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Published: June 17th 2017
01 Road Block
Three various aged giraffe blocking the road.Geo: -27.5911, 32.021
It was already light at 4:30am, which caused me to wake up. We got out of the tent about 15 minutes later and left for our morning game drive at 5:10am. The sky was cloudy and overcast, if the weather didn't improve I wouldn't be able to swim later on!
Soon after entering the park we came across a tower of giraffe who were standing in the road facing us. They were in the same place as they were last night along with the zebra. We spotted fresh rhino poo on the road- this was a sign that there is a good chance of seeing the rhino. We saw more giraffe, impalas and zebras.
Paul continued being excited by the variety of birds. I then spotted the white rhino. The rhino had a lot of flies around it as well as a couple of Red Billed Oxpeckers on its back eating the ticks from its skin. There were also a few Cattle Egrets around, also eating bugs and flies. We continued on and saw a herd of female kudus. We could only do a short game drive as we were going on a guided bush walk and had to
03 Rhino
The white rhino as it slowly walks away. meet our guide at 6am at the main camp – Mantuma.
We met our guide Patrick and were joined by three other guests on the vehicle. We were being guided through the Fig Tree Walk. It was an half an hour drive to where the walk began.
Along the way we saw zebra, impala, nyala, baboons and monkeys with very young babies. The most interesting thing we saw along the way was some freckled Thick Knee eggs. They had been laid by the side of the road among the pebbles- which helps to camouflage them from predators.
We began our walk going across two bridges that swayed from side to side with our weight on them. As I walked across I was looking for crocodiles and hippos- but saw none of either animal. The forest was thick and full of various bird calls. One of the most interesting birds we saw and heard was the Trumpeter Hornbill. It made a sound that resembled a baby crying. There were a few of them around.
We also heard hippos and saw their deep tracks in the mud. Hippos are one of the reasons that this walk must be done with an armed guide,
04 Pair
A pair of giraffe that seem to be looking out for something. as well as the other dangerous animals that could be in here. We came across an elevated wooden walkway. This gave us a bit more of a birds eye view of the forest. Patrick spotted a Pel's Fishing Owl – the reason many people do this walk is to see this bird. It is a rare, endangered large owl. We descended the elevated walkway, continued walking and identifying the bird species we could hear and see. This forest is appropriately named as there were many large, old fig trees.
From my right side I heard something in the forest. The low branches moved, fallen twigs cracked, I stopped in my tracks. Two heads appeared, looked at us and ran off. It was only female nyalas! But they were enough the scare the living daylights out of me.
We had arrived back at the bridges, our walk was nearly over. Again I looked for hippos and crocodiles in the rivers, but saw none. From the middle of the first bridge I could see two warthogs up ahead on the path. They watched us as we came closer to them and then they ran away with their tails up in the air.
05 Another Rhino
Another rhino surrounded by both a Cattle Egret and Red Billed Oxpeckers. We were now back at the vehicle. It would be about another half an hour until we arrived back at the main camp. Patrick drove back to camp using a different route from earlier this morning.
Along the way back we saw the usual suspects of zebra, impala, white rhino, wildebeest and two troops of noisy baboons. Back at the main camp we had breakfast at the Rhin-O-Dino cafe. It was time for a rest from driving around, so we went back to our campsite. Back in the tent I did some reading and had a little nap.
Our afternoon drive began at 3pm. We saw baboons that were busy looking for insects in the grass. In the same place as we have previously seen them were giraffes, wildebeest, impalas and zebras. Further on, at the side of the road we saw a pair of Crested Franklins- not a very interesting or intelligent bird. But this pair had little chicks, so cute to watch.
Paul heard the warning call of the impala. We carefully looked to see what animal was causing the impala to be scared. Paul spotted a leopard! The leopard began to stalk the impala – who were
07 Kudus
A small herd of female kudus. very aware of its presence and quickly bolted away. I haven't seen a wild leopard for about a year, so this was a very special sighting.
We drove along the Insumo Pan. From the road I could see hippos bobbing in the water. Near the pan we also saw quite a few young antelopes - impala and nyala. At the Insumo Pan Hide there wasn't much more here than yesterday. Once again, there were a variety of weavers tightly holding onto the reeds. We left the hide and started driving back towards camp. The next sighting was a pair of white rhinos and then a few minutes later we saw another paid of white rhinos.
This afternoon's drive went very quickly, we weren't ready to go back to camp yet. It wasn't worth getting back late because if we are back after 7pm, we will be fined. Just before we arrived back we saw a spotted hyena by the side of the road - probably going to start his hunt or scavenging. We arrived back just in time, with a minute or two to spare.
While we were waiting to the fire to be ready to cook on, we saw the wild pig
08 Eggs
A Spotted Thick Knees eggs, which were laid by the side of the road. near the ablutions block. Right next to the ablutions block there were a few large bins. The wild pig was in heaven. One by one he knocked them over and scavenged the few pieces of food in there. We watched him from the safety of a fence between us. He left within ten minutes of arriving. Then we went back to cook our dinner. We enjoyed another night under the stars, listening to the nocturnal sounds of the bush. Once again, as we were falling asleep the wild pig came to our campsite, knocked over our bin and enjoyed our food scraps.
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