Sat May 18- We will spend the second part of our South Africa trip in and around the Kruger National Park to see the African bush and the famous wild animals. To break up the long drive from the Otter Trail to SA's north-west, we decided to spend a day in Golden Gate Highlands National Park. We left Graaff-Reinet after a true world-class breakfast at Aa'Qtansisi ("pancake-egg-sandwich") and drove for countless miles through the open African plains (Big Sky Country!). At 5 we arrived in the artsy town of Clarens where we stayed at the Rosewood Corner B&B. After settling in at this old-fashioned but charming place, we had dinner at the hopping German Bierstube. Super Deutsch bier und bratwurst!
Maurits in Golden Gate
Sun May 19- Today we enjoyed a break from all the car sitting! It was only a short distance to Golden Gate Highlands National Park, a small national park on the mountainous border of South Africa and Lesotho. At a rest camp inside the park we payed the park-entrance fee and received a hiking map. We quickly decided to walk the 4 hour loop to Wodehouse Peak (2,438m). A nice day walk with good views of the dry mountains around us. The terrain was open, with little vegetation, and in the distance we could spot blesboks and wildebeest! We had lunch on the summit and walked a different route back to our car. On the road again, we drove two scenic loops to see if we could spot any more wildlife. We got rewarded with a black-backed-jackal! To be honest we first thought it was some sort of dog, but a friendly co-motorist gave us the right name.
The jackal (black-backed)!
Back in Clarens we looked for a nice place to see the sun-set on the pretty red mountains, preferably with a cold beer in hand. But Clarens had emptied... Over the weekend there were many South African tourists, but now it was a ghost-town. We were lucky to find the Highlander open for dinner.
The red rock of Golden Gate
Mon May 20- Our second and last full day in the Hyundai i10 ("it feels bigger than it is!"). We drove from Clarens towards Kruger and stayed overnight in Lydenburg. Lydenburg is Dutch for 'suffer'-city and was named after the voortrekkers (explorers) suffering from malaria. The land beyond Lydenburg is the start of malaria-land and the sick would come back to Lydenburg to suffer.
South African foliage!
Unsure if the shorter route on back-roads would be safe, we took the longer route on the toll-highway via Jo'burg. We arrived at the lovely Aquaterra Guest House at 4. We would rate the place 5 stars, but there was no wifi! Luckily there was internet (what would we have done without?!?) at the grocery store where we shopped for the Olifants River Backpack Trail.
Laura Beth on top of Wodehouse Peak
Tue May 21- From Lydenburg it was a relative short drive to Kruger National Park. Around 1 we entered at Phalaborwa gate and safari-drove to Olifants Rest Camp. We immediately spotted a large pile of fresh dung. Shortly after we saw the culprit; olifants! Fifty pictures later we let the first of the "Big 5" be. The big 5 (elephant, buffalo, lion, rhino, leopard) are the most dangerous animals to hunt. Ever since hunting got out of fashion the term is now a tourist trap. We were thrilled to see a Kudu, but later heard that this animal was just "general game." We are such safari-novices... After the fun drive, we arrived at Olifants Rest Camp and checked into our rondavel (round hut). The rest camp is beautifully situated on top of a hill that overlooks the Olifants River. With our newly acquired binoculars, we sat outside our hut and checked out the wildlife at the river. We were impressed! We watched the gorgeous sunset, made dinner and packed our bags for the 4-day Olifants backpack trip.
Maurits and our first olifant!
Wed May 22- Olifants River Day 1
To quote the SANParks website: "Kruger’s wilderness walking trails are one of the park’s highlights. The trails are done in small groups (maximum eight people), guided by knowledgeable armed guides, and offer a superb opportunity for a more intimate experience of the bush than is possible in a vehicle ... [On] the strenuous four-day, three-night Olifants River Backpack Trail... there are no huts, and hikers must bring and carry their own tent, gas cookers and all provisions ... "
Elephant (big 5: number 1)
Just after 8am we left Olifants rest camp and were driven to the start of the trail. On board were our guides Janni and John and two other tourists; German father and son Reiner and Steffen. On the safari-drive to the start of the trail we would only stop for 'animals of special interest'. So we drove past impala, elephants, giraffe, and buffalo, but stopped for a hyena and cub. Our hike started where the Olifants river enters Kruger on the western edge of the park. We would walk about 50 kilometers east (downstream) back towards Olifants rest camp. Before we started walking we had a safety talk. We had to walk in single file behind our two armed guides and stay close together at all times. Given the fact that 98.5% of animal charges happen from the front, we had to keep our guides between us and the animals.
