Day 3 - Tracked Rhino

Woke up to the baboons barking apparently at a leopard. One of the other guest said he saw the lions on the way back to his room last night and had to turn around. The leopard was also on the boardwalk this morning about 4:45am. As we head out for our morning walk we see the lions close to the lodge have made a kill and are eating a Nayla, we don’t stick around as there are 2 other vehicles there and we have to get walking before the day gets too hot. We walked along a gorge and came to a river followed it a bit then headed up the cliff sides. On the way up the cliffs we notice some fresh Rhino tracks. We tracked the rhino for about 45 min when we finally spotted it. A female and her calf. It was pretty cool to actually track something, find it and be walking while you do it. It is so different to see theses animals on foot. We watched them for about 20 min as they watched us: both the rhino and us being extra cautious. Soon, they ran off so we kept on with our walk. As we walked back down the cliffs we noticed some elephant tracks going through some very narrow areas. We never saw any elephants during our walk but you would never expect to find them walking down the side of a rock cliff in such a tiny little space.

The afternoon we went for another drive and stopped at the most beautiful spot to watch the sunset. We were high up over looking a massive gorge with a river running through it. The scenery was stunning looked more like something you would see in the Grand Canyon. I didn’t think places like that existed in South Africa. There is something about the sun over here that makes it seem more beautiful. It always is this amazing red and it looks so much bigger and closer then it does back in Canada.

Day 2 - Charged by an Elephant!

Another eventful day. The morning was spent on a long hike around the area. Climbing rock cliffs to take in some breathtaking views. Surprisingly we never encountered much in the way of animals but the walk itself was very enjoyable. Saw many tracks of lions and leopard. We stopped at a spring where lion had been only an hour before and came across some rock hyraxes playing about in the rock cliffs but nothing more than antelope and baboon for most of the time. Still just the fact that you could turn a corner and come across some Lions, leopards or buffalo is what makes the hike that much more interesting.

Came back from the morning hike relaxed, had a nap tried to fit in some studying but didn’t get much done. We go out again for a drive in the afternoon. We come across a bull elephant and drive along as he floats across the planes. How something that large could move so gracefully is beyond me. After the elephant we see some Buffalo and Mark lets us get out of the Landie and walk over to them. Not to close, obviously, but closer than we could have got in the vehicle. We watch them and they watch us as the light is slowly fading. Back in the vehicle we come across the same elephant we watch as he shakes a palm tree to get the dates out of it. The elephant notices us and is he is not too happy with us so he flaps his ears and curls his trunk and start coming for us. We know it is only a “Mock Charge” by his behaviour and that he is just showing us who the boss is but it is quite terrifying when an animal that size comes charging for you. Mark drives the vehicle just a little way to give the elephant some space. That seems to satisfy him and he continues eating, he then wonders up to a dead tree and starts scratching his head, body and butt against it. This elephant was such an interesting character. It was very cool to experience all that.

We arrive back at the lodge to hear the lions roaring very close by. The staff say they are just at end of the path we start to head down there to see and then realize what a stupid idea that is as we are only on foot with no rifles so we head back to our rooms and sit and listen to them roar. What a way to end the day.

Pafuri

Mark, our head instructor, has a sister who works at a private 5 star lodge in Northern Kruger National Park called Pafuri. She offered to give us a discount if anyone wanted to go for a few days to do some hiking and game drives. At first everyone wanted to go but when they realized the price it cut back to only 4 people Tim, Marty, Declan and I. I personally don’t think it is that expensive about $600 for 3 nights in a 5 star lodge with meals included and guided hikes sounded like a great deal to me. So we left Monday morning after morning lecture.

The place is amazing! Arrived from the 3-hour drive to be offered a refreshing juice and a cool facecloth. We’ve been here for one afternoon and already we have done and seen so much. The room for a start is gorgeous! You walk into the room to see a king size bed elegantly draped in a mosquito net as the white curtains billow in the breeze. The shower is like a tropical rain and you can choose to shower outside as I did or inside. All this and I haven’t even mention the view. Looking out onto a river were a herd of elephants and their calves are feeding. A waterbuck carefully drinks from the river keeping an eye out for the Crocodile swimming past as a Fish Eagle soars by. As we walk along the board walk back to the main area we are greeted by a Nyala grazing on the grass below and not to mention the Vervet monkey’s hanging around in hopes to get some food. We go back to the main area for 3:00 tea and snacks and we are informed that Lions have been sighted just at the edge of the boardwalk. We all race down the path and catch a glimpse of a young male and female walking by. All this and Mark hasn’t even taken us out of camp.

