South Africa TravelBlogue (Part 9 – Safari Day Four & Panorama Route)

FRIDAY 11/23

The Big Five

Friday morning came much too quickly. It was my mom’s and my last day at Elephant Plains Game Lodge, a little piece of heaven on earth. In the days prior we had gone on five wonderful 3-hour game drives and our sixth and final game drive would begin at 5:30 am. So far we had been able to see four of The Big Five (water buffalo, leopard, elephant, lion) and we were just missing the rhinoceros. We had already spent hours looking for a very elusive white rhinoceros who constantly wandered in and out of the territory we were permitted to explore. My mom and I had high hopes that today would be the day we’d come face to face with the creature who seemed more like an airy ghost than a palpable megafauna.

GAME DRIVE 6

Shortly before 5:30 am my mom and I met up with our group in front of Willie’s Land Cruiser. Willie told us he and Connie had already been out tracking the rhino and we would head to his last known whereabouts first. Everyone kept their eyes peeled for any sign of the rhino. Willie and Connie pored over tracks from their respective vantage points and they even got out of the car to look for the rhino. Willie told us that rhinos are extremely endangered because they are poached for their horns. (The horns are typically shipped to Asia, ground to powder and used for medicinal purposes.) The estimated number of rhinos in South Africa is kept secret by researchers. Willie told us that poachers are willing to look for rhinos anywhere – even in private game reserves like Elephant Plains. No wonder this particular rhinoceros was so shy!

As we drove a long we spotted several termite mounds that looked a lot like a rhino. At one point I found myself staring at a warthog and for a moment I was convinced it was the rhino! The warthog held still for a moment and then ran off. Minutes later we slowed down and peered into a lot with relatively sparse vegetation where Connie had tracked the rhino. There, amongst the bushes and brush, stood the solitary rhinoceros. It was rather fitting to find him out in the open after searching for him for so long. Willie circled the vehicle around to get us closer. When the rhino came into view the second time Willie told us he would probably run away a short distance and then stop. Just as Willie predicted the rhino started to trot up the hillside before looking back at us and deciding to stop.  

My mom remarked that she never thought something so big could look so scared. After a short time the rhino relaxed a little and continued to walk along the road.

I can’t tell you how happy I was to be looking at a wild rhinoceros. Willie gave us an idea of how big his territory is and it was astonishing. Even though these animals live in daily peril I have a feeling they are much happier than animals in zoos. After seeing so many animals do their own thing in their own sprawling territory I felt like I never wanted to go to a zoo again. Then again what would the world be without zoos? When I was a kid I fell in love with giraffes at a zoo while I was visiting my great-grandparents in Colorado. After we left our rhino friend behind we came across a group of giraffes snacking on some thorny trees and I fell in love all over again.

Next up we were lucky enough to run into our four favorite female lions. We parked even closer to them than we had the day before. Willie told us that a lot of people go to lion sanctuaries where they are allowed to play with baby lions. He said that he would never want to touch a lion because they are quite stinky. We weren’t close enough to smell the lions but he said you never forget the smell. Lions are opportunistic hunters and if they have the chance they will kill more prey than they can eat in a single day. They will save the other carcass(es) and gradually feed on the meat even if it is four days old and rotten. Gross, right?

"Hey Willie, come smell my breath!"

 

Even though I loved looking at the lions we eventually had to move on. Willie listened to the rangers talking on his radio and heard that they had spotted his very favorite leopard, Moya. We drove over to her and watched her as she caught sight of some nearby impalas. Her body language told the whole story – she wanted to eat, she was excited to find a potential meal, she tried her best to stay hidden, and she had a hard time finding the perfect opportunity to strike.

The wind was not blowing in her favor and it carried her scent right over to the impalas. In response they set off their security system and started snorting warnings at each other. (It would have been disastrous for them if they had split up and run away in different directions the second they realized she was nearby. Someone definitely would have gotten iced.) They held their ground and showed me that maintaining a healthy level paranoia is better than succumbing to all-out panic.