Single file hiking along the Olifants River
It was already warm by the time we started walking around 11. With the subtleness of a steam-train, we plowed through the bush towards the river. We walked at a high pace. With so many new things to see (hippo/nijlpaard/seekoei, giraffe, zebra), it was sometimes hard to keep up on the sandy river bank. We saw a lot of leopard tracks, but the leopard could hear us coming long before we could see it. However, we were still pleasantly surprised by the amount of animal activity! We had expected much less. It was quite a long walk during the heat of the day (the outdated SANParks website only mentioned 1 hour) and we arrived at 'camp' at 4. We setup the 4 tents very close together with the guides' tents on the outside for 'protection.' We made a campfire and cooked dinner beside a noisy hippo in the river trying to make us leave his territory. Definitely different to camp with lions and elephants making noise close by!
If you look closely you can see the zebra
In general the walk sounded more dangerous than it was. We had two excellent guides that made sure we were safe. Since crocodiles and hippos are dangerous, we could never go to the river alone. Our drinking water collection spot was always carefully selected and monitored before we filled up our waterbottle. We even needed to be guarded to wash ourselves! It certainly was a new experience washing-up under the protection of Janni and John with their rifles ready. Fun! At night, we were allowed to get out of the tent as long as we stayed close by- but if animals were around we should wake-up the guides. We felt safe because unless provoked or cornered, most animals will run as soon as they see us two legged predators.
Maurits at the 'campsite'
Thu May 23- Olifants River Day 2
Janni woke us at 5:15, well before the 6:15 sunrise. We packed up our dewy tent, enjoyed a sunrise coffee and left camp at 6:30. During the night lions had been making a lot of noise and we knew they were in the area. Not long after we left camp Janni heard lions 'calling' their friends. We made as little sound as possible - still considerable - and we were rewarded with two male lions that walked by on the other side of the river! An awesome sight! Very cool to see these two jungle-kings cruising by.
The two distant lions (big 5: number 2)
Around 9 we made breakfast and had a nice rest alongside the river. Besides the hippos we saw a few 'logs' (crocodiles) floating in the water. It was increible to be in the African wilderness and watch the wildlife so close at hand. The smell reminded Maurits of the Emmen zoo! We also saw many birds, including fish eagles and saddle-billed storks... and the ever noisy geese. The land along the Olifants River is a riverine area and consists of trees, shrub and thickets. We did walk through a lot of prickly and thorny bushes. Ouch! O yes, Maurits ripped his pants. Again...
Laura Beth and an olifant at the Olifants River
After our break, as we continued our walk, we had an 'event' that Janni had prepared us for. We walked up a small hill and surprised a buffalo! Buffalos tend to be aggressive and are very dangerous. The big old male (+/- 800 kg or 1750 lbs) had a hurt leg and was not impressed by our appearance. Maurits, walking last, was a little slow to understand, but the "Come here! Quick!!" did finally sink in. The 4 tourists huddled together behind Janni and John. With the rifles loaded and Janni screaming and waving, the old bull finally moved away. Quite the 'event' with Janni almost shooting the buffalo. We were relieved nothing bad happened and LB removed the fingers from her ears.
You do not want this buffalo charging at you! (Big 5: number 3)
After lunch we had yet another scary moment. Janni spotted human footprints. Humans - in this case possible poachers - are the most dangerous animals in Kruger. We were unaware that rhino poaching is (still) a huge problem. The incorrect belief that the rhino's horn has medicinal value makes it a wanted item and one kilo of horn fetches around 75,000 US$. There are a lot of initiatives to stop the poaching, but the Kruger area is the size of Israel and there are only 600 soldiers to protect it. Given the regular firefights between the poachers and the army, we had to be careful not to accidentally bump into them. In the end Janni and John believed the footprints belonged to another park-ranger and they removed their bullets from the chamber.