We leave for an afternoon drive with Mark as our guide. Driving through the forest of fever trees we only encounter all the usual game, more Nyala, Zebra, Waterbuck, Warthog, Impala, Kudu, but that is fine we also see some crested guinea fowl and a bee eater lands on a tree right next to us. Mark takes us to a very old and ancient Baobab tree it must be a thousand years old. We all get out and climb up to take a photo. Its grandeur is astonishing but it is great for rock climbing. We stop for sundowners by a river with Zimbabwe just on the other side and head back as the sunsets. Spotting 3 sightings of genet. Once arriving back dinner is served! Lamb chops and roasted potatoes with a perfect lemon mousse for dessert. Now off to bed as it is an early start to another full day.

Kruger Sighting

Just got back from 2 days in the Kruger. Us girls decided we needed to do something fun for the week off so we rented a car and spent one night in the Kruger. The Thursday was very hot and we saw hardly anything but impala and Elephants. However it was a good birding day and we saw many different types of Eagles and learned a lot about identifying each type all the while listening and trying to learn our birdcalls. We stayed in a tent camp in Lataba. The walls of the tent were made out of the same material as our house in Palau and it was very cozy. When we arrived at Lataba a Hyena was just on the other side of the fence. Seeing it that close made it less frightening. It sat there with its tongue hanging out and then rolled onto it’s back and scratched its nose. It was more like a dog and I had to keep reminding myself that they do ripe your face off while sleeping.

Friday was much cloudier and only a few minutes into the drive we knew it was going to be better for animal sightings. We drove past Impala and they were all staring intently at something. What it was? I don’t know as they watched it then began following it away into the bushes. Impala will stare at a predator and will follow it watching closely incase it’s behaviour changes. We then had a massive heard off buffalo cross the road in front of us. There was over a hundred easily. We would have been sat there most of the day if an idiot pulling a trailer didn’t drive through and practically run them over. Not a good idea. Buffalo are not cows and they can be very aggressive.

As the day wore on we came across Ground Hornbills, who also walked right in front of the car. We stopped for breakfast and heard that a pride of lions had just been seen outside of the camp. Unfortunately by the time we finished breakfast they were gone but we did see a jackal and a hooded vulture feasting on what ever they had just killed. As we drove along Suzie thought she saw a baby honey badger, which by the way is the most ferocious killer, but it turned out to be only a log.

The day soon went and we hand’t seen any cats. I stared intently out the window as we passed open plains, great for cheetah, and rocky terrain, great for leopards. The afternoon was dragging on when …There in the tree a Leopard! Stop! Stop! STOP! I shouted. WE backed up and yes it was a leopard. Not just some branches looking like a leopard. It was sitting in the tree, tail hanging down, cleaning it’s back paw. It looked relaxed and happy. Below the tree stood zebra oblivious, so we thought, to it’s presence. We hoped it would make a kill while we were there but it turns out it had already made a kill and had just finished eating by the time we saw it because you could see a half eaten animal at the base of the tree. We watched it until it noticed us and climbed down the tree. We soon lost sight of it in the tall grass but what a sight. My first sighting of a leopard, with out the help of anyone else! It totally made my day!

Week Off

It’s been a very stressful semester but has come to our 2nd week off. Most people were staying around camp and studying because a) they don’t have enough money to go anywhere or b) they feel like our FGASA exam is coming up and they don’t know anything, or c) both.

Since no one was doing anything cool for the week off and I’m not sure traveling on my own anywhere is a good idea I too am staying at the camp this week. It is a good opportunity to study because as much as we know there is still so much we don’t and I want to get a jump on the semester ahead. Sunday was spent lying by the pool. Not much got accomplished. Monday Barry and I did a morning game drive just along the main road beside the game reserves and saw a jackal, some birds and some vervet monkeys. The afternoon spent learning bird songs whilst again lying by the pool.


Tuesday evening we decided we would grab our sleeping bags and camp out along the fence line. So 5 of us Barry, Chris, Kathryn, John and I headed out about 4:00pm to a spot Chris and Barry had chosen earlier in the day. On our walk out there we came across some wildebeest running in the meadow. It was quite amazing to see them so close.
When we arrived at the spot we gathered firewood and made a small fire. Just as it got dark we noticed a Cheetah sitting on the other side of the fence just watching us. At first we thought it was a leopard and were ready to turn around and go back but soon realized it was too slim to be leopard and must be a cheetah. It sat and watched us for at least a half hour before moving on.

