Day 12 + 13: St. Lucia & Hluhuluwe-Imflozio N.P.: Crocodiles, hippo's and 4/5 Big Five!

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Yesterday, we almost float away from our campsite, and thereby we missed a change to discover a great area and the last “non-safari” National Park. From today; the national parks will be different: Hello safari! Yes, finally, the safari would started. It defiantly would be the highlights of my trip. This was a child dream; a safari in Africa and it shall be coming true! I could defiantly not wait to see the first animals in the wild, especially the giraffes! I like them, due the fact they have so long necks. Too bad, I had to wait two extra days to see them, but we saw quite a lot other animals, including 4 of the big 5? Which ones? Keep on reading!



We left the Amphitheatre Backpacker Lodge, a time later than we planned. The checking-out took quite a lot an there was also some disagreement about the price per room. When that was solved, we drove to our new camping, the Bushbaby Lodge in Hluhulwe. First we had lunch, before we put on our tents. The camping had also chalets for rent, and some people choose to do an upgrade. The owners where Dutch, and in the evening we had some talk with them. They travelled quite a lot in Africa. Of course, we told them about the heavy rains we had in Drakensbergen, and it’s quite common for that area in the rain season. However, they agreed we were quite lucky with the weather, we had not that much rain for the rain season. But, they also told that the rain season by itself was currently quite horrible. The rain season started too late and the rainfall was too few. This did not only occur in South-Africa, but in entire south-east Africa. Without enough rain in the rain season, many crops harvest in countries like Zimbabwe and Malawi probably would fail. Those two countries, especially Malawi are one of the poorest countries in the world. If the rain would not fall soon enough and the rainfall will be disappointing, a famine in food is likely to be occur. Not only had the Bushbaby lodge a good pool, but there is one reason why they are called Bushbaby Lodge. Every night at 7, the feeding of the Bushbaby’s will occur. Here, you have to change to photograph the Busbaby’s from close. Bushbaby’s are primates (monkey’s), however they might look a little bit like a cat. You can spot them in different reserves when you stay in one of the reserves in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They show themselves when it gets dark and in the night. However, the animals are not shy, they shall not come that close. You see the most in forest and places where much trees are standing. They live in small gruops and their diet consist out of fruit and tree gum. After the feeding, it was time to get our diner. Manda cooked some roasted sweet potatoes, with sauces and a red sweet African sauce. Is vegetable he had spinach in sauce and he served a Greek salad with olives, feta cheese and tomato.



The next day, it finally would be so far! Safari! In the afternoon, we got our first game drive. That means, that we go in to a safari jeep and we drive to the park to spot the wild animals. But in the morning, we had a game cruise. In St. Lucia, you are able to do a cruise at the St. Lucia Lake. This Lake is a part of the iSimangalsio Wetland Park. St. Lucia is famous by her game cruises. That means: guided tour cruises are sailing over the lake and you are able to spot much hippo’s and crocodiles. Especially crocodiles are very hard to spot in a game drive, and the changes to see a hippo from that close is also not guaranteed by a game drive and not advised to come that close as by the cruise. Hippo’s are the most aggressive and dangerous animals during safari, and are responsible for the most human killing by wild animals in Africa. That is mostly, because they can gain a high speed; not only in the water, but especially at land. No one is expected that a hippo, weighted at maximum 2500 kg (females) up to 3500 kg (males), with a length of around 3 meters from head to tail, and a maximum height of 1,60 meters are able to reach a top speed of even 40 to km/h for several minutes. The only change to survive is to run crosswise; due the fact that hippo’s lose too much speed when running crosswise and are not able to manoeuvre that quickly. But even in small boats in the water you are not save; they also can attack in the water, by braking a small boat in pieces. The best way is to keep your distance when you spot them and always take a good guide. You might spot the hippo’s in the water, because they protect their sensitive skin when bathing in the water or even in mud. But they come at land in the evening and night. They are able to walk up to 10 km from the river of the pool. But, before we saw any hippo’s, we had a little problem. Our truck did not want to start and the boat is not able to wait for us. One plus is, that every 2 hours the boat will run until late afternoon, so if we are missing the first one, we are able to pick the one 2 hours later. But, the problem was then, we would be too late for us pick-up at the safari game drive in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi N.P. The plan was that we would be back around 1 for the lunch, and at 2 we should be picked up for the game drive. But, this ideal plan was ruined due the truck. Bheki fixed the truck, it started and we went on the road. Manda started to call to find a solution; we should get the boat at 12, but could we been picked up at St. Lucia for the game drive? And he found a solution. We indeed missed the boat at 10, so we took the one at 12. The lunch we took before. Then, we would go back to the lodge and the jeeps would be waiting for us; that means, the game drive will been extended that we are able to see the sunset in the park. That means no hour time in between the two excursions at the lodge, but a fast toilet stop between those two. We arrived in St. Lucia where a lot of souvenir shops where waiting for us. Shops? Mostly the woman’s are sitting at the side of the road; it looks like a market. You can buy handmade souvenirs from wood, for example. We drove to the beach by St. Lucia. There are many places here when you can barbeque, we visited quite short the Indian Ocean but we also had to keep an eye open. There is a change that hippo’s and crocodiles visit the area as well. But we did not see them there. We had our lunch and it was time to go to the boat!