It should have been the called the Hippos River!
Tired after this long day we setup camp on a sandy river bank. Under the watchful eye of our armed guards, we had a wash in the Olifants River. With the sun setting, we had fun searching the opposite bank of the river for wildlife with our new binoculars. We were rewarded with hippo, buffalo, bushbock, kudu, waterbock, impala, fish-eagle and more.
Sunrise over the Olifants
Fri May 24- Olifants River Day 3
By our executive decision we made breakfast before we left - hot porridge tastes best during the cold morning. John was quite impressed by our efficient operation packing up and making breakfast. After 11 months we have become a great team! We left once again just after sunrise. Soon the sun got warmer so we stopped to take off some layers. While we were chatting by the riverbank, a hippo came storming out of a dry river bed and ran into the river. We got quite a scare, but thanks to our guides we had stopped in a safe spot, near a rocky area. Hippos spend the night grazing alongside the river and are usually back in the river before sunrise, but this one was late. The speed of the hippo was impressive though! Luckily it did not run into us!
This was the hippo that ran by
The animal activity was low for the rest of the day. We did see a buffalo skeleton that had died of 'natural' anthrax. Very few anthrax spores can kill a buffalo and usually a large part of the herd dies. In this case the skeleton was still in one piece, which indicates that there were more carcasses than the scavengers (vulture, hyenas, etc.) could eat.
Protection
About 18 months ago a big flood had destroyed much of the riverbank and the leftover flood debris was high above our heads still stuck in the trees. We walked mostly on 'beach sand,' which was pretty hard going in the hot sun! We were happy to have a siesta in the shade of the trees before we setup our camp. Around our to-be camp there were fresh black rhino and lion tracks! Of course cool to be so close to these animals, but Janni made us set up our tents really close together. Apparently you don't want a black rhino stuck between tents and trampling the occupants.
Janni and Laura Beth breaking fast at the river
We had a great last night on the river chatting around the campfire. It was a brilliant full moon and we could see fine without a torch. Unfortunately for the rhinos this is called "dead moon" and according to Janni at least a dozen rhinos would be killed this night...
Laura Beth alongside the Olifants
Sat May 25- Olifants River Day 4
We had an easy last day with only 5 kilometers to walk. We took our time and during our last rest we saw two male hippos battle over a piece of river real-estate. Around 9 we arrived at the end of the trail; a dirt road where we got picked up. The driver that arrived had a nice cold beer waiting for us!
Our guides John (left) and Janni
In general, the walk itself was not that difficult. The heat was probably the biggest challenge. During the day the mercury rose to max 28C, but it felt hotter in the sun. The dry air made the night actually quite cool and comfortable for sleeping.
Hippo battle !!
The trek was an amazing experience and it definitely beat our expectations. It is hard to capture the noises, smells, temperature, and tension of the bush from a vehicle. We learned so much from our guide Janni, who was an excellent guide and tracker. Even though we never saw a leopard, by analyzing the tracks Janni was able to create a picture of the animal's movements. All in all very memorable!
Leopard tracks (big five: number 4)
During the trek we had decided to spend the next 2 days in southern Kruger and see more wildlife instead of hiking in the Blyde River Canyon. Back at Olifants Rest Camp we safari-drove to Satara Rest Camp where we would camp for 2 nights. Apparently there was a promotional camping rate for South Africa's senior citizens and the campsite was packed with huge setups! We had to beg for a campsite. But there was still plenty of room for our little tent and even smaller car. The campsite was peaceful and people went to bed early. At night however there was snoring from every caravan! Sort of funny.
Giraffe - LB's favorite!
Sun May 26- Kruger National Park
A new day and another early rise! We had signed up for a guided morning walk in the Satara area and left the camp at 5:30. The Satara area is savanna and this open land makes it ideal for the grazing animals like zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, impala and more. We went on a 3 hour walk with two guides and 4 other tourists. Besides the 'general game,' we saw 3 white rhinos! It was an enjoyable walk with a lovely sunrise and the openess made for excellent wildlife watching.
Rhino (big 5: number 5)
Back at camp we first did some washing before going on a self-drive-safari in the Satara area. What we had not realized before is the variety of landscape in the Kruger park; from dense forest to open savanna. The scenery was beautiful and the animals made it of course even better.
