2009

We had a long way to drive (Skukuza to Olifants) which meant an early morning start - much to Izzi's annoyance. The tent had become very cold by 05:30 too, so the walk to the "communal ablutions block" was a bit of a challenge. Other happy campers were sound asleep by the time we left, and we were impressed by the "high level" accommodation provided by the tents mounted on top of Land Rovers.



We decided to have a quick breakfast at the cafeteria, and were met by a couple of hardy travellers and a group of vervet monkeys.




We then headed north out of Skukuza on the main road towards Tschokwane, a picnic site approximately half way to Satara camp. On the way we saw more FGBBs, helmeted guinea fowl, impala, warthog and hippo. We witnessed two hippo fighting, but unfortunately it was a very long way away. We also saw leopard, buffalo and lion (none of which I managed to photograph) which allowed us to notch off the first three of The Big Five.





We made a detour to one of the many watering holes en route, and saw a rather amusing indication of the relationship between the hammerkop and the hippo. The birds were flying low over the water, apparently looking for somewhere to land. Occasionally, a hippo would surface, and the aforementioned bird would take advantage!



By this point our stomachs were grumbling, and it was definitely time for "second breakfast". We stopped off at Tschokwane, revelling in the delights of French toast with syrup for Izzi, and Boerworst plus Kuduworst for Harriet and me. We weren't the only animals enjoying breakfast, however: there were glossy starlings and hornbills cleaning up after the humans, and yet more vervet monkeys helping themselves to anything which wasn't being guarded properly!




Feeling suitably replenished, we then set off for Satara. On the way we made the odd detour, and stumbled upon a troop of chacma baboons - including the newest addition and what looked the "old man" of the clan.



At another watering hole, just by the side of the main road, we were lucky enough to spend about half an hour watching a large bull elephant having a bath. By this time it was mid-day and I was photographing straight into the sun - as a result the contrast range was absolutely huge. I tried processing the following pictures in colour, but there was a terrible colour cast in the shadows (when was the last time you saw a blue elephant?). As a result, I've converted the images to monochrome. Once bathed, he climbed out of the water and spent several minutes rubbing himself against a tree: something he obviously enjoyed enormously, as the last couple of images clearly show. Now we know why the elephant is deemed to be one of The Big Five! Speaking of which, this was "number four" in our collection for the day: only the white rhino to go...





We arrived at Satara (a beautiful camp which, unfortunately for us, was fully booked) about 2.00, and it was time for "a little something". Izzi tucked into lamb curry, while Harriet and I had a cake and a drink each. I got severely told off by one of the rangers for "accidentally" dropping some crumbs from my rock cake into the vicinity of a variety of birds which had gathered around my feet. Slapped wrists, and a potential R2500 fine. Oops...



Also in the gardens at Satara was the first fever tree we'd seen while travelling north. Absolutely beautiful (and found in plenty of places other than the great, grey-green, greasy Limpopo), and with the most astonishing roots.



Onto the final part of the journey - the relatively short leg from Satara to Olifants. We saw a whole load more elephant on the way, initially walking in a train parallel to the road, and then crossing just in front of us. One of the adolescent bulls decided to display for us, which was pretty impressive. It was at quite a distance, though, so we were in absolutely no danger.



Then, finally, we managed to spot the final animal of our Big Five set: a white rhino was grazing quietly, very close to the side of the road. Rather graceful, for such a large animal, and beautiful in the late afternoon light.


Just before the gates of the camp closed, we stopped for a while on the bridge over the Olifants river. Impressive enough in itself, and wide enough for it to be safe to get out of the car and stretch one's legs; but, on this occasion, it was made extra special because there was a family of elephant just below the parapet, munching their way through whatever they could find. The perspective was very strange, looking down on these huge animals, but the experience was absolutely breathtaking.




We entered the camp with a few minutes to spare, and then collapsed for a while. The restaurant was being rebuilt, so dinner was from the cafeteria: simple food, but extremely welcome. Unsurprisingly, we all had an early night...

Day 2: Skukuza

Tuesday 28th July 2009

We managed t0 prise Izzi out of bed slightly earlier on the second day, and set of for an early morning drive. We did see some wildlife, but not a great deal (thereby proving to Izzi that she could have stayed in bed after all). It was quite a good morning for birds: the crested francolin; red-billed hornbill (RBHB); korhaan (a small bustard); and a tree full of lappet-faced vultures. It's difficult not to think of Disney and The Jungle Book when it comes to vultures, with the resulting expectation they that they would, at some point, burst into song...




The korhaan wasn't the only animal to cause a traffic jam that morning. A giraffe and several impala were doing a fine job too; but everything cleared when we reached the zebra crossing (ducks and runs for cover at this point!). On a serious note, many of the larger animals were carrying oxpeckers, and there are two hitching a ride on this particular zebra.



A detour to a watering hole gave us our first sightings of water buck and wildebeest (in this case with a drongo in the background). We also got a better sighting of a steenbok, which is one of the smaller antelope and rather timid.



While driving on a dirt track through some trees, having seen very little for quite a while, there was an ear-splitting cry from my spouse: stop - there's a ****ing great big bird! The bird in question (subsequently known as an "FGBB" for obvious reasons) was, in fact, a ground hornbill. It's about the size of a turkey and, although it can fly, it's mainly a ground dweller. Ground hornbills tend to walk around in family groups (there were four in this case, including a juvenile) and it's clear from the way they behaved that people have fed them from cars in the past. Not the most attractive birds in the world, but full of character - plus they do have wonderful eye-lashes!



We had to change accommodation from a rondavel to a tent, so the afternoon was spent unpacking, shopping, playing on the internet, downloading pictures etc. before getting well wrapped up for our first night drive of the trip.



The night drive set off at dusk, and we were lucky enough to see a pair of marabou stork roosting in a tree (how anyone could ever have mistaken them for butter completely beats me). Despite being ugly and ungainly birds, there was something rather fascinating about the way they were silhouetted against the sunset.




We were then taken by the ranger to an area where he hoped there were some big cats, and indeed we were lucky. First came a leopard, walking by the side of the road, which turned out to be pretty well impossible to photograph (my excuse anyway, hence the poor example below). Then came what we'd all been waiting for: a small group of lion, lounging around doing very little close to a watering hole. They didn't seem remotely worried by the searchlights on the truck or the occasional burst of light from a flashgun. Like all cats, domestic or otherwise, they simply yawned and settled down for a long hard snooze.




We then startled a couple of hippo which had gone for a quiet drink, and watched them as they walked off into the night.



Apart from a scrub hare and a fleeting glimpse of a bush baby, we saw very little else that night: so much so that the ranger had to improvise and start telling us about the stars in the southern sky in order to fill the time! On the drive back to the camp, though, we came across a lone hyaena by the side of the road.



It was very cold by the time we got back, so we warmed up by having a braai (barbecue) while listening to the rather strange and menacing noises coming from the bush, just a few yards away.