South Africa

Kruger,

The name is synonymous with African big game, one of the worlds largest and oldest wildlife reserves, spanning 352 km from the Limpopo River in the north to the Crocodile in the south, and averages 60 km from east to west.

The vast 19,633 sq km area is equal to the size of Israel, and although there are no fences ( in the main part) restricting animal movement, there are 16 distinct vegetation sections that are home to a diverse amount of creatures.

I started my 4 day mini tour early, flying from Cape town to Johannesburg, collection from the airport was fairly swift by Viva Safaris, along with a few others on the same tour. We were soon on our way, a brief stop to pick up some more passengers, and then the long drive to our first camp, Tremisana Game Lodge in the Balule Section of Kruger, about half way up the west side.

Accommodation was great with en-suite double rooms, it was late afternoon so a quick 10 min freshen up and we were off for our first game drive.

Wes, our ranger was soon telling us all about the area and what we should expect to see, Impala being the first.

He stopped to show us a tree off to the right, which looked like someone had dropped a huge round hay bale into the fork of it, only to see a Hammerkop that was sitting nearby, fly straight into a neat hole at the base of the bale……just your average Hammerkop nest!!

Next we saw some Yellow Billed Hornbill, a species I had not encountered before, just goes to show how different habitats are home to different species, even in the same country.

Jackal, Blue Wildebeest, Buffalo, Zebra were all present, and we soon lost the light so turned into night mode.

The lamp was not much use really, as this area is quite dense bush, we did run into a large male Rhino though, who was doing his nightly territory marking, we didn’t get too close as he frequently reminded us he was not too happy with our presence with loud huffs and snorting and the odd pawing on the ground with his front feet!

We left him in peace and made our way back for dinner, along the way we came across a church, quite bizarre really, considering where we were, miles from anywhere, and next to it a small lake where the lamp picked up some eyes, a small Crocodile about 1.5 m in length. The scene made for quite a picture, lake, church, moon and star filled sky behind…….. if only there were a camera that can capture what the eyes see??

By this time we were just about ready for a relaxing evening with some good food and a beer, but Wes had one more trick up his sleeve!

He brought the LR to a halt, announcing “that’s what I’ve been looking for!” and pointed the lamp skywards into a tree, we all stared into the lit canopy and saw nothing, eventually he picked up a long stick and used it as a pointer, there sitting on the end of a leafy branch was a small Chameleon, which by this time had concealed himself to look like his surroundings….and very good at it he was too! Amazing!

5am start for a short morning drive with Ryan and a good sunrise over the wonderful Drakensberg Mt range, just the usual sightings, nothing special to report, something that was about to change after breakfast on our bush walk!

Ryan drove 5 of us back into the bush after breakfast, this route was particularity bumpy, adding to the adventure. Roughly half hour in and something caught my eye ahead of us, a black object flicked above a medium sized bush, and I recognised it instantly as belonging to a White Rhino!

I called it to Ryan and as we drew near it became clear that it was the same big male from the night before, only he wasn’t alone!

I’m not going into too many details here, as I cannot be too sure who will end up reading this, and these amazing creatures need all the protection they can get!

Ryan thought this would be a good chance for us to stalk this individual on foot, but only if we were all in agreance, we were of course!

We backed off half a kilometre or so downwind, and got prepared for our bush walk. Ryan had brought along his rifle which I immediately recognised as soon as he took it out of it’s case (make, name and calibre!) cause that’s what I do, lol!!

As it is illegal to shoot Rhino, my only guess is it is used to shoot clients who get trampled or attacked by the many wild animals there, would be too cruel to not put them out of their misery, and getting an ambulance out to such a remote area is impractical!

Armed with his gun and dust sack (for checking wind direction) and after some instruction on hand signals and what not to do, we headed off single file towards our prey.

This area was mostly a mix of grassland and bush, the furthest you could see was around 100m, but most of the time it was much shorter. There were quite a few stunted trees around, which we were never far from when taking a rest or reassessing our position, just in case we needed to get up one rather quickly!

I spotted some Zebra off to the right who looked puzzled at these strange bipeds in their midst.

When we eventually got to within hearing distance of this 2,300kg beast, we had to choose our footsteps more carefully trying not to step on any dry leaves or twigs that could give the game away. Constantly checking the wind direction, we played cat and mouse for over an hour, never getting a clear view of this tank of an animal.

Ryan would often tell us to stay near a shady tree and stalk ahead alone, checking for a sighting or different route to get us closer, then on one such foray he signled us to follow, and there he was, some 70m or so through the bush, my binoculars gave me a good view, nothing for the camera, but Ryan wanted to get us closer, even though the Rhino would huff a warning in our direction when he heard us!

The Rhino was also mobile of course, so when we moved, so did he, it was a constant battle of wits, and after another 15 mins or so, we were back on track and had another sighting, closer this time, about 50-60m, close enough!

It was still not a clear view, but to be honest, there is something comforting about having some shrubbery between you and something that can harm you!

We didn’t push our luck, so left him to his daily routine of munching as much grass as possible, he needs rather a lot to fuel all that bulk, and spends 50% of his time doing just that (sounds like someone else I know!)

Taking a semi-circular detour back to the LR we passed what looked like an old termite mound that had a dead tree in the middle and 3 large holes at the base, the ground was sandy and there were some porcupine quills laying there, so I guess that was their den!

Twenty minutes or so back to the LR our adrenalin levels had returned to normal and our pace and walking style more relaxed, we talked amongst ourselves about our surroundings, Ryan in the lead, then me and the rest, walking round the side of rather a large bush, Ryan suddenly spun round and hastily ushered us back the way we came, “back, back, back!” he said in a soft but desperate fashion. He broke into a run, with us close behind, and as I was now last in our single file sprint, I kept looking behind to see if there was anything following us, there was not, fortunately, but I could distinctly hear the huffs and puffs from a disgruntled Rhino, who just happened to be on the other side of said bush!!

It was a close call, and rather unexpected, whether it was the same Rhino or another, we will never know, Ryan didn’t think it was wise to hang around long enough to find out!

I’m not going to mention any names or make a big deal about this, but it was all too much for one member of our group, the adrenalin rush coupled with our location and having to literally run for your life, is enough to scare the best of people!

It’s a healthy feeling I think, and one everybody should try once in a while, it’s good to know every now and then that we are not at the top of the food chain………………..I on the other hand, thought it was great, and can’t wait to do it again one day!