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Published: August 22nd 2021
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Kruger National Park
Stunning view from chalet at Olifants.
CLICK TO ENLARGE “You watch the slow lope of a lioness and forget to breathe. You marvel at the tripod of a giraffe bent to water.” – Jodi Picoult Olifants camp was the next destination on this journey and, on this occasion, a golden rule had to be broken by virtue of the distance getting there being 154kms which was much further than the target of about 75kms travel between stops. The reason for this was largely not being able to book into any other camp closer to Lower Sabie as we had spent time camping a few years back at Satara. Not a problem as it afforded time to thread slowly to the end point taking in the spectacular Kruger tapestry of endless views and multiple brown and green colours. Impossible to get bored gazing at these surrounds.
A quick stop at the Nkumbe view site on the H10 provided a superb, high vantage point scan of the plains below, stretching to the far western horizon. A short distance from this stop, ever vigilant Sue, spotted two beautiful Klipspringer on a rocky ridge right alongside the road. To see them as close as they were was special, as they are often
Kruger National Park
A Klipspringer up close. on a distant outcrop and difficult to see well. They have unique feet and walk on the tips of their hooves which allows them to bound unhindered up steep rock faces and from boulder to boulder. They form monogamous pairs and stick together for life in a mutual territory. They have the advantage of seeing danger from afar and respond to any threats by freezing and allowing their colouring and shapes to blend into their rocky territory. Interestingly, they drink from rock pools after rains but are not water dependent.
An important ritual on any visit to a game reserve is the “breakfast stop” which in Kruger means finding a picnic site. It was apt that, at roughly the half way mark, a magnetic force prevailed as we drifted into the Tshokwane picnic site. The process is simple; locate a table, hire a gas fired skottel and once it is firing; add bacon, eggs, bread and whatever lifts one’s skirt. The aroma around the area gets the taste buds dancing up a storm! Bladders are normally at bursting point so these stops afford the opportunity to expunge. Nasty surprise for many folk as all the ablution areas were closed
Kruger National Park
Sharpe's grysbok. A first sighting and wonder how many have been sighted in Kruger? (due to a burst water pipe). The looks of firstly, disappointment, and then sheer panic on many faces was interesting. Being simple country people; “around the corner, behind the bush” worked just fine for us.
To digress to people for a moment. Received this little gem from a mate which sums things up succinctly;
“The difference between humans and animals? Animals would never allow the dumbest ones to lead the pack.” Kruger is pumping; all the camps we have stayed at are full. What has been interesting is the “grey nomad” phenomenon as we find ourselves sharing the park with a distinctly ageing population. Registration plates cover every province and most drivers seem to have picked up the Eastern Cape habit of waving as they go by.
Olifants Camp has a wonderful location atop a steep hillside with breath-taking views of the Olifants River below and vast plains to the south. Our bungalow location was ideal and provided a wide-angle lens of this stunning view. There was just enough time to do a short late afternoon drive in the direction of the Balule Bush Camp and once again, lady luck kicked in and we ticked off two “lifers”
Kruger National Park
Breakfast in the bush. It does not get any better! (never seen before). Crossing a shallow causeway, which still had a splash of summer rainfall, two gorgeously coloured waders came into view. None other than a pair of
painted snipes. The name is fitting as it looks as though a skilled painter has crafted in some special markings which our bird books didn’t quite replicate. And then, a little further on, we stumbled upon a
Sharpe’s Grysbok which
stood transfixed alongside the vehicle. The streaked markings on its body in the late afternoon sunlight were beautiful. It has short and upright horns and is largely solitary. Mainly nocturnal which probably explains why they are not often seen. Once again, animal and bird sightings proved to involve a lot of luck and being in the right place at the right moment.
Somewhat surprisingly for this time of year, the temperature on our second day at Olifants hit 40 deg C late afternoon. Sitting around a warm campfire that evening in the 30 plus C temperature seemed bizarre but this little blast of heat was a precursor to a weather change when a sneaky southerly breeze set in and cooled things down considerably. The park is bone dry which is normal for late winter but heavy summer rains, earlier in the year, have left many pools of water in sandy river beds.
Kruger Park fact file: In the bigger scheme of things, I guess there are dangers associated with being in a wildlife park. Which raises a question;
so, just how many humans are killed by wild animals in Africa? Answer, look no further than the internet where a certain Sarah Kingdom posted an article on 28th May 2021 on this very subject. In brackets are the estimated annual number of human fatalities. 1. Hippopotamus (3,000). Do not get between a hippo and her kids. 2. Elephants (500). Weighing up to 7 tons, it has the weight advantage in any skirmish. 3. Crocodiles (300). Not a good idea to wash or collect water from a pool hosting crocs. 4. Lion (250). Does not deliberately target humans. There are known cases of Mozambican refugees crossing Kruger and being attacked and eaten by lions. 5. Buffalo (200). An aggressive and unpredictable animal skilled at goring a victim with those impressive horns. And then for good measure, the mosquito is listed and estimated that malaria kills a million people a year. What caught my attention was mention of the puff adder which kills about 32,000 people annually. It does not flee from danger and most people are bitten when they accidentally step on them. Hopefully, these little shockers are still in hibernation mode.
The
Olifants camp was delightful and our rating was 18/20. It is not as busy as some of the other big camps, the location and views are incredible and the accommodation was spot on. What impressed further was receiving an email, after leaving, from the camp requesting feedback on our stay and ideas for improvement. Nice touch!
“The truth is: the natural world is changing. And we are totally dependent on that world. It provides our food, water and air. It is the most precious thing we have and we need to defend it.” – Sir David Attenborough.
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Megan
non-member comment
Your trip just gets better and better! Well done on your two new lifers...it may involve luck but it also requires people who are involved in and interacting with the environment. As you so succinctly observe, how can one ever tire of the beauty, ever changing scenery, sounds, smells and sights of the African bush. Thank you for sharing! (P.S. good thing we didn’t know the fatality statistics before our various wild camping adventures. Remember how we actually LOVED the nightly lion roaring, hoping they pride would visit our camp!)