Really wild

---

Within three days of arriving in Africa we had already seen more amazing animals than we thought we might see in three months here. Kruger really deserves its reputation as one of the best wildlife parks in the world.

We arrived in Johannesburg in the middle of a fearsome rainstorm and were too exhausted after the long flight from Sydney to do anything other than flop at our hostel. We didn't have any plans beyond that. Over breakfast we got chatting to a guy from Cape Town, Roger, who had picked his sister Pam up from the same Sydney flight and was planning to drive to a village near Kruger that morning if we felt like joining them. An offer too good to refuse and the beginning of a marvellous friendship!

Roger is a tour guide from Cape Town (Contact him at See Cape Town for details of his excellent range of personal tours). He did a marvellous job giving us a guided tour of the scenic route from Johannesburg to Kruger. We stopped at a bird of prey sanctuary for a wonderful demonstration by some of the residents, an old goldrush town Pilgrims Rest for a slap up lunch, the stunning Blyde River canyon, Bourkes Luck potholes for some unusual rock formations, and even managed to fit in a couple of waterfalls to boot. It was a full day and we arrived at Hazyview near Kruger well after dark.

After some toing and froing between dodgy-looking and unhelpful budget accommodation choices, we settled on Kruger backpackers, which was excellent in the end. We were extremely grateful to Roger and Pam not just for giving us a lift, but for making sure we were based somewhere acceptable! They bid us farewell and we settled down for the night in our lovely en-suite rondavel, a circular dwelling based on traditional Zulu huts so we were told. The hostel sorted us out with a safari for the following day leaving at 6 a.m.. Luckily we were still running on Australia time so the early start wasn't too much of a problem. Even so, we couldn't really believe it when we were sitting in the back of an open-sided jeep heading for the park gate just as the sky was starting to brighten the next morning.

We had the jeep and guide to ourselves for most of the day. Our first few sightings were pretty exciting, but didn't rank on the list of must-see creatures. We saw plenty of antelope of all shapes and sizes, then a baboon troupe going about its morning rituals, then we spied a buffalo and calf hidden in the long grass near the road. One of the big 5. But not very exciting. They weren't doing much it has to be said. After breakfast there was a bit of a lull. We didn't see much for a while and the sun had come out sending most of the animals into the shade out of sight. We took a tip from a friendly car full of people who said they had seen a big elephant by the side of the road, and soon enough found him. The guide explained that older males are often found by themselves. Younger males group together, but once you get really grey and wrinkly, you're on your own in the elephant world.

Later in the day we saw a group of three younger male elephants near the road. It was our first scary moment. One of the males was displaying all his credentials and the guide explained the elephant was in must and we had to proceed with caution. The ele made a few mock charges and several cars decided it was too much for them and reversed quick sharp out of the area. Our guide was a bit cooler behind the wheel and managed to manoeuvre us into a safe position. The agitated elephant soon lost interest and went back to grazing and we were able to watch him and his chums munching low branches and ripping up vegetation with their trunks.

Later in the day we picked up another couple from one of the camps who had been staying in Kruger for days and had seen heaps of stuff. We tried not to be jealous. We watched a couple of white rhino grazing the lush grass around a termite mound, saw some giraffe, hippo and zebra and lots more impala, kudu and other types of antelope. A pretty amazing day. We resigned ourselves to not seeing any big cats despite our jeep companions telling us how they had seen lions every day. After we dropped them back at their camp, we headed off on the main road for the park gate. A few hundred metres later we screeched to a halt as two young adult male lions - beautiful specimens - slouched out of the long grass and across the road. They had clearly been asleep there most of the day, just out of sight. They stretched, yawned, took turns spraying their territory then mooched off down the road without a backward glance. We just sat open mouthed. The photos are all rubbish as it was getting dark and I was shaking so much, but we couldn't believe the perfect end to the day.

The next day we couldn't wait to get back in the park. We had agreed with Roger to go on a walking safari with him and Pam if he could arrange it. Not a problem. It meant an even earlier start though, but we were ready and waiting at 4.30 the next morning. Our guides, two strong looking guys armed to the teeth, met us at the gate and explained the safety procedures and made us sign a big disclaimer. We had to walk in single file behind the big guns and maintain strict silence. We should only use clicks or whistles if we needed to attract the guide's attention and should make sure we didn't get separated from the group. The guide explained how the animals didn't register vehicles as a threat, but once we were outside the vehicle, we were a noisy, smelly entity that was a big threat to anything. We didn't want to scare off the creatures in the park, and most of all we didn't want to initiate any kind of confrontation. Yikes.

