We spent our first night on the road on my uncles farm who took us to a cattle auction and to check out some cattle he was considering buying. We left with sunrise the next morning to get to kruger with enough time to have a little evening drive. On the way we passed beautiful little villages and lovely little farms and forests. We did get lost every 5 minutes, for often the signs would be mounted not on the crossing, but around the corner, considering you guessed right. Or they would no longer exist.. or be pointing the wrong direction, which locals will comment on with a “ooh yes, that old thing, been like that for years.. I take it your foreigners?”
But, nevertheless, we made it with more than enough time to set up camp, have lunch and go for a game drive, where we spotted a group of lion in the bushes. Next day, (as following days) we got up at 5am to be out of camp when the gates open at 5.30. After a very long and frustrating drive (we missed our turn off and spent an extra hour driving through an area completely desolated of game) we arrived in our second camp, Lower Sabi. This camp was especially nice because it had a water hole 100 meters away from the gate, so you could spend your time up to literally the last minute at the water hole, watching hippo and crocs in the water and impala coming in to drink at sundown. Thanks to fate, there were no ATMs in this camp, and instead of leaving straight for our next camp the following day, we D-toured to a camp with ATM, and spotted both Lion and Leopard on our way there. Fantastic sighting of Leopard. Our camp for that night was Satara, in which you can camp directly on the fence surrounding the camp, giving you a beautiful view onto the surrounding bushvelt. We fixed supper and ate without lights, for the moon and stars are so bright you can see well enough without. After finishing supper and washing up, we lit our torches and woah.. Suddenly your surrounded by glowing eyes in the dark, just on the other side of the fence.. Obviously there were more mouths waiting for supper than just ours.. Hyena patrol the fences after sundown, hoping to catch a scrap or two or like some dishes.. All through the night until early in the morning you hear their scuffling and calling right next to the tent..
The next day we did not spot anything to interesting, until we just gave up and sat at a waterhole for a couple of minutes. A good idea, for that is exactly the time a heard of Elephant with a tiny baby stopped for a drink. But, as always when there is something interesting to be seen, a herd of tourists in 4x4 all inclusive vehicles plus driver and butler move in, blocking the view and oohing and aahing so much the animals decide this is not quite the most peaceful place it used to be and move on. Yay. Of course, once you are on the same road as the 4x4s, this is inventible for the rest of the day.. We gave them a 5 minute start, hoping that they at least will be useful as extra eyes to spot animals in the bushes.. bad idea.. for they stop for every grasshopper and lizard.. Exasperated, we pull past them, and instead follow our friend we made at the waterhole, a young game ranger / wildlife photographer. We decided we liked him the moment he turned his car at exactly the right angle to get a good photo, not block our view, and give us enough space to escape, if the herd of elephant decide they are no longer vegetarians and develop a hunger for humans. As a photographer, the guy of course hauls out a camera which lens is longer than my entire arm. But, and here comes the second reason we decided to take him up into our little “like” group, his “car” reminded us a lot of our Eastern Cape cars, hardly big enough to fit him and his camera, screeching and groaning when he tries to persuade it to jump to life, and decorated with enough dents and scratches, I don’t think I want to know how many angry Elephants he ran into with it.
Where was I.. yes, we see he has stopped and we take it this must be something more important than an Insekt. And low and behold, there they were, the most adorable and worried looking Hyena pups, lying right next to the road, waiting for Mom to return with food. We spent some time watching them dis- and reappearing over and over again until the 4x4 clan had enough of photos and moved on.
Sadly, that was our last night in Kruger. No more cats on the drive to the gate, but a nice spotting of Giraffe at a waterhole, something we have not seen yet. Oh, and we managed to escape death by an inch when Elephants decided to charge us (not warn and flap their ears, but actually CHARGE us) from three different directions. Something in the way our car ROOOOOOOOWWRs when we hit the wrong gear must of convinced them we weren’t going to be easy to kill (thank goodness), and they backed off with a lot of stamping and growling (yes, they can growl) just on time, it was close!!
We arrived at the dairy farm close to Haenertsberg that night, and sent the next day walking, talking to cats, drinking tea, hoping the world does not fall apart during a gigantic thunderstorm that moved in and listening to the chickens terrified “ooooooooooooooooooohs” after every lightning. Seems like the saying that chickens think the sky will fall on their head is true..
We left Haenerstsberg on the 31st (Happy birthday, mom) and drove back to Pretoria, where dear friends of my parents invited us to come with them for the weekend to their little property set in the middle of a little game/nature reserve just outside Pretoria. Had a lovely evening and great live entertainment for a guy named Eric, who accompanied us and by the way build the little house of theirs, who has the most hysterical sence of humour.