Moya made a half-hearted run in their direction but she wasn’t able to bring any impalas down. She went back to scent-marking every plant in sight. I noticed she had the most striking blue-green eyes of any of the leopards we had seen. Maybe that is why she’s Willie’s favorite leopard.

The morning game drive was going great but time was also running out. I tried not to pay any attention to the clock on the dashboard. I knew time was winding down when Willie pulled off near a lagoon for our morning coffee break. He knew there were hippos in the water and he told us we could get out as long as we wouldn’t go past a certain log that lay parallel to the shoreline. That log happened to be the perfect perch for a lovely bird Willie called “a flying banana” – the yellow billed hornbill.

After our coffee break we got back into the Land Cruiser and slowly but surely made our way back to the lodge. The inevitable moment came when I had to leave the vehicle for good. Willie knew that this was the end of the road for me, my mom and a few others. He gave my mom a hug and he gave me one too. My first thought was, “Okay, I need to run to the bathroom and cry for a minute or two.” I walked over to the bathroom but there was already a line. There’s no crying in safari parks!

I walked back to the room and finished packing my things. My mom and I ate breakfast and then she went to the front desk to review our final bill. When I got to the office my mom said, “Look what they gave us.” She handed me a laminated certificate with my name on it. It was even signed by Willie. My immediate thought was, “I’m totally going to frame this.” I have yet to do so but here it is in all its glory:

"This is to certify that Amber spotted the BIG 5 while on safari at Elephant Plains Game Lodge, South Africa" : )

After leaving an entry in the guest book we very sadly rolled our suitcases to our rental car. My mom was a little nervous about getting lost on the way out or hitting rough patches in the road. When we got back to Gowrie Gate we found a shuttle driver who agreed to let us follow him. My mom followed his path around each pothole and over each shady-looking dip. It saved us a lot of time because we could see what his vehicle could handle and we knew how fast we could go as a result. Once we got to the main road we parted ways. My mom and I had to drive to the Avis office in Hazyview in order to get our flat tire repaired. (The spare one was already on the vehicle so we really needed to get the original tire put back on in case anything happened.)

It took us two or three hours to get to Hazyview. We talked to an Avis employee and he sent the tire out to be fixed. (It had been punctured by a screw.) It took about an hour but we used the time to eat lunch at one of the tourist-friendly restaurants. (There were only tourist-friendly restaurants, for the record. The town is located near a Kruger National Park entrance and it’s definitely a tourist hot spot.) After our tire was securely reinstalled we set out for the tiny town of Graskop. 

On our way to Graskop my mom was pulled over for speeding. Actually, she was waved off the road by a female traffic cop who was standing on the side of the road with a radar gun. The whole situation was kind of fishy. First the cop said that she clocked us at one speed, then she said she clocked us at another. When my mom insisted she wasn't speeding at all the cop just kind of shrugged her shoulder and said, "Let me see your license." I was starting to think that the cop's "radar gun" was phony or maybe it had dead batteries. The great thing was the cop must have had no way to process my mom's license because as soon as she realized we were foreigners she let us leave. Lucky us!

This final chapter of our trip involved seeing part of the Panorama Route, spending Friday night in Graskop, seeing more of the Panorama Route, and then driving to the Johannesburg Airport on Saturday.

PANORAMA ROUTE

The Panorama Route is a long scenic route with several viewpoints and interesting natural landmarks. Each viewpoint has a small entrance fee. The gates to each viewpoint close at 5 pm. Unfortunately we only had time for one viewpoint before closing time. Even though time was limited we were very happy to have “The Three Rondavels” practically to ourselves. Better still, the skies were clear enough for us to see a wonderful expanse of the Blyde River Canyon. If it had been cloudy we would have been a little sad.

At 5 pm we set out to find the B&B where we’d be staying the night. We had a little trouble reading the map and we ended up calling the owner in order to find it. (We were glad my mom’s iPhone was unlocked which allowed her to buy a micro SIM card and get a local South Africa phone number.) When we saw the brown and white landmark sign for “Zur Alten Mine Guest Farm” we were relieved and delighted.

