Advertisement
Published: November 9th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Even after all that driving around earlier in the day, we still had more! Around 5:30pm, we switched to another truck for a sunset drive. This time led by Thomas, a park guide.
The first thing we passed was a pick-up truck with 4 park rangers, two of them carrying massive guns. My initial thought was protection from the animals. But then Michael said they were on patrol for poachers. Someone asked what happens when they find poaches, surely they’d be armed and would resist. “They all open fire. It’s a war. That’s why the rangers are trained like soldiers.” Really? someone asked. Michael’s repsonse, “This is the bush.”
Later, another guide, Stuart, told me just how bad the poachers are. “Gruesome,” he said. And no animal is safe; they’re all hunted. In recent years, park authorities stopped a man at a gate because blood was dripping from his caravan; inside they found about 50 impala carcasses, all gutted and hanging. The man was a local, about 60 years old and frequently came to the park for most of his life - poaching every time! Some animals will be sold locally, many are shipped to China to sell in
the markets. Rhino horns are in big demand there because they’re believed to be an aphrodisiac. It’s horrifying. I can understand (not condone), locals who can make say 5000 rand (about $700 Canadian) for a kill when otherwise they’d have nothing. But those overseas who will buy and collect for 50,000 rand? I cannot comprehend. Buy an animal! Maybe I’m just young, liberal and environmentally friendly, but I think it’s disgusting. And it’s a big problem in Kruger because they just don’t have the money and man-power to stop it.
After the rangers, we drove around, stopping often for birds and bugs (which Crystal and I laughed about. We wanted a leopard!) But soon the sun started setting and we enjoyed a pretty sunset with lots of photo taking. And then it was dark, so out came the super bright spotlights to shine into the brush, one which I was given.
Imagine driving along in the darkest dark. An overcast night with no stars and only a very dimmed moon. Your eyes frantically scan the fields and bushes. Continually you’re sure you see something but it’s always rocks, trees, mud, shadows, your imagination. Your imagination creates all sorts
of scenarios. Waiting waiting waiting. Searching searching searching. Then you see it, a shining reflection of your light, a pair of eyes glowing in the dark. “Stop!” The trucks stops, reverses. Everyone with lights shine them in the direction you’re pointing. First you find the eyes again. Then, because you’re looking for it and have slowed down, you see the animal.
It’s awesome! I loved the night drive. It felt like a real adventure. And I found it easier to catch onto than say the right shade of brown amongst the brown grass to spot a lion. I could do many more night drives.
We saw more impalas. Of course. And lots of bushbabies, which apparently are almost as common as the impalas. Their eyes glow a red/organe and are in the trees. They almost look like fireflies flitting about as they move from branch to branch. We also saw a Genet, a white and black spotted carnivore that looks cat-like. It was curled up in a tree until it scampered off.
Allan (fellow Canadian on the tour) made the best spot of the night. He yelled stop, we backed up and then sitting on a mound
of dirt right at the side of the road was our final of the Big Five: a leopard. We’d barely stopped the truck when it came down and crossed the road right behind us, then into the bush on the other side. There was some frantic searching before we all turned off the lights. The driver made some animal calls. A few minutes later, we heard movement in the bush and someone saw a shadow on the road. Lights back on. A hyena had appeared! It spent awhile on the road behind us, walking around. It was so cool to see - and so close to us! But I also found it really creepy. I then spotted the leopard again, back behind the trees. But unfortunately, the hyena seemed intent on making the leopard back off. And so we moved on.
Driving along, I kept thinking about humans as animals. If it weren’t for our brains and tools, how would we ever survive out there? We can’t outrun the animals. We couldn’t fight their size, strength, teeth, claws. We can’t even see them without floodlights! Before we became “civilized”, it’s amazing we ever survived!
For the final 20-30
minutes, it was quiet and we didn’t see anything. We were headed back and were almost to the campsite. I was still searching, totally determined. For a stretch there were a lot of trees, all right up beside the road. Then suddenly an elephant’s face also right next to the road! “Stop!” We backed up. And sure enough, only about 8 feet away, an elephant stood there. If he’d lifted his trunk and I reached, we’d probably have touched. It was awesome. A few feet farther along the road, a second elephant was on the other side, just slightly further back.
And then we were back at camp. And we realized just how close the animals are to our camp. We really are sleeping in the bush!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.09s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 9; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0667s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
swills82
Sarah Willett
LUCKY!!!
You saw the big 5! Amazing. Sounds like quite the adventure!