Now where back in Pretoria, spending our last few days pigging out and catching up on mails, oh, and chasing after tourist markets for last minutes presents.
Xx b&j
But, nevertheless, we made it with more than enough time to set up camp, have lunch and go for a game drive, where we spotted a group of lion in the bushes. Next day, (as following days) we got up at 5am to be out of camp when the gates open at 5.30. After a very long and frustrating drive (we missed our turn off and spent an extra hour driving through an area completely desolated of game) we arrived in our second camp, Lower Sabi. This camp was especially nice because it had a water hole 100 meters away from the gate, so you could spend your time up to literally the last minute at the water hole, watching hippo and crocs in the water and impala coming in to drink at sundown. Thanks to fate, there were no ATMs in this camp, and instead of leaving straight for our next camp the following day, we D-toured to a camp with ATM, and spotted both Lion and Leopard on our way there. Fantastic sighting of Leopard. Our camp for that night was Satara, in which you can camp directly on the fence surrounding the camp, giving you a beautiful view onto the surrounding bushvelt. We fixed supper and ate without lights, for the moon and stars are so bright you can see well enough without. After finishing supper and washing up, we lit our torches and woah.. Suddenly your surrounded by glowing eyes in the dark, just on the other side of the fence.. Obviously there were more mouths waiting for supper than just ours.. Hyena patrol the fences after sundown, hoping to catch a scrap or two or like some dishes.. All through the night until early in the morning you hear their scuffling and calling right next to the tent..
The next day we did not spot anything to interesting, until we just gave up and sat at a waterhole for a couple of minutes. A good idea, for that is exactly the time a heard of Elephant with a tiny baby stopped for a drink. But, as always when there is something interesting to be seen, a herd of tourists in 4x4 all inclusive vehicles plus driver and butler move in, blocking the view and oohing and aahing so much the animals decide this is not quite the most peaceful place it used to be and move on. Yay. Of course, once you are on the same road as the 4x4s, this is inventible for the rest of the day.. We gave them a 5 minute start, hoping that they at least will be useful as extra eyes to spot animals in the bushes.. bad idea.. for they stop for every grasshopper and lizard.. Exasperated, we pull past them, and instead follow our friend we made at the waterhole, a young game ranger / wildlife photographer. We decided we liked him the moment he turned his car at exactly the right angle to get a good photo, not block our view, and give us enough space to escape, if the herd of elephant decide they are no longer vegetarians and develop a hunger for humans. As a photographer, the guy of course hauls out a camera which lens is longer than my entire arm. But, and here comes the second reason we decided to take him up into our little “like” group, his “car” reminded us a lot of our Eastern Cape cars, hardly big enough to fit him and his camera, screeching and groaning when he tries to persuade it to jump to life, and decorated with enough dents and scratches, I don’t think I want to know how many angry Elephants he ran into with it.
Where was I.. yes, we see he has stopped and we take it this must be something more important than an Insekt. And low and behold, there they were, the most adorable and worried looking Hyena pups, lying right next to the road, waiting for Mom to return with food. We spent some time watching them dis- and reappearing over and over again until the 4x4 clan had enough of photos and moved on.
Sadly, that was our last night in Kruger. No more cats on the drive to the gate, but a nice spotting of Giraffe at a waterhole, something we have not seen yet. Oh, and we managed to escape death by an inch when Elephants decided to charge us (not warn and flap their ears, but actually CHARGE us) from three different directions. Something in the way our car ROOOOOOOOWWRs when we hit the wrong gear must of convinced them we weren’t going to be easy to kill (thank goodness), and they backed off with a lot of stamping and growling (yes, they can growl) just on time, it was close!!
We arrived at the dairy farm close to Haenertsberg that night, and sent the next day walking, talking to cats, drinking tea, hoping the world does not fall apart during a gigantic thunderstorm that moved in and listening to the chickens terrified “ooooooooooooooooooohs” after every lightning. Seems like the saying that chickens think the sky will fall on their head is true..
We left Haenerstsberg on the 31st (Happy birthday, mom) and drove back to Pretoria, where dear friends of my parents invited us to come with them for the weekend to their little property set in the middle of a little game/nature reserve just outside Pretoria. Had a lovely evening and great live entertainment for a guy named Eric, who accompanied us and by the way build the little house of theirs, who has the most hysterical sence of humour.
Now where back in Pretoria, spending our last few days pigging out and catching up on mails, oh, and chasing after tourist markets for last minutes presents.
Xx b&j