Yellow-billed hornbills (aka Zazu)
In the evening we went on a guided night-drive. Within Kruger, private vehicles are only allowed on the roads between 6am and 5:30pm. In theory, the night drive is good for spotting nocturnal animals. However, this particular drive was rather bad. There was no guide on board, just a driver. There were 3 spotlights in the vehicle which were operated by the people who happened to sit next to one. Whenever anyone saw eyes reflecting in the spotlight half the bus would yell "Stop!" and then "Back!!" to make the bus reverse to see if it was anything interesting. At times this was comical, but overall it was highly annoying and we did not see anything noteworthy.
Springbokkies / Impala
Mon May 27- Kruger National Park
Apparently, overnight a pride of lions had made a kill just outside the rest-camp fence. Because of the loud snoring in camp, we both had ear plugs in and missed the lions roaring nearby... After a morning cereal in our cooking pots, we set off driving south through the open plains of Kruger. One of the easiest ways to spot 'difficult' animals is to look for a group of parked cars. This did not let us down! In this way we spotted two cheetahs lazy in the sun. Beautiful animals! We were glad we had binoculars to see them closely. Fifteen minutes drive further down the road we were not as lucky... There had been a leopard laying in clear sight close to the road with it's impala kill. But just as we pulled up, (negotiating our way through many parked cars,) the big cat moved out of sight into a thicket of grass to escape the sun. Luckily we saw many other beautiful animals that day including: two large bull elephants fighting for territory, a gathering of giraffes drinking at the water, a group of large birds that we later learned are the endangered southern ground-hornbill, a huge herd of elephants (we think around 40) crossing the road, and many many impala, wildebeest, and zebra.
Cheetah! VERY zoomed in
We stopped at the Lower Sabie rest camp to look for wireless internet so we could book a place to stay for tonight. Unfortunately, there was no wireless, but there was a beautiful patio overlooking the river. We love wildlife watching with a cold beer! Our patio safari resulted in spotting an enormous crocodile, two bull buffalo, hippos, and many birds. We had slightly low expectations of Kruger National park before we visited, but the park certainly exceeded expectations.
An elephant taking a dust shower
Without a place to stay for the night, we left the park. We had hoped to find some internet and make a booking at the park exit. As we pulled into Hazyview at around 5 pm it was almost dark and most shops were already closed (so no internet!). We advise that driving around aimlessly in the dark is not the smartest idea in South Africa- especially given the many people running across the roads, driving without lights, etc. Needless to say, we were happy to find the local backpackers, Bushpackers, which even had a double room available. There was a beautiful Gecko lodge on the same property where we had a wonderful dinner and wine.
Kudu
Tue May 28- Shindzela day 1
Today we made our way to 'Shindzela tented safari camp,' where we would spend the next 4 nights. Shindzela is an all-inclusive private safari camp located in the Timbavati game reserve. The dirt road to get to the camp was, lets just say, quite an adventure for our little Hyundai i10 rental car. Luckily Maurits is an excellent driver and did not get the car stuck in the deep sand of the dry river beds.
LB on safari with elephants
The camp was amazing! It is an 'open' camp, meaning there is no fence and animals can wander through freely. Guests sleep in tents, but these are nothing like the small backpacking tent we have stayed in so many nights this year... The tents have a king-sized bed, bathroom with toilet and outside shower and shaded porch- all quite luxurious. The camp is located on 3500 hectares of private land that borders Kruger National Park; meaning that we were the only tourists viewing animals on this land- no need to jostle around other cars for a good view!
Roughing it in the tent
We arrived in time for lunch and the afternoon game drive in an open Land Rover. This first night there was a German couple also staying in camp. So the four guest sat in the back and Sam, an excellent guide and driver, took us out. The first half of the drive was fairly quiet. We watched hippos and impalas while enjoying a beautiful sunset. After a stop in the bush for a twilight beer and snacks, we resumed our drive as a night drive. Unlike in Kruger where a random tourist operated the spotlight, Sam did the spotting and driving with excellent skill.
