A Crappy Game Drive

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Geo: -26.5225, 31.4659

The heavy rain and storm lasted all night until we got up at 5am. Unfortunately we have already paid for our game drive, if we could, we would have cancelled it. After all that rain, the sightings are not going to be very good. We met at the reception area. There were three of us on the vehicle. From the beginning we were not impressed with the drive or the guide. The guide made mistakes with identifying birds and he didn't seem very enthusiastic with his job. The drive started off very quiet, we saw waterbuck, a large herd of impalas and blue wildebeest. We seemed to be driving along many fences, which spoilt the experience.

We finally came across an interesting sighting. It was an old lion. He was injured, as he had open sores on his back legs. This wasn't nice to see and I felt sorry for him. He was pacing around and seemed distressed. We didn't stay with him for long because of this.

The sky was still dark and gloomy, there was a good chance of more rain. We also came across some female nyalas and a large bull elephant. The elephant was happily eating by the track, quite close to us. On our way out of the enclosed game drive area, we came across some more lion tracks. At about 9am we arrived back at camp. We decided that we were not going to spend another night here and packed up our tent. On the way out of the national park we stopped at the entrance/exit and had a good look at all the items collected over the years by the park rangers. These items were left behind by poachers. There were so many snares – all piled up, backpacks and odd shoes. It was very sad to think that these animals are so vulnerable. With heavy hearts we drove out of the national park and headed south. After about an hour or two we were out of Swaziland and onto our way to Sodwana Bay, back in South Africa.

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Photos

01 Back
The back of a waterbuck.

02 Impala
A herd of impala that scattered away when we appeared.

03 Track
The track ahead of us.

04 Running Along
Impalas and a wildebeest running along the track away from us.

05 Lion
The lion we saw pacing along the fence.

06 Walking Away
The lion walking away from us.

07 Lion
The lion walking aimlessly around.

08 Sore Leg
The back right leg looks very sore.

09 Walking Off
The lion walking off into the bush.

10 Grey Sky
The dark, gloomy sky.

11 Lion Tracks
In the mud we noticed lion tracks.

12 Nyalas
A small herd of female nyalas.

13 Elephant
The bull elephant we came across.

14 Eating
The elephant was happily eating leaves and grass.

15 Eating
The elephant using its trunk to bring food to its mouth.

16 Scenery
The scenery of Hlane Royal National Park.

17 More Tracks
More lion tracks that we drove past.

18 Tent
Our campsite for last night - in Paul's favourite position, right by the fence.

19 Snares
Many snares and other items left behind by the poachers.

20 Snares
Many snares and other items left behind by the poachers.

21 Snares
Many snares and other items left behind by the poachers.

22 Snares
Many snares and other items left behind by the poachers.