ZUR ALTEN MINE GUEST FARM (http://www.zuraltenmine.co.za/en/home.php)

Zur Alten Mine Guest Farm was ridiculously idyllic. I mean, seriously pastoral. It was an entirely different scale of beauty compared to Elephant Plains Game Reserve. The craziest thing about it is that we had our very own Log Chalet for about $40 dollars per night. Can you believe that? I can’t tell you how badly I want to go back there.

Before I jump too far ahead, though, I should tell you that we drove to reception and met the owners. They were an extremely pleasant German couple with a small troop of dogs and cats.

After we checked in we drove up to the log cabin where one of the owners showed us around. He also gave us a list of restaurants where we could eat dinner. We chose The Glass House in Graskop. The restaurant owner sold me on ordering their catch of the day which was a river trout I wouldn’t be able to find in any other part of the world. The only unfortunate thing it is was served with its head, tail and fins intact. I always have a hard time ignoring shriveled eyeballs when I’m eating. Oh well, it was still great!

In truth, the most difficult thing to keep off my mind was the fact that there were 20-odd lucky you-know-whats who were still at Elephant Plains enjoying an evening game drive. For several days after leaving Elephant Plains I would look at the clock and become wistful if I knew guests were on a game drive at that time. I can’t tell you how many times I dreamed that I was back on one of those vehicles looking at those awesome animals. I miss them so badly.

When my mom and I went to sleep on Friday night my suitcase was all packed for the long journey home. I hoped that my mom and I would still have plenty of fun before we had to check in at the Johannesburg Airport at 6 pm.

TO BE CONTINUED!

South Africa TravelBlogue (Part 8 - Safari Day Three)

THURSDAY 11/22 Thanksgiving in Africa

My mom and really had a blast on safari. By now my mom and I were total pros at going to sleep at 9 pm and waking up at 5 pm. The trouble at this point of the trip was facing the fact that we only had three game drives left. I was already dreading the fact that we’d have to leave Elephant Plains Game Lodge the following day. We had bidden Louis and Fanoti farewell the night before. They had already worked for six weeks straight and they were due for a two week period of leave. That meant we’d meet our new ranger and tracker at the crack of dawn.

Willie & Connie

We headed out to the Land Cruisers at 5:20 and met Willie and Conny. They were very friendly and took time to shake each guest’s hand as they arrived and climbed into the vehicle. Willie was very soft spoken and Connie was even more so. Willie asked us a question that made my heart race, “Did you guys hear the lions last night?”

The lions (just like all of the other animals) are free to come and go as they please. Unfortunately they had decided to wander off the property two days before my mom and I arrived. There was no way to know when they’d come back so my mom and I had prepared ourselves for the possibility of seeing zero lions on our trip. Willie’s simple question changed everything.

Willie said that the lions were calling to each other all night long. He had a good idea of what area they were in and we set out right away.

GAME DRIVE 4

After driving for a few minutes (and carefully scanning the road ahead) Willie and Connie agreed to stop the car and start tracking on foot. The most suspenseful part of our trip was watching Willie and Connie walk farther and farther away from the car until they were both out of sight.

It didn’t help that Willie took the rifle with him. My mom, unknowingly quoting Jurassic Park, exclaimed, “He left us!”

I can't wait to see this movie in 3D next year!

Just under ten minutes later another tracker emerged from the bush. We didn’t recognize him but he smiled and said he had been told to come get us. We looked at him peculiarly but it wasn’t because he was a stranger to us. It was because he didn’t have a gun. He only had a slingshot!

He hopped in the driver seat, smiling broadly as ever, and drove us over to where Connie and Willie were waiting. (These guys truly have an amazing sense of direction and they know the area inside and out. Willie later told us he knew every single tree on the property and Connie would be able to find him based on a tree description alone.) The tracker then walked back to his own vehicle which was waiting nearby. Up ahead we saw a very welcome, much anticipated sight: four adult lionesses.