Sam, LB and John (L to R) in the Land Rover
We had two great sightings. First a hyena that was walking towards us on the road and walked right next to our car. The second was a large elephant bull in musk. When a male elephant is in musk he has a 60x greater testosterone level, he is actively looking for a female mate, and he is generally much more aggressive. In the dark we slowly drove up to this large elephant and we must have shined the bright light into his eyes. Lets just say he was not happy and charged straight towards us. Imagine 12,000 pounds of testosterone running at you in the dark! Sam had anticipated that this animal might not be happy, so quickly had the throttle down in the reverse direction. This certainly got the adrenaline flowing!
Hyena
Wed May 29- Shindzela day 2
The wakeup call was at 5:30 so we could start the game drive at 6 as the sun was rising. The German couple decided to have a lazy morning before their departure today and we had the car to ourselves! For most of the morning we drove around without spotting many animals- so Maurits put the camera away... Then two white rhinos walked across the road in front of us. Since we were the only two guests, Sam got out his gun and we followed the rhinos into the bush on foot to get a better look. Unfortunately they were shy and ran off pretty quickly; still no photo! Sam had also spotted some fresh wild dog tracks and we searched around for the dogs. But wild dogs are fast moving animals and they had already left the area. In general, we had not visited Shindzela at the optimal animal viewing time. The rainy season had just ended, so the bush (grasses, shrubs, trees) was still thick. As the winter progresses the leaves will fall from the trees and the grasses will die out making it much easier to spot animals. The high season is July and August.
Evening beer from the trackers seat
At 9:30 we returned to camp, enjoyed a delicious breakfast, and then had the afternoon to relax. As we were sitting in the shade of our tent's porch, Maurits spotted elephants munching on branches in the distance. We thought they would just pass through at a distance and we moved to a nearby tent to get a better view. In the next instant the elephants had changed dirrection and were headed straight for the tent. They stopped about 15 meters from the tent at a riverbed where they started digging for fresh water. After last night's elephant charge, the elephants were too close for comfort. We quickly hid in the tent, but there was no back exit! With our hearts pounding, we both sneaked out of the tent to get a safer distance. They did not even notice us! We then found a guide who brought along his gun and we could get a better look. Unfortunately, this time when we got close to the animals they noticed us and quicky ran away in the other direction.
The elephant too close to our tent!
No other guests arrived this afternoon and our private game drives continued. John, who works as a tracker, had returned from his week off and took the tracker-seat at the front of the vehicle. We first came upon a group of elephants. What a difference between being in a vehicle compared to being on foot! Animals do not recognize the vehicle as dangerous and therefore do not run away when approached. The elephants came practically right up to the landrover- even a baby one. It was amazing to watch them break branches from the trees (or practically snap the entire tree in half) in order to eat both the wood and the leaves. Next Sam and John worked together to track a large herd of buffalo which had entered 'the block'. You would think a group of 400+ huge buffalos would be easy to find, but given the thick scrub it took some time. But we did find them! It was cool to drive in between and among the animals of this large herd.
Buffalo
Thu May 30- Shindzela day 3
Our second full day at camp- we could really get used to this! During the morning drive we found the herd of buffalo again. This time many of them were in a more open area so we could get a better appreciation of just how large the herd was. As we were watching the buffalos, a curious giraffe came to investigate who we were- such a tall animal, beautiful to watch him walk by. We then headed to the nearby water hole and found a group of elephants just headed down to drink. It was still too cold for them to get in and splash around in the water, but it was fun to see them suck the water into their trunks and transfer it to their mouths for drinking. And we saw two shindzelas (honey badgers)!
Thirsty elephants
After a wonderful afternoon relaxing in camp, we had lunch at 3:30 and then headed out for the evening game drive at 4:30. The guests who were supposed to come today had not arrived, so we continued to have a private safari experience! Although we did not spot too much wildlife on this drive, we began to understand the art of vehicle wildlife tracking. With the combined effort of our vehicle and another camp landrover in contact via radio, we would first search the perimeter of the 'block' (the 3500 hectares of land we were allowed to drive on) for animal tracks entering the area. If animals had entered, the guides/ trackers would look for signs of the animal leaving the block. With no exit signs, we knew the animal was on the Shindzela block and we would search for it. Some days you are lucky to find many animals, others not... After 4 hours of looking we had spotted a secretary bird, a scrub hare and a chameleon in the tree - not the leopard we were looking for, but hopefully our luck would change tomorrow! Back at camp the other guests had arrived- a South African couple who were cousins with the Shindzela owners. Therefore, the owners and staff joined us for a fireside dinner and drinks around the campfire. A fun night with many tales of wild animals. We even tried a 'springbokkie' (shooter)!
