Manyoni game reserve day 2

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In the words of the Dinah Washington song, what a difference a day makes. It was at least 20C cooler than the previous day! The wind whistled around us all night, and we felt it in our lodge through the thatched roof. It was trying to rain, but mercifully never came to much. Having previously been too hot in just a thin shirt and trousers, today we added a sweater and a hoodie and, after a while, our rain jackets. We were glad of the blankets provided, to keep our legs warm and the cameras dry. Game drives are not so scenic in cloudy weather, but we were hopeful that the cooler weather would bring out more animals. We spent the first half hour unsuccessfully looking for hyenas, and began to fear this might be an unrewarding drive. But then one of our fellow passengers shouted ‘rhino!’ Graeme said, no, it was a just a rock. ‘Rocks don’t have ears that move’. Faye was quite right, and a big black rhino (far rarer than the white rhinos) lumbered slowly towards us. Black rhinos are easily distinguished from white rhinos as they hold their heads much higher.

At the end of our drive, we were nearly at the lodge when Graeme suddenly turned off down a side track. He pulled up a short distance away, where we found a small swing hanging from a branch, set out with a blanket and six champagne glasses. Well, it’s never too early for a glass of bubbly……

One guest asked if it was safe to go for a run. Graeme recommended against it, saying he had stopped doing so after encountering a lion while out running one morning when he was a novice ranger. He sprinted for the nearest tree and reckons he was about ten feet up the tree in one bound. He sat in the branches as high as he dared go, but the lion lay down at the foot of the tree and watched and waited for him. After three hours, another guide mercifully showed up with a vehicle full of tourists, and Graeme was able to jump down onto the bonnet. Of course he was not teased or laughed at all by the other rangers afterwards. Nowadays if he wants to go for a walk in the bush he only does so when armed with a rifle, because when on foot you are sensing what is going on around you, if you are running you are not. Fortunately we’d never be tempted to go for a run in the bush!

In the afternoon we set off under leaden skies. Over the radio we learned the elephants had been sighted after many days, so we set off into the hills to look for them. The roads into the hills are much rougher and less well maintained. The two male lions who hang out together were in the vicinity but we did not see them. We came across a troupe of baboons, crossing through the bush and across the road with much screaming and hollering from the juveniles. They would look at us and run away hooting with laughter. From time to time the dominant male would give some of the youngsters a slap to keep them in order.



We climbed higher into the hills on tracks that at times are almost tilted at 45 degrees, with much engaging of the 4WD when the massive torque from the Land Cruiser's engine comes in very useful. Suddenly we saw the elephant herd. We got excited seeing them just across the valley at maybe 200 yards away, but we dropped down to what turned out to be a crossing point of the road. There was one other vehicle positioned on the other side of the dip. The herd came into view on our left, moving slowly and crashing through the vegetation. They were led by the massive dominant bull. He lumbered towards the gap between the vehicles to cross the road. At the last minute he veered towards our vehicle to inspect us. He stopped with his tusks about six feet from David's face and sniffed and inspected us. This went on for several minutes……eventually he backed away slightly and resumed the crossing. Having passed the front of our vehicle and thankfully decided not to ram us or sit on the bonnet, he stopped just in front of us and manoeuvred his trunk around sniffing both us and the other vehicle. Then he moved off to eat some vegetation. David denies that at any point was he phased by this staring contest with a 12 feet tall bull elephant.

Once the bull had established all was well, the rest of the herd crossed, about thirty of them in total. Some came through the gap but some came behind the other vehicle. There was one tiny calf in the herd, let by his mother in front of him and his little sister behind.

The herd having passed, the light started to fade and the wind whipped up. We decided to take our drinks in the lodge rather than having a pit stop in the bush so returned home.

Scroll down for more photos.

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