Today is bitter sweet, it’s the last full day of South Africa before we travel home. I woke up feeling infinitely better than the previous morning, and ready to hit the road running. We all met up at the usual time for our morning drive, and the object for this morning was elephants… or so I thought. The way this game park works (not all) is that the park is 14,000 hectares, which are divided up into N,S,E,W and the ranger has to pick an area and if he goes in the north east quadrant in the morning, then he can’t go there in the evening… even if that’s where all the animals are. With that large of a park, so many animals, and so many roads you wouldn’t think it should be an issue; but sometimes it is. This morning we weren’t able to go see the elephants because they had wandered onto the other side of the park where we had previously been, so instead we saw some wildebeest, rhinos, monkeys, and of course lions. The wildebeest here roam in herds which is very different that what we saw at Karega (near Port Elizabeth). There, all of the animals would create a multi variety of animals and would forage in groups. Here, the animals stick with their own kind and are always on alert. I guess that’s because here, there are so many predators. Plus, they’re not separated out like at Karega with some animals on the safe side, and some on the “bait” side. The rhinos we saw were different as well. The ones at Karega were voluntarily de-horned, due to rhino horn poaching. Three rhinos were attacked, and only one survived the attack so they voluntarily de-horned all of their rhinos to prevent poaching. Here at Kapama, they work with nature conservationists, the military, and other game lodges to watch and protect the rhinos. When we came up to the rhinos, they had their horns. It creates a much different, and more recognizable silhouette when they have them. They couldn’t have been more than five feet from our vehicle, and for a change… I saw faces, NO BUTTS! Jo explained to us that they have extremely thick skin everywhere except their ears, behind, and a few other softer areas which causes a lice/ insect problem. So there are a few birds which chill out with the Rhinos and eat the pests out of the rhinos ears. They also provide a bit of security by using their superior (to the rhino) eyesight to alarm the rhinos of danger. I believe the bird was called an “oxbird” but I would have to verify. If you ever want to hear a hilarious sound, listen to a rhino smack it’s lips together when chewing the grass. Imagine a sound where two powerful boxers, hit skin and add a wet noise in too. Or listen to a dog eat wet dog food but imagine power to it.
After we left the rhinos in peace we came across some monkeys, similar to the ones that get in fights next to our tent. Later, we came up on three lionesses and two cubs which had just killed a male impala and were eating their breakfast. One lioness was hardly bothered when we woke up, so she stayed back further than the others. One was mid breakfast, eating happily, and the other was asleep about 10′ away. The cubs are about 6 months old, so they’re just starting to gain their independence but are still relying on their parents to find food; both were asleep with full bellies near the impala. If you’ve ever seen a lion eating its kill, let me tell you… it’s not a pretty sight, or smell. One lioness, a bit younger than the others had a mouth stained with blood from the impala and was walking around in the background. The cubs were asleep until the mother moved the impala and an aroma of dead animal hit their noses. Even I could smell it (not something you want to smell after being sick the previous day). The two cubs approached the mom, and each grabbed a bit of impala.
When we all had enough of the lions, we stopped off at a hut in the middle of the park with the name “Lions Den” on the side. While Foster and Jo set up for a coffee break, we were allowed to go up to the roof of the building and see the views. When we got to the top, it was furnished! Including a bed. I looked at Brad and said “the rangers are wildly optimistic about that!” The other couples and I observed the view from the roof for a while, before retreating back to the land cruiser. I told the rangers the same thing I had previously told Brad and they explained. We were actually at a private site. Instead of our set up where we have a tent (luxury RV or awesome treehouse) like set up with many other people in surrounding tents, this would be a private affair. The bathrooms are downstairs, with a high fenced private outdoor area downstairs, and upstairs is where you would sleep. The bed would be made up in comfortable bedding, a mosquito netting, power outlets, and for the meals you would have your own personal chef where they would cook for you, and leave you in seclusion. I imagine that would be more of a honeymoon suite… just a guess. I would imagine that the stars would be incredible without any lights. After wandering around for a bit more, it was back to the lodge for breakfast, packing, blog writing, souvenir shopping, and picture organizing. It doesn’t sound like much, but trust me… it takes time!
Our evening game drive was a lot of fun. We got to see elephants! Not just one or two… nope! About 30+ of them. The youngest was a few months old. We drove around for a while before spotting them alongside the road where we waited for about 20 minutes without them surfacing. Jo had thought they would grab some water before moving on so we positioned ourselves next to the pond. After twenty minutes, we heard the alpha female sound the “move on” call where we quickly saw a parade of the 30+ elephants marching down the side of the road! Pretty awesome if you ask me. Jo would pull ahead to where they were crossing and we saw them file down the road. About 15 went off in a different direction. We followed them for a while until we saw an angry young male elephant trying to assert his dominance, only to be outdone by the senior elephant. Since we were in between the two of them, we quickly moved. To my surprise, the young male walked by with 5 legs instead of 4, and we were all quickly blushing. We followed the elephants for quite a while before setting up at a clearing to watch the sun go down and enjoy a drink. The sun set to a peach topping with plum colored undertones.
On the drive back to the camp, it was a new moon so the stars were all out. Since Kapama does their evening game drives until after dark, this provided optimum star watching. If you ever want to see an incredible sight…. Look straight up in absolute darkness and no light pollution. I watched the stars until we arrived back at camp where we had dinner at the boma with private tables, and a fire in the middle. The wind picked up, but everyone wanted to stay outdoors… after all, you’re only there once… right? After dinner, Brad and I made our way back to the tent to do some more packing and preparing for the long flight ahead. Step one? Apologize in advance to my butt.