We took a perfect side on the upper side of the boat. The tour was guided, and the guide made some instructions. Off we go. No, even better; even before we left a group of hippo’s were laying in the river to relax. So, we had a great opportunity to make some good pictures before the boat left. And off we go. We sailed over the lake, until we suddenly went in a branch. “At your right hand, you see a crocodile. Normally, they are in the water and not in the bank at this side of the day, and I almost never see them like this”, told the guide. A crocodile, was laying at the side of the bank. He was just relaxing, laying around and did not care that we all wanted to make pictures of him. He looked quite amazing. This was a Nile crocodile. The Nile crocodile is living in most parts of Africa, even in the North; the living area starts in the South of Egypt around the Nile and the coast, and then they spread up to entire Africa; From the West to Central, to the East to South-East to Madagascar. You are not able to see them in the Saharan Africa or in the South-West. The name of the Crocodile is coming from the Greek, which “Kroko” means rough skin and “Deilos” what mean “worm”. They are not the biggest crocodile; that is the saltwater crocodile; the Nile crocodile lives in sweet water. The size of an old adult man can grow up to 6 meters, but females are approx 30% smaller. They can weight around 500 kg. But however, the heaviest crocodile that was found in the willd was an old male weighted just over 900 kg. The crocodile lost a lot of his habit and in the 50’s and 60’s the crocodile was hunted very often. Their numbers were decreased and due the change of the habitat, they are not able to grow that big as they were before. Sometimes, you might hear about the “West African Crocodile”, living in the West of Africa. It’s in fact almost the same species, but they are not able to reach an length over 4 meters. However, seeing a huge crocodile for the first time, laying at the bank, relaxing and warming up at the sun is a very great experience. They see really rough and dangerous from the outside. Their scales where highlighted in the sun, making the crocodile look even more rougher. It really was a beautiful animal; the way he lay in the sun, the dominance he showed us, the danger, the fear that hanged around him. It was beautiful that we could come that close to see him for so close. I guess, we were around 3 meters distance from him. It was not the only crocodile we saw in that tour. I caught one swimming on my camera. If you ask me, what is more frightening to see them in the river or on land, I would say on the land. If you see them swimming, you can recognise them at the water pattern they left behind and only the scales are coming out of the water. You are not able to see how big they are in the water. You just see him swimming, very gently and sliding though the water. It almost looks like a peaceful animal. It is amazing that they can attack that brutally from the water. I like to see that as kid when I watched the many nature documentaries on Animal Planet, National Geographic and Discovery Channel; almost all shot in Tanzania during the animal trekking. You probably know all of those scenes where a herd of buffalo’s or wildebeesten have to cross a river and a crocodile is waiting; hiding itself underwater. And suddenly he jumps/rises out of the water, and catch a very huge buffalo and with struggling and dragging the buffalo under water, kills it and he got some food. Today, we were not able to see him hunting like that, but it’s amazing that an animal from the water is able to jump up and drag a complete buffalo into the water to death. That is real brutal force and you might imagine how strong they are, especially in their mouth. We did not only saw crocodiles, also very much groups of hippo’s. We were able to come very close, and luckily they did not get aggressive. However, our boat was quite strong, so one hippo would probably not been able to break down the boat. I guess, we were at 2 or 3 meters distance from them. If you’re not that much in safari, you might get a little bit bored about how many hippo’s you are able to see. But, I like to see them. And at least, they are not that boring as lions. I can fall almost at sleep by the lions, that’s for sure. If you look with your binocular, you might spot even some birds. You can see them fly around and sitting in the trees and at the banks. Also for bird spotters you are able to do this cruise. The cruise will take a little bit less for 2 hours, and I agree it’s a great way to see crocodiles and hippo’s from close. If you are around in the iSimangalsio Wetland Park, do not forget to make a stop in St. Lucia and grab that boat!