Barry and I could not sleep after that so we ended up taking first watch and keeping the fire stoked. Barry had never seen a shooting star or a satellite before. This amazed me but the he is from Ireland and there skies are not quite the same. So did a lot of stargazing and saw a few shooting stars and satellites reviewing our constellations and planets. I was able to see the 3 moons on Jupiter and it is quite amazing how much more you can see with just a pair of binoculars than the regular eye. The others in the group at this time were all out like a light. As the night progressed we heard many things rustling around that we could not identify and a Wildebeest snorting quite close by. The hyenas and Jackals were calling but quite far off.

Around 2am a Hyena walked just on the other side of the fence. We could only hear it at first - breathing and making this weird growling noise but had a hard time seeing it. Barry caught a glimpse of it’s eye shine and we both suspected it was a hyena but only confirmed it in the morning by tracks left behind. After that sleep was out of the question so we ended up staying awake for most of the night. I think I finally drifted off around 4:30am. Morning came early with the sun and we all headed back to camp to eat breakfast and go back to bed.

Photo is of a Pangolin - a very illusive creature. Most guides have never seen one in their many years of guiding. This is our 3rd sighting.

Rifles

I always thought I would never need to shoot a gun but one thing about being a safari guide is that you are going to be around dangerous animals and you never know what might happen. So this week was spent learning all about rifles. As a guide in South Africa you need to be able to shoot a .375-caliber rifle, minimum, but the .458 is recommended especially if you are doing walks. We started off watching videos about shot placement and animal behaviour so we know when the situation could deteriorate. Then we learned all about the “bolt action;” practicing loading and unloading the rifle and cocking it. For the beginner rifle handling assessment we need to go from the walking position (carrying it in your left hand) shoulder the rifle, cock it, aim, and fire 3 times all with in 15 seconds. It took me 15 minuets just to shoulder the rifle.

Thursday we went to the rifle range and practiced shooting a .22 and a .303 rifle. The girls were a bit nervous and most of the guys thought that it was cool. The .22 was like a BB gun (so I’m told) but the .303 looked like it would give a lot of kick back. Ruth and I took before pictures of our shoulders thinking we would have some serious bruises. We fired 10 rounds with the .22 and 3 with the .303. The .303 was not as bad as I expected but way louder then I would have liked. I couldn't imagine shooting without ear protection on.

I was not a bad shot but not great either. I need to work on my stance and aim but I hit the paper in all but one shot. Friday we all got to fire one shot on the .375 this gave even more kickback but still no bruises. The rifle is a lot heavier and some of us girls are working on our muscles to we can hold it steady and aim. That seems to be the hardest part.

Next semester will be spent doing more practice rounds with the .375 and the assessment will be in November for the beginner rifle handling. I think it will be OK as long as I can hold the gun steady. If an animal is charging at you your first shot cannot be before it comes 10 meters. Hence you have to be fully prepared. Lets hope I never get into that situation.

A Leopard!

First Leopard Sighting today.

It’s been a few weeks since we saw anything good on a game drive. It’s sad to think that I’m already getting bored with giraffe and zebra because they are very interesting to sit and watch but that is all we have been seeing for the past month. This week we have 3 exams and I was thinking the time could have been better spent studying for it as we are all stressed about how little we are prepared for these exams. Fortunately, it is not up to us when we go on a game drive because if it was we would have missed out seeing our first leopard!

Since we arrived it has been at the top of many people's lists of things they wanted to see but the leopards kept eluding us. Today while out tracking Lions we heard via the radio that another vehicle had tracked one down so we sped, and I mean really sped, over to the sighting only to have to sit and wait our turn. Only 2 to 3 vehicles are allowed at a sighting and since our other group got there before us we had to wait. When it was our turn the other vehicles left and we had the sight to ourselves. The leopard was very difficult to see at first lying in the grass eating something and I was worried that was all I would see of it would be it's ears. Then moments after we arrived it jumped up into the tree and continued to eat. It stayed there for a few moments and jumped back down to resume its position in the grass just as another vehicle joined us. We left so they could see better and returned after dark.

This time when we arrived we watched it for a few moments, by the help of a small spotlight, when a hyena came and chased it away. The leopard practically jumped in the vehicle it came so close to us as it ran away. On the way back to the gate we came across 3 different Civets as well. One we practically ran over and the other two were in the trees on the side. Never again will I be upset about having to go on a game drive.

It sure has made my day.