I can’t tell you how great it was to just stare and stare and stare and these four beauties. Willie told us that this group (part of the the Breakaway Tsalala pride) was made up of two pairs of sisters. One pair of sisters had been adopted by the mother of the other two sisters and all four were raised as siblings. One of the lionesses had been pregnant and given birth in the past but her cubs didn’t make it. Willie told us that raising lion cubs is very difficult and it can take a few tries before an adult female successfully raises cubs to adulthood. This particular lioness was pregnant again and the rangers are hoping she will have healthy and thriving cubs in a few months.

The morning continued to build great momentum. We unexpectedly came across a big 12-year-old male elephant. He wasn’t very temperamental. In fact he was a pretty good poser.

It was good to have everyone in the car together again. “Safety in numbers” is a common theme in the animal kingdom and humans are no exception. Neither are hyenas, for that matter.

One of the great unexpected surprises during our time at Elephant Plains was seeing a dazzling array of birdlife. We saw several types of eagles. There were also many wonderful small, colorful birds. When we came across this saddleback stork our jaws pretty much dropped.

We were still riding the “lion high” when a call came in over the radio that there was an Africa wild dog sighting. Willie told us that African wild dog sightings are extremely rare. He knows people who have been in his profession for as many as 15 years who have never seen a wild dog. It was our choice if we wanted to drive out to the sighting for a chance to see them. Doing so would mean we’d have to drive there at top speed and not stop to look at any of the common animals we had seen thus far (impalas, zebras, water bucks, etc.) We agreed to go for it and Willie shifted into “Ferrari Safari” mode.

The ride there was a total thrill. We had to drive as fast as possible for nearly 30 minutes before we arrived at the sister lodge where the dogs had been spotted. (Willie joked that this was all a ploy to get us to sign up for spa services – we’d certainly need some R&R after the crazy ride!) We met up with two other vehicles and one of the rangers told Willie the dogs had just run off. They were chasing baby impalas all over the place and they had already killed and eaten six of them. Willie decided to search along the far side of the lodge. We spotted a lot of stranded impalas who had been separated from their groups. One of the females even had a fresh wound on her hip. Willie said, “Ah, she’s not happy. She’s just been chased.”

We carefully scanned the tall grass in the area but we didn’t see anything. Willie got another call on the radio, listened carefully for a moment, and then whipped us around in the opposite direction at full speed. A minute or two later we found one of the other vehicles holding still with all of the passengers craning at the grass nearby. The first thing I noticed was fur with orange, black and white splotches. There was also a flurry of fluffy white tails and a few pairs of round black ears. We had found a dozen wild dogs and they were in the process of splitting up their freshest impala carcass.

Luckily the baby impala had been decimated and it just looked like the dogs were playing with leftover ribs from the dinner table. Wild dogs are extremely successful hunters (they kill 90% of the prey they pursue) yet for some reason their population has dwindled greatly over the last several years. Wild dog packs are led by an alpha female and an alpha male. They are the only pair that reproduces in the pack. One wild dog litter can contain 12 pups. The pack will create a den while they collectively raise the pups. Everyone in the group gets along as long as they cooperate and are willing to play a begging game to share pieces of food with each other. The sad thing is that if either the male or female alpha is killed (or if they are both killed) the pack will soon after split apart, wander off and die. Perhaps that is why their numbers are endangered.

These small dogs are beautiful and even though they have a small build similar to most medium-sized dogs, they would make terrible pets. Make no mistake – these dogs are efficient and brutal hunters. Once they get a hold of prey they simply rip it apart. My mom told us that a toddler had been tragically killed by wild dogs at an exhibit at the Pittsburgh Zoo earlier in November. While it may have been exciting to see the dogs actually take down an impala in front of us I was somewhat relieved to not see them in action. 

We left the dogs behind and started to make our way back to our lodge. We immediately spotted a group of wildebeest and Willie told us that one of the wildebeest was in labor. The rangers had made it abundantly clear just how dangerous it was to be a baby animal in the wild. Even though the wild dogs were a few hundred yards away this group of wildebeest seemed perfectly safe. I looked at the female in labor and realized the umbilical cord was visible. Much to his surprise Willie spotted the calf on the ground and pointed it out to us.