Time to go to the lodge where the jeeps were waiting. Safari!! Oh, the child dream was coming true. Actually, it started this morning, but this was really what I wanted. Finally! I hoped I would see a lot of giraffes, but sadly they hide themselves too good. I had to wait 2 extra days for seeing them, euh one. In the end, I did not see that much giraffes and zebra’s as I hoped for. They are very shy and take every opportunity to fly away in the vegetation. You also see that with impala’s for example, but there are plenty of them and they are everywhere. We made a small toilet stop and we went off to the park. The drive was an half hour. When we arrived I took a second toilet stop, when the ranger needed to buy the tickets and the permits to enter at the visitor centre. The reason why the Safari African tours are quite expensive is due the parks. Many permits coast a lot of money, some starting from €100-, each day. Also the flights are expensive from Europe than if you visit Asia. That makes Africa a expensive destination for Safari; but with the money of the park, the local rangers are able to protect the animals and the park so good as they can. Sadly, poaching is still a huge issue in the entire region. For example, the white rhino and the elephant. Speaking about those animals, when we drove directly in the park, we had a warm welcome of a elephant family. They walked out of the forest into the open field. They came not so close, but at least they had some baby’s. That was really beautiful to see. They walk so gentle, they are big and impressive. These Elephants are the African Elephants, the biggest of the world. A full-grown bull can reach a weight up to 6000 kg! A female elephant can reach up to 3500 kg. The Wither is around 4 meters. You never see Elephants alone, they are social animals living in a herd, where the oldest female leads the herd. They protect the baby’s and that’s why the baby’s always walks in between the adult animals. The elephants are graceful and mostly curious. They like to come at the jeep, snuffle with their trunk to find out who you are. Elephants have a good memory; if you hurt them in their past and they recognize you when they are older, you are in very deep problems. Elephants can easily take down an entirely tree including the roots, so a safari jeep is no offend for them. Elephants might attack when they are afraid, or angry. But mostly, they will attack when afraid. Before doing that, they give some signs. They are starting to flapping with their ears and trumpeting. If they are doing that, you should go away from them. You mostly see them grazing and walking around. Eating is mostly a day business for them. They have to eat a lot, their digestive system is not working quite optimal, which means that only 40% of the food will be digestive for energy. That means, that an normal weight adult elephant has to eat 450 to 500 kg vegetation each day! And yes, elephants like to drag the trees out of the ground; but it also has it plus. Other small animals can eat the vegetation of the trees after the elephants are gone. I like the elephants. They are graceful, they are curious about you and coming close. And they look so impressive by their height and weight, and yet so peaceful.



