Monday September 8th, 2014- Leaving Jo’ burg and arriving Hoedspruit, South Africa

We woke up a little later than usual today, to grab a quick breakfast, re-pack and prepare for our next flight. We were ready by 8:45 on the dot, which was 15 minutes before our ride was supposed to arrive. We waited in the lobby for 30 minutes before we grabbed the itinerary and called to find out where our ride was. At 9:30 he arrived at the hotel where we quickly piled into the car and we were soon off to the airport. Brad and I were concerned that we wouldn’t arrive in time for the 2 hour before domestic fight requirements, but here they only require 1 hour in advance. We arrived at the airport where we checked in and got through security. Brad and I grabbed a coffee which was extremely crowded with female students, all in short green skirts and a green business jacket. We had guessed it was some sort of school outing. We went downstairs where we went through the gates, onto a bus, and arrived at our mode of transportation which was another prop plane. We came to find out the planes were converted bombers. The other passengers looked out the bus, at the plane and you could hear several American voices go “No, that can’t be our plane! It has propellers! Maybe they’re checking if there is another plane for us.” I jabbed Brad, because we had similar thoughts back in Cape Town, when we saw it the first time. We all loaded up for our flight, which was a quick one hour flight to Hoedspruit. I wouldn’t say we landed so much as our plane touched down… it was more like a thud. We traveled for what seemed to be forever before stopping at the end of the runway which had, no joke, a hut at the end. You know you’re at a small airport, when you see a Sesna awaiting passengers. I joked with Brad if that is our flight back. The hut was barb wired around where the planes loaded up. We walked through the barb wire to see our Ranger for the park waiting for us. He pointed us in the direction of the luggage, and said he would meet us up there. We walked into an area with a restroom, which I gladly used. I was afraid if I used the bathroom in the plane, it would lose altitude from the movement. Then walked around the corner to find the outdoors where Brad was already waiting. I looked around hoping to see a conveyor belt with our luggage, and he said “nope, it’s supposed to be around here somewhere.” We waited for about 5 minutes when guess what we see… a tractor pulling the luggage cart. I couldn’t help but laugh. The luggage cart pulled up along side us with one bag sitting on the front of the tractor, the rest in the back. After our bags were unloaded, we piled them into the Land Cruiser (similar to Karega’s, but more of a camo green color). Our Ranger’s name is Jo, and he explained that we were about a 15 minute drive from the lodge and would arrive shortly. We pulled out from the airport and the park was right on the other side of the road.

The two parks we’ve been to are surprisingly different. At Karega (Near Port Elizabeth) the park was on top of a mountainside whose mountain resembled a foot resting on the ground. Our chalet was on the top, overlooking the mountains and the flatland in between. The area was lush with trees of evergreen, spearmint, and lime greens. The familiar scents of pine and eucalyptus filled the air, much to my allergies discontent. A copper or rust colored roads carved paths along the steep hills. Then of course there is their pet giraffe named Digler. I wasn’t sure what to expect when we arrived at Hodespruit but we knew there would be some pretty serious competition with our previous experience. The area here is a dusty sandstone color with stripes of rust colored dirt depending on the road. As we drove, I wanted to believe the ground was striped like a zebra to the colors sandstone and rust, however logic got the best of me and I remembered that it was probably just the sedimentary layers of the earth. The grass surrounding the roads were all dormant from the winter, and the trees bare. Early spring was evident everywhere you looked. Out in the distance you could see older mountain ranges poking out of the horizon with a smoky blue hue to it. The major difference with this park, is it seems more rural and flat. The fences aren’t as obvious, nor are highways, telephone lines. The only thing that links this park with the outside world is a run of electrical wires which goes down the side of one road…. and the occasional sound of a plane and a train. Since we arrived mid-day several of the animals were already out and about. A zebra casually hanging out by the road, a giraffe snacking on an obliging tree, and warthogs running across the road. We arrived at the lodge where we were greeted by the manager, and some staff with cool towels and an orientation where we were walked through the itinerary of the lodge. Since it was almost 2pm, and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. We grabbed a quick lunch of Thai chicken in a vegetable sauce. Finally, good Thai flavor, even if it was pretty sweet. After lunch we were taken to our home for the next few days which was… get this… A TENT! I would describe it more as an awesome tree house, where you can see antelope, water buck, and hear monkeys playing in the trees, sometimes landing on the roof. We put our stuff down, and quickly made our way to coffee and the afternoon game drive.

