Once again, I started by taking the Voortrekker. I took a couple of pics of an ellie, but otherwise nothing much happened. At Afsaal, we had breakfast but not in the restaurant part; Shirley, bless her heart had prepared a meal for us with meat and veggies and bread and whatnot. I waved hello to Victor's sister, who works there as a cook and I also had my Rissington peeps meet Debra. Nice morning all round.
Ellie.
I also tested the 600mm on a mountain top west of Voortrekker.
Afterwards, we hit jackpot at the Ampie-se-Boorgat waterhole, roughly midway between Afsaal and the Malelane gate. Here, a family of three rhinos were holding court, crossing the road and posing for us. Especially the baby was wewy, wewy cute and I have more pics of him just standing in the middle of the road than is strictly speaking necessary.
Rhino.
Smaller rhino.
Smallest rhino.
We had them to ourselves in the beginning, but then more cars started arriving and they walked down to the small pond on the other side of the road, downhill from the concrete waterhole. More animals were milling about here, including a solitary wildebeest and a herd of impalas.
Video of the scene down by the pond.
Satisfied with our rhino catch, we started heading back to the main road but before we got there, we exchanged info with a tour guide coming the opposite way, and he told us there was a lion close to the exit to Berg en Dal. I thanked him and floored it all the way down there, eager to give Shirley her big five.
We saw a jackal on the way down to Berg en Dal. The poor thing was running up and down the road, trying to find a suitable place for exiting.
Here, I should like to point out something that I'm sure the seasoned Kruger traveler already knows; that three of the "big five" are a near certainty, at least if you're in the south. There are always cape buffalo and ellies around Skukuza and there are as certainly rhinos down around Berg en Dal and the Malelane gate. Seeing them is not a big feat; the big question is: When do you see a lion or a leopard?
Last year, we'd been lucky in that we saw a leopard within our first hour or so in the park and I knew that if I bagged a lion, then Shirley would get her big five today as we were going up to Skukuza and the buffalos later. So yes, I floored it and when we arrived, there were perhaps close to a dozen cars on both sides of the road. We talked to a guy who couldn't see anything but had heard that others saw something and sure enough, a few seconds later a lion's face protruded from the bushes up in the hillside and made a series of grunts.
We drove to the back of the line (because, unlike so many others, I refuse to create an illegal traffic jam by stopping in the wrong lane to take pics) and turned the car around and pretty soon we saw where the lion was; a small shape behind a bush. Barely, but clearly visible if you knew where to look. I even expertly blew up a pic on my fairly new smartphone and handed it over to a guy coming the other way, to show him where the lion was.
An almost invisible shade behind the bush in the middle.
My 600mm afforded me a much better view.
After some time spent there, I drove north again but we hadn't gone far when we talked to someone who had just seen two other lions up by the mountain road where I had come down the day before. Soon, we were following a single lion up that very same road and I managed to get a short video before s/he veered off into the bushes. We never saw the other one.
I turned north once again, and right before Afsaal we saw yet another family of three rhinos. I turned west and then north to take the S65, to show the guys the stony hippo and they were highly amused by the sight. Then I drove east to Skukuza and the loop roads east of it, so that Shirley could get in her cape buffalos. They were soon found in great numbers down in the Sabie river and all hearts rejoiced; she had her big five and Andrew had four of them, after seeing very little on his first day. We also drove by a tree where some ellies were harvesting the foliage high and low.
The second rhino family.
The harvesting of the foliage.
Video:
Now, you might think that we'd had a very good day and that no one could fault us for calling it quits. However, as we sat resting at Skukuza, an old friend of Andrew's came by our table and said something in Swazi that ended with "leopard". Andrew got up and said there was a leopard up at the platform outside the restaurant and sure enough, people were gathering and chatting excitedly.
Video I shot two minutes before the leopard was spotted.
We managed to sneak up to the front, moi with mah smartphone camera ready, as the 600mm was in the trunk of the car. Curses. Any old way, we were soon photographing a leopard and her cub who were walking in the reeds down on the dry riverbed of Sabie.
The two tiny dots just right of center mark the leopard and her cub walking away from us.
Video of them. Ignore what I say about them being lions, I was not in my right mind when shooting.
Andrew, Shirley and moi at Skukuza, shortly after we'd completed the Big Five in one day.
Afterwards, I drove southeast and then across the river and of course where did we end up but in the largest goddamn herd of ellies I have ever seen. I am not exaggerating when I say that it was at least 50 animals in there. They were walking on both sides of the road and in the middle of it.
There was one car ahead of us, but he was keeping so much of a distance that I soon passed him. The one car coming the other way immediately started backing up when he saw hundreds of tons of walking meat heading his way. I got off only one pic and managed to shoot a short video with my phone, but that experience was one of the greatest wildlife moments of my life.
Video:
Not five minutes later, we came across yet another herd, including a cute teeny tiny ellie baby that I had to photograph even though we had several cars between us and them and the light and the angle and everything was horrible. The afternoon was rounded off with some pics of Goofy McGoof, then we had to head back to the gate. We made it out with appx. ten minutes to spare.
Blurry picture, but he was just so incredibly tiny and cute.
Goofy McGoof & friends.
I was thinking of going out to Tanks for dinner and asked if the others wanted to come too. Andrew had been there once and said it was a good place, so Shirley also agreed. It did take some time before we got our food, partially due to them being very busy with take-aways right then and partially with us being a bit slow.
First, we ordered all the starters (and two of some) on a plate. That turned into a small feast when it arrived. Then, as we saw how long it took to get the food, we ordered the mains and the dessert at the same time; since I fancied a taste of both the Cape Malva pudding and the chimichanga, I ordered both, but with the express understanding that Shirley would eat some of it.
Our platter of starters.
Meanwhile, Graeme had arrived and we chatted a little. After a while he brought with him an elderly Englishman who apparently had bought a property in a private reserve some years ago and was now renting it out for most of the year, while occasionally staying there himself. We talked and he gave me his email address and said he was happy to give me some advice and pointers if and when needed. I pocketed the email address and intend to make use of it in the next year.
When the entrees finally came, I witnessed as the mild-mannered and soft-spoken Andrew threw so much pepper and tabasco and spice on his fish that I was amazed there was anything left of his taste buds at all. With a sheepish grin he explained that he preferred the strong flavor over the sweet.
As I was pretty full halfway through my double cheeseburger, I called it quits. Shirley immediately stole my fries and put them in a doggie bag, which the South Africans all refer to as take-away. The pudding was very good as usual while the chimichanga was a little bland compared to its description.
My double cheeseburger. Maybe a smidgeon too much salt involved but otherwise very good.
Cape Malva pudding, I heart thee.
Afterwards, I dropped Andrew at a gas station in town and drove out to where the Numbi gate road takes off from the main road to let off Shirley. Then, sad that my travels were over, I went back to my hotel to mope.
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