When the hurt of Elephants walked back in to the forest, we met some other three friends, where two of them came so close that I was sitting in one meter of distance of them. They were quite interesting in us. That were two white rhino’s. I was so surprised that I saw them, also from that close. They came so close out themselves. They look impressive as well and very brutal. They are also higher than expected. The White Rhino thanks its name to the British. The Dutch called them “width”, rhino due the size of their lips, or “wijd” in Dutch. The lips of the White Rhino’s are wide and long; the lips of the Black Rhino is like a inverted triangle. However, the British did not understood “wijd”, and thought it was “White”. The White Rhino does not have another colour than the Black Rhino, you can recognize them at their lips. However, the white rhino’s are bigger than the black, but the best way to recognize them is at their lips. They do not differ that much from elephants, they are also peaceful, curious and grazing a lot of time during the day. The horn is made of keratin, just as our human nails. It means, if you cut the horn it will grow further until it reach its maximum length. However, the poachers still kill those animals or let them bleed to death. The first horn is the biggest around 50 to 60 cm, the second horn is smaller and bigger, probably around 10 cm long. It can reach a length from head to tail of 4 meters, where the tail might reach 1 meter. And yes, they are higher than expected. A fullgrown animal can reach without problems 170 cm to 180 cm. That is bigger than I am myself (I am 161 cm). The female weights maximum around 2000 kg, where the males can reach up to 3500 kg.



Are you kidding me? The first safari animals you see are already 2 of the big 5? Yes, that’s true. Elephants and rhino’s are together with the buffalo, lions and the leopard the Big 5. The leopards are the most difficult to spot. They are very shy and hide themselves in the trees. If you are able to see one, you probably are in a traffic jam of safari jeeps. The leopard does live in this area, but finding them is quite hard. So 2/5. Where are the other 3? The number 3 we spotted maybe 20 minutes after our new friends of the big 5. It’s the African Buffalo. Did I say we had any luck? The Buffalo is a ruminant walking on hoofs, just like giraffes. But one plus is they have a very good digestive system. The bacteria cultures in their system is able to break down the vegetation into carbohydrates; and the dead bacteria they took along or die in the system, is adsorbed as protein source. As biochemist, I have to admit, this digestive system is probably one of the best of the herbivore we see in the African savannah. The buffalo can be dangerous as well. Old males that are ready to die can attack everything in the hope they will die during this attempt. The only problem is that we as human and a safari jeep does not have change. A small female weight around 250 with the length of 100 cm, but a large male can weigh up to 750 kg and can become 180 cm big. How bigger the horns, how older the animal. The African Buffalo is able to continue it’s live when it’s blind. They do not have a very good eyesight and their hearing is also not that great. But, their sense of smell is highly developed and is very sensitive. This we also see by rhino’s. You might spot the buffalo mud or in the shadow on a hot day. Even at night they are active. If you are lucky you might spot a fight between the buffalo’s. They are living in herds of 20 to 40 animals, but in some periods or cases the herds can grow up to 2000 animals. The man fight for their place in the hierarchy. When a female is rutted, normally the males which a high hierarchy place are able to mate with the female, but that will not happen before the fight. In some cases, the fights will be so brutal that the animals might flew though the air of the brutal force when the horns are smashing against each other. What is a little bit noteworthy is that in a drier season more female animals will be born and in a wetter period more male animals will born. I guess we have a lot of little girls this season.



