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Published: June 17th 2017
01 Breakfast
Preparing a quick breakfast before we set off for our game drive.Geo: -25.2174, 27.0071
This morning was another early start. We were up at about five so that we were ready for the gate to open at 5:30am. As we prepared for the drive we observed thieves. It started with a troop of Banded Mongoose running through the campsite looking for food scraps. Then along came the troop of Vervet Monkeys. The monkeys were cheekier and bolder than the mongoose and would poke around people's campsites looking for food. We watched them as the sun rose. They also knocked over bins, made a mess and ran off with food scraps.
As we were busy watching and laughing at other camper's lost food, we were attacked. A monkey opened a cooler box, ran off a few metres and tore open the Tetra juice and drank our juice! We had learnt our lesson and quickly locked everything up.
Next to raid the camp and scare away the monkeys, was a troop of baboons. They walked through, found some food and then left. We also left for our morning safari and made sure there was nothing in the tent that would attract them.
We stopped to watch giraffes eating. They pulled the leaves off the branches, even the
02 Monkeys
A mother Vervet Monkey with her baby. prickly bushes they would eat from. Then we came across a couple of kudus. Further along we did a double take and realised that it was not a muddy rock, but a white rhino. It was walking away from us, but we still got to see this special animal.
As we rounded a corner we saw a Red Hartebeest and further along an elephant. The elephant was a bit distant from the road and I hoped that we would see more closer up to us. I knew that there are elephants around as their poo was all over the roads. We also saw a herd of female kudus and their young.
Then Paul spotted a great sight – a male lion under a bush and the rest of the pride were close by. Altogether there were 2 males and 2 females. They were all resting. Then one of the lionesses got up and walked over to a male. He then also got up and began walking. Then they were all up and following the male lion. We slowly drove along the road as they walked just a few metres from the road ahead of us.
At this stage the lioness
03 Rising
The sun rising. was now in the lead and walking on the road away from us. Next in line was the other lioness, which stopped to drink water from a puddle. Then right outside Paul's car window walked one of the male lions. He also stopped to drink water and so did the other male. We were the first car behind them and had a great view. The four of them were now walking along the road. We hoped that they would come across general game and chase it! Unfortunately a few minutes later the lioness led the lions off the road and into the bush and out of sight. Visitors are not allowed to drive off road, so we continued driving.
The next stop was for giraffe and red hartebeest crossing the road. On the way to the Mankwe Hide we slowed down to watch a wildebeest eat grass by the road.
We spent about an hour at the Mankwe hide observing the wildlife. Below the hide, just like yesterday there were quite a few terrapins swimming around with a few various fish, different species of birds drying their wings on the dead trees in the dam, a large water monitor trying
04 Pecking
A pair of guinea fowl pecking their way through the campsite. to hide among the reeds, male weavers building their nests on the reeds, a herd of wildebeest coming to the water to drink and a crocodile that seemed very close to a bird that was looking for food. I was beginning to really like this hide and there was so much to see.
Continuing to drive around we saw a little shy steenbok, more giraffe and wildebeest that were busy eating. Then a nice surprise – a pair of white rhinos who were also with their heads down and busy eating. We stopped to watch a dung beetle slowly roll his ball of dung. Then we came across a couple of waterbuck. At the water's edge at Makorwane dam, there was a large herd of impalas. We started to drive to the hide and then we noticed a few elephants walking towards us out of the bush. So we stopped, repositioned the car and watched them as the matriarch led the breeding herd to the dam. It was a nice sight to see both adults and little young elephants. At the water's edge they enjoyed drinking water and the littlest one managed to get wet, as it got in the way
05 Breakfast
These two monkeys have found their breakfast. of the others drinking. They didn't spend long at the water and about ten minutes later they walked back into the bush.
Back at the Makorwane Hide we enjoyed viewing hippos that were just a few metres away from us. They were keeping cool in the water. It is hard to know exactly how many hippos there were, as they frequently bobbed their heads in and out of the water. Although when their heads were up, they did seem to glare at us! Their noise is also very amusing.
Back on the road we saw more steenboks, impalas, zebras and wildebeests. At Ratlhogo Dam we got out and stretched our legs as we walked to the hide. From this hide we saw a terrapin and a couple of hippos. Back on the road we spotted two white rhinos resting in the shade and an adult warthog running behind her little piglets.
Then we stopped again, this time at the Pilanesberg Centre. Here there is a simple cafe, toilets and a souvenir shop. From the deck here there is a nice scenic view of the park and a little waterhole. At the waterhole there were a couple of warthogs, waterbuck and vervet
06 Peeking
This monkey is peeking into the empty charcoal bag in the hope of finding food. monkeys. The warthogs came right up to the deck, one had huge tusks. As we observed these animals we also enjoyed a nice cold drink! Just before we left, a small herd of impalas arrived to drink.
We arrived back at camp at 1pm and wow! What a busy morning drive, we saw so many different animals and great sightings of them all. We spent the next few hours relaxing, swimming and sleeping. The campsite had virtually cleared out this morning yesterday, it was very empty and we had the place to ourselves.
At about 4pm we were back in the car for our afternoon game drive. For the first half an hour we didn't see anything exciting. As we walked to the hide at Malatse Dam we noticed a bull elephant drinking. We watched as he filled his trunk and then emptied it into his mouth. This elephant had quite long tusks. When he finished drinking he stood still and looked at us for a little while and then walked off into the bush.
During the rest of our game drive we saw zebras, a young white rhino, a small breeding herd of elephants, a scrub hare and a
07 Resting
The baboon having a rest after raiding the campsite. pair of steenboks. We drove out the gate just as it was closing. A minute later we were back at camp where we lit the fire and sat around talking about the day's sightings.
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