We drove deep into the park - enjoying the sunrise and seeing lots of giraffe and zebra in the dawn sunshine. Once we got out and set off, it was clear this was a totally different experience to being in a jeep. The scale of everything changed. The piles of rhino poo we had seen from the jeep earlier, suddenly looked enormous. We learned more about rhino toilet habits than anyone really needs to know. Our guide told us we were on a well trodden rhino path and we may well see some. He told us about the plants and insect life all around us and it was all rather interesting. But then we glimpsed a pair of rhinos in the distance. We were hushed and made to group together. The rhinos didn't see us at all and crossed our path a safe distance away. White rhinos have pretty poor eyesight. They graze grass all day and are good at focussing on the ground, but not at things in the distance. This is great if the wind is blowing in the right direction, but if they get a whiff of you, they might decide to take a closer look to assess the threat level. And if they decide you are a threat, they'll probably charge. With these thoughts in our heads we turned around and headed back to our track. Just as we turned, I caught sight of another rhino following the other two, but he seemed a bit lost and was coming our way. I desperately clicked my fingers to attract attention and the guides spun round ready for action. We froze and waited and the lone rhino found his path and trotted off away from us. Big sighs of relief.

Further on, we had a couple of even closer encounters. Once we were seen but the rhino quickly turned tail and went off in the opposite direction. Another time, we climbed a rocky outcrop for a snack break and were able to watch a big old male snuffle around below us. Then on our way back to the jeep, we came across a mother rhino and calf grazing and scratching themselves on tree trunks right in front of us. We were as quiet as possible and watched for what seemed like ages, but was only a few seconds really. We were so close that there was nothing for it but to stand frozen. Then the mother rhino saw us. She paused then took a couple of steps towards us. I managed to click my camera then was too scared to move another muscle. A split second later, as she took another step, the chief guide grabbed a fallen branch and gave a loud shout, waving the branch in front of him. The rhino paused for a split second - and we knew if she'd started charging in that moment we would have been flattened - then she spun round and ran off, her calf by her side.

We were stunned and relieved and exhilerated. The guide said he had had to act in that second becuase she may have charged if he'd waited any longer. No kidding. Forget all those expensive adrenaline sports. This was pant soiling stuff. I was really shaking as we walked off and it took a long time for the adrenaline to wear off. When you're on the ground like that, even with armed guards, there's no doubting the physical superiority of the big beasts. I empathised with the antelope a lot more all of a sudden.

On the way out of the park, we came across a large group of vehicles jostling for position. Always a sign there's something good to see. We asked what was going on, and somebody said there were leopards in the trees. We couldn't believe it. We hadn't even set that much store by spotting all 5 of the big 5. Our budget and time in the park probably just weren't going to be enough to stand much of a chance. But here we were with a chance of seeing leopards and completely the check list. We queued up and finally got into a position where, with binoculars and a little bit of imagination, we could see two leopards stretched out in the branches, legs hanging down, sleeping away the afternoon. One was rubbing his head against the branch and kept flicking his ears. I can't say it was a great view. My tiny camera just captured vegetation, but if you zoom in, just, you can see a few spots forming a distincly leopardlike pattern. We couldn't ask for more, really.

Pam and Roger gave us a lift back to Johannesburg the following day, after a celebratory dinner together in Hippo Hollow, Hazyview, where you can watch the hippos in the river over dinner. We had a few days left before flying to Cape Town so went on a couple of trips. Nothing beats seeing animals in the wild, but the possibility of getting to stroke a lion cub took us to the lion park just outside Johannesburg. We saw lots more lions then were admitted to the petting enclosure where we got to tickle some gorgeous 3 month old cubs. One sank his teeth into my fleece but was only playing. Pretty strong jaws though!

We went on a tour of Soweto, which was moving and troubling and joyous all at the same time. There was so much pride in the changes that are taking place in South Africa and it was hard to belive that a few years ago, we wouldn't have been able to go to the places we were visiting or even associate with our guides on such an equal footing. But the economic divisions in South African society were brutally apparent in Soweto. We also went to the excellent appartheid museum where you are given a black or white ticket at the entrance and forced to use a separate gate and take a separate route into the museum depending on the colour assigned. A disorientating and effective introduction and a superb, detailed museum that should be given the time and effort it demands.

All in all, an action packed and emotional first week in South Africa.

---

Photos

White Rhino
Face to face on our walking safari in Kruger. Sharp exit required.

Turbo the owl and me
Demonstration at the Birds of Prey sanctuary

Roger and Pam
Lovely people who gave us a lift - we got to be good friends!

Yikes
There go my stripes

Milly and Pumba
Proof that all the big game was on Graham's side of the truck. I get to have my photo taken with a cheeky warthog. No change there...

Big boys
OK, we took this photo at the lion park near Johannesburg, but the ones we saw in Kruger looked just like this.

Soweto
Only one part of the township. We saw affluent neighbourhoods and lots of contrasts too.

Museum piece
Entrance to the appartheid museum in Johannesburg

Comments

[Stuart]

Safari nerves
YIKES, CLICK, CLICK, you were scared of Rhino on his own and lost, can't believe that. Glad to know that you can have a dinner conversation about their toilet habits.