The next few minutes were just spectacular. The baby wildebeest made one or two attempts to stand up. It is extremely important for newborn animals to be up and on their feet within minutes or else their odds of survival plummet. (Baby giraffes have to stand up within 15 minutes or their mothers will leave them behind.) This wildebeest mother stood close and encouraged her baby to try again.

Once the baby got on its feet and took its first steps the others came over immediately to meet him. It was one of the greatest moments of our trip.

After the game drive was over we had several hours of down time. I spent at least an hour watching two crested barbets putting on a show to attract females. They were very loud and they waited very patiently with food in their beaks. I was reading my mom’s safari companion book and eventually fell asleep.

After I woke up I wandered around the lodge taking pictures so I wouldn’t forget how beautiful everything was. My mom and I also took advantage of the movie room and we watched an episode of National Geographic’s “Great Migrations.”

The morning game drive was thrilling and we were pumped for the evening game drive. Willie knew that my mom and I had seen four of The Big Five (leopards, water buffalo, elephants and lions) and we were just missing the rhinoceros. Would tonight be the night we’d find one?

GAME DRIVE 5

The safari experience once again proved to be completely unpredictable. We spent a good deal of time tracking a rhino but his tracks eventually led to an adjacent private property which we were not allowed to enter. Along the way we saw another group of water buffalo. This group was a little more sightly than the mud-caked “old dagga boys” we had seen two days prior.

We had another great elephant encounter. A small group of elephants crossed our path. They were a bit difficult to photograph because they moved quickly and disappeared into the trees as fast as they had emerged. Regardless it was totally awesome to see them.

We saw many of our other common animal friends. Eventually we pulled off for our evening beverage break and chatted with our group. The biggest challenge of the game drives (besides drinking too much water and ignoring the fact that I had to go to the bathroom) was to curb any frustration I experienced when we had a relatively “slow” morning or night. It was very easy to assign blame to the person in charge (in this case Willie) but I had to constantly remind myself that he doesn’t control the animals and he is doing his absolute best to find them. Each staff member we interacted with had an obvious appreciation and respect for the animals. Willie emanated a real love for the animals and it was clear that this was his dream job.

THANKSGIVING DINNER

On Thursday night my mom and I enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with two other Americans who were seated to our left. The table to our right was empty for a while and then Willie and his wife came into the boma and sat there. (We had already raved about Willie to the woman who worked at the front desk without realizing she was his wife!) It was great to sit there and ask more questions about how he learned his tracking skills and what he liked to do on his time off. He had taken a one-year wildlife course to become a ranger. He picked up tracking skills over the past several years. “It’s something that only comes with experience.” He said there is nothing better than waking up at first light and setting out to find fresh tracks. However, the process of tracking is mentally exhausting. Just by looking at a partial leopard track he can tell which leopard he was tracking. (They all have names and known territories.) When it was finally time to go on leave he’d either head on a bass fishing trip, an excursion to Kruger National Park, or to his in-laws’ home. Visiting the in-laws, of course, was his last choice.

I had noticed one major difference between Louis (our previous ranger) and Willie: Louis always wore a radio ear piece and Willie never did. Instead Willie would just have the radio turned down low or turned off altogether. Willie told us he preferred to be out on his own as opposed to taking his car around to every major sighting that was called in over the radio. Seeing the animals was wonderful but finding them on his own made the victory even sweeter for him.

I supposed many, if not all, good things come to an end. Willie and his wife told us that eventually he’d have to find another job that paid better so they could raise a family. The thought of Willie having to give up being a ranger made the dread in my stomach well up. Tomorrow would be my mom’s and my last day on safari and there was no telling if we ever even be able to return to Africa. We were thankful for so many things but the only thing that would have made this trip better was the presence of my dad, sisters and brother-in-law. Even if all good things come to an end perhaps it is only to make room for great things. Maybe having a dream job or being on a dream vacation is just “good” in the grand scheme of things. I truly hope the best is yet to come.

TO BE CONTINUED!