We saw also a lot of antelopes. Impala’s, nyala’s for example. I will discuss them in another blogpost. Also one situation that I want to tell is that we were on the search for some lions. Our ranger got a call and knew where they were hanging around. So we made some speed to catch them before it was too late. And suddenly he stopped “Black rhino, look there, far in the distance”. A black Rhino is also quite aggressive so the ranger did not like them to have close. But, it was very far away. Direct, we took our binoculars and searching. “That guy is joking. That is a rock”, we were speaking in Dutch. Until it suddenly moved. We looked better, “indeed that’s a black rhino”. It took me quite a lot of luck to get this big guy on my camera, but I succeed. What I also enjoyed was that I saw a so cute little baby elephant, drinking by its mother. Just look at the picture. Awh, is it not cute? I’m melting here! And, what was also special, was again, with elephants. You will see them a lot, and because they are so graceful, curious and come close and always active, they are not boring. Maybe because they are so impressive with their height as well. We stood there with our jeep and they start to walk around us, closed us entirely in. Everywhere where elephants. In the front, in the back, at our sides. But our tour guide did not trust it, they came to close and where with too much. When he took the change, he stamped at the gas that our jeep could drive away with high speed. One elephant was a little bit shocked, was trumpeting and waving with its ears but when we were out of reach he was peaceful again and we were total save. But lions? O Yes, the lions. We saw them too. Sorry, I have to admit, what a boring animals. I saw them once active on the trip. But mostly they are laying in the grass and sleeping, where one female just looks out. But lions do not have to fear anything and that’s why they do not hide, and sleep. Lions are laying, sleeping and resting for around 20 hours each day. And the male even more, they are just sleeping. And the woman’s are doing the work. Just as usual, what a big surprise. Female lions are mostly hunting in pack. When they catch a prey, the male is allowed to eat first. The lion is not the biggest of the cat family; only the tiger is bigger. The male looks more impressive with its Mane. In the past, the lions were spread over Africa, the middle-east, some parts of Asia and even in the south of Europe (for example the south of Spain). Currently, you only can find lions in Central, East and South Africa and there are some populations of lions left in India. However, that lions are from a different spices as lions; that are the Persian lions. In Africa, you only have the African lion. The male can reach up to 300 kg of weight, the female can reach up to 200 kg. The males are also bigger; 100 to 120 cm for males to 80 to 100 cm for females. Also, males are longer from head to tail. An average female is around 2 meters long, where the male can reach 2,50 meters with a tail of maximum 100 cm. But yes, we saw some lions. Far away from a huge distance and I was not able to photograph them very good. No worry, I have better pictures of them, just go to my next blogpost. But yes, I still agree they are boring, and just relaxing. But that’s what kings do, right? We did not spot the leopard, that brought us at 4/5 of the Big 5! And no giraffes. And some zebras, but too few. I expected more of them. O and a lot of birds. And we were happy to enjoy a good sunrise. The ranger stopped at some places and we were able to shot great pictures and enjoy the great scenery of the African landscape.





Hungry as lions we arrived satisfied back at the lodge. Manda made some great diner for us. He cooked rice and served it with pork, very tender. He made a sweet mix of carrots and we got an aluminum foil package from the grill. It did contain corn, pumpkin and cheese. Manda is a good cook, and this meal was very good. For my feeling, I eaten like an elephant. Satisfied I crawled in my tent. What a lovely safari day! That was so awesome! They say that Hluhuluwe is the best park of South-Africa where it’s likely to see the big 5, and yes this park is amazing. Our tour guide was very good! This was a day that I shall not remember. 4 of the 5, in one day, in three hours. That is amazing, and even a crocodile from close! I defiantly slept like a lion that night.

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Photos

Elephant and baby
Hluhuluwe-Imfolozi N.P.

Feeding of the Bushbabys
in the Bushbaby Lodge

The Indian Ocean
by St. Lucia

Crocodile
at St. Lucia

Hippo's
St. Lucia

Crocodile
Do you see him swimming? In St. Lucia

Hippo's
St. Lucia

IMG_1993
A Heron in St. Lucia

The Safari Truck
Ready to go?!?

Eliphants family
Hluhuluwe-Imfolozi N.P.

Rhino's
Hluhuluwe-Imfolozi N.P.

Zebra's
It's the best shot I could take from them in Hluhuluwe-Imfolozi N.P.

Buffalo's
Hluhuluwe-Imfolozi N.P.

Rhino with it's little friend
This little birds are feeding parasites from the skin of the rhino's.

Elephants
Hluhuluwe-Imfolozi N.P.

Roan Antelope (male)
Hluhuluwe-Imfolozi N.P.

A black Rhino
Hluhuluwe-Imfolozi N.P.

Lions
They are laying in the back; I could not make any better picture than this, in Hluhuluwe-Imfolozi N.P.

Sunset
Hluhuluwe-Imfolozi N.P.