The drives here are very different than what we had seen at Karega (near Port Elizabeth). There we had a ranger who would determine the animal’s location by word of mouth on the radio. Whereas here (Kapama Game Reserve), we had a ranger and a spotter who worked together as a team to find the animals locations. Our spotter’s name is Foster, who sits on the front of the land cruiser, and follows the animal tracks as we drive down the roads. His years of experience are obvious as we drive down the road, we stop quickly to see that there are leopard marks on the side. He explains that he must have just killed something and should be nearby. Foster and Jo get out of the Land Cruiser and find the leopard in bushes to the side of the road. However, since this area is divided up we weren’t allowed to go in that side, but we also weren’t allowed to get out of the vehicle to take pictures. They worked together with the appropriate people to get us closer to the action. We went off roaring to grab a quick picture of the leopard, about 40′ away from us, eating its dinner. Jo turned us around, and promised to come back in a little bit so we could get a closer view of it. We stopped off by the side of a lake to see a fully grown male lion snoozing under some trees. He didn’t seem too bothered with the sound of the engines. After a brief photo op, we moved around the corner where he woke up, stretched and fell back asleep. We went out for another drive where we stopped off at a clearing to see South Africa’s most infamous scenery, the sunset. The sun set in a haze of oranges and purples set against the mountain ranges to the left and the bare trees in front of us. It seemed like something out of a movie, we grabbed drinks which seems to be a common activity for the different game reserves.

Before the sun set completely, we all piled back into the land cruiser where we headed off to find the leopard. We went back to the same area, where Jo got the idea to drive through the bushes to find him. Now, when I say bushes I should explain the types of bushes and trees which grow here. For one, the giraffes and elephants snack on a tree with thorns that range between 1/2″ and 4″. So as we were driving through the bushes we were seldom given the “Duck” warning or “shrubbery” warning. We went through several of these types of bushes. You know things got real, when Jo brings out a machete and starts whacking limbs off the trees in an attempt to get the land cruiser through. We went through the bushes for about 15 minutes when finally we arrived. We were still about 20 feet away from the leopard, but were able to catch him dining on his meal. Then the fun came… we had to turn back around. Just imagine what it’s like with 8 people crowded in the back, in theater like seating as sharp tree branches plow into your shoulders and other areas. We were all told that the branches are not poisonous, or sharp but to watch out for the thorns. I curled up in a ball with my hat over my neck and hair as the branches tugged and pulled at my shirt and hat. At two separate times, I had my hat caught in a tree, and my shirt. At one point I felt a sting on my arm, which turned out to be an inch long horn sticking into my wrist. “Thank god I have all my shots,” I thought as I pulled the thorn out of my wrist. Finally the deluge ended and we were free of the trees, however when I tried to sit back in my seat, thorns covered the seat. I finally understood wily-e coyote, when he lands in a cactus and has to pick prickers out of his butt. We pulled over in a clearing where we were all unloaded, we cleaned off, and the seats were swept down so we could all sit comfortably. We cleaned off our scrapes and placed anti-septic on everything and moved on. It was probably the most authentic safari experience I had witnessed to date. I can imagine the first settlers back in the 1800’s, when they went on safari I can’t imagine they would have had newly surfaced dirt roads with clear paths.
On the way back to the lodge we ran across some elephants foraging on the side of the road. We stopped as the crossed our paths. They couldn’t have been more than arms length away at all times. Then we passed by a sleeping giraffe which believe it or not, sleeps with it’s legs tucked under its body and it’s neck straight up in the air. Unfortunately, we couldn’t use our flash on any of these animals so I don’t have documentation of them. But it was pretty neat to see, to say the least. We returned to the lodge where we cleaned up and headed to dinner at the Boma (a south African BBQ). Where I dined on bread, chicken, and wine. We spoke with Jo about the adventures of the day, and he discussed his history with touring with us. Then, a short while later it was bed time. I showered quickly to get the smell of smoke out of my hair and it was off to bed, dreaming of leopards and the adventures that await.