Chameleon
Fri May 31- Shindzela day 4
Because we were gaining back all the pounds we lost in Nepal with so much good food at Shindzela, this morning we decided to go for a walk. With two armed guides, a tracker, Maurits, and LB we set out from camp. It was a beautiful walking temperature in the cool morning. Walking, we could appreciate just how thick the bush was in the area- much different than walking by the Olifants river and the open plains near Satara. Fun to learn about the local plants, look for tracks, and analyze animal dung! We did find the remnants of a hawk-eagle who had presumably been eaten by a leopard about one week ago.
Zebra
In the afternoon we were visited by zebras and warthogs as we were relaxing in camp. Two more (human) guests arrived- a mother and her daughter from Australia- and we all set out for the evening game drive. This was our best drive of the trip! First we spent time with a group of elephants including a HUGE male bull. He practically pulled down the entire tree while pulling off branches to eat. As we were leaving the area we must have driven a little to close to him, so he charged after our vehicle. Our second elephant charge! We were already past him so Sam once again floored the throttle (this time moving forward in the daylight) and we left the poor elephant in a cloud of dust and diesel-exhaust.
The elephant that charged
Just as the sun was setting we found a group of 4 white rhinos. This time Maurits had the camera ready! Since the large herd of buffalo had passed through the block earlier that day, the plan was to have our evening drink near the block border in hopes that lions were following them. The plan worked! As we were finishing our drinks we heard a loud lion roar- very close by. In no time we were all in the vehicle ready to find the lions. We drove for about 5 min on the road without finding a sign of them- so we stopped again to listen. Sure enough, after another few minutes there was loud roaring again, just behind us, but in the bush. No matter, Sam took the landrover off-road through the thick trees and bushes as John searched with the spotlight from the front seat. What a bumpy ride! But it paid off, we found two male lions laying in the grass and pulled up right beside them. Amazingly the lions did not seem to mind the bright spotlight in their eyes or the vehicle right next to them, so we were able to observe them and take pictures for the next 30 minutes. Incredible animals, and boy can they roar!
Leo
Sat June 1- Shindzela day 5
Our last game drive this morning. We were still hoping to see a leopard, but no such luck! But we did find some more rhinos, this time a group of five. Watching these animals does not get old. After breakfast it was time to brave the dirt road once more in our small Hyundai, and it did just fine! We would spend our last night in South Africa in Graskop, and drive there via the Blyde River canyon- the second largest canyon in Africa. Although the view from the 'Three Rondavels' viewpoint was beautiful, we were happy we spent an extra few days in Kruger. As we walked into 'Daan's place' for the night, we bumped into Reiner, who had walked the Olifants River backpack trail with us. Reiner and Steffen were also staying at Daan's place before flying back to Germany tomorrow. LB was too tired, but Maurits enjoyed watching German football with them that evening.
Rhinos
Sun June 2- Off to the airport to fly to Holland today. After a lazy morning, we took the scenic route to Johannesburg passing through Sabie. We made one stop at the Lone Creek waterfall which was surprisingly good. We made it safely to the airport where we planned to fill up our rental car before returning it. As we pulled up to the sign 'rental car return, no exit', we had still not found a gas station. Determined not to pay a fee for returning an empty tank, we stopped at the airport hotel to get directions to a gas station. Crazy that you need directions to the airport gas station- no wonder it was not busy.
LB and the three rondavels in Blyde River Canyon
Our impression of South Africa was excellent - beautiful towns, excellent roads, great accommodation and delicious food. This was definitely not the Africa we had imagined! However, we did pass many townships along the way, which stood out in contrast to all the beautiful mansions. We wondered how this would fare in the future. Maurits really enjoyed Afrikaans. Similar to Dutch, it is easy (for Maurits) to understand with great words like spruit, fontein, springbokkie and more.
Bye bye South Africa!
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