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Tuesday 16 – Sunday 21 September
Tuesday 16 September - Madi a Thava to Mopani Camp
We
drove from Madi a Thava to the Punda Maria gate of the Kruger, it
took us about 2 hours which was great as I was expecting it to take
us A LOT longer. We drove from there down to our first camp, Mopani,
which took us to 3.30pm ish (about 6 hours driving).
On
our first drive through we saw:
Baboon,
Elephants, Water Buffalo, Zebra, Giraffe, Water-buck, Harte-beast,
Impala (hundreds), Tsessebe, Blue Wildebeest, Nyala, Warthog, Yellow
Billed horn-bill and Cape Glossy starling. Not bad for a first game
drive.
For
dinner we popped to the local café and I had deep friend Camembert in filo pastry and a cheeseburger. Four people each having a starter
and main plus two bottles of wine - £35.
Wednesday
17 September
Today
we got up at 6am for a game drive. Yesterdays temperature peaked at 39c
so 14c this morning seemed chilly – but so nice. The drive wasn't
hugely successful – LOTS of elephant – which oddly enough camouflage very well into the bush. However we did see: Hippo, male
Kudu, which are very rare, Springbok, which are very cute,
Klipspringer, Crocodile, Africa fish eagle and a few other birds.
We're
off out again this evening so lets see what we get.
Lunch
was pizza & a chicken pancake thingy. The views were spectacular
though and we seen massive 10ft crocs.
Tonight
Jamie is cooking on the braai – our first one since we arrived –
the meat looks AMAZING.
Tomorrow
we drive to Satara camp with a few stops on the way. Hopefully we see
a lion. Would LOVE to see a wildcat but doubtful.
So
our evening drive got pretty exciting! We got a little surrounded by
elephants and had to wait for them to make their way up. Once we
drove down Jamie's mum spotted something moving and it was lion!! We
had heard there were three in the area. I think I MAY have spotted
two in the morning but I hadn't realised how camouflaged they could be
so just thought it was nothing.
The
one we did see was purposely strolling up to a heard of zebra, not set
to attack but spooking them into running into some nearby bushes. We
think the others may have been waiting there but we couldn't see.
Hopefully tomorrow is ever more/just as exciting.
Thursday
18 September
“Where
were you when the vote for Scottish Independence took place?”
Well
we were driving from Mopani to Satara through the Kruger National
Park with a stop off at Olifants.
We
left Mopani at 6am and drove South to Lataba. Once we reached here we
started some game viewing. We seen mostly 'everyday stuff' (elephant,
zebra etc). We stopped off at Olifants Park which has the most
amazing views of the river. There are literally no words to describe
it and even pictures haven't done it justice. We saw hippos,
baboons, and elephants. Including baby ellies playing in the water,
so cute. It was just super.
We
left Olifants to drive 52km to Satara and view some antelope and
buffalo on the way. We were almost at the camp when we noticed folk
had stopped and that's when we saw a cheetah just chilling under a
tree. It was pretty far away so pictures were out of the question but
we could see with binoculars.
We
arrived at Satara camp around lunch time. This time we had a separate
hut each, 2 beds and a bathroom. Plus a fridge outside and communal
cooking facilities, although one hot plate, an urn and a sink between
30 huts was a bit insane.
We
went to their 'restaurant' for lunch – which was basically a
'spoons. So we opted for a braai for dinner. The place had no
cutlery, plates or utensils so it was paper plates and plastic
cutlery. Not ideal but it did the job and the braai was brilliant.
Jamie
& I were booked to go out on a Sunset Drive with one of the park
guides and I'm so glad we did.
Firstly
we saw:
Black-backed
Jackal, Side-Stripped Jackal, Genet (which looked a bit like Rudi
cat), a HUGE heard of buffalo – about a hundred plus baby buffalo
which didn't look as angry as the adults.
And
the biggie – two lions stalking a buffalo then one chasing it down
(it got away), it was amazing to watch.
We
also seen a whole pride of lion, they couldn't have been closer, we
could have literally reached out and touched them. I got to hold the
back search light which was pretty cool.
I'm
sure there's loads more but it's 10.10pm and after being up at 5.30am
I'm a bit tired.
Gutted
we didn't see wild cat after they were spotted two days in a row but
never mind – there's still 3-4 days viewing left.
Friday
19 September
We
were out about 6.30am today, and by 7.30am we were tracking leopard!
Exciting! On our way out we were overtaken by some guy doing well
above the 40kpm speed limit, only to come across him a bit further up
the road almost crashing into a heard of elephant. Main thing I learned
was never split a heard, this was what we had done, and I think he
had separated a baby and mother – dangerous!!
Jamie
then spotted some leopard tracks and we followed them along the road.
It HAD been up a tree with its breakfast but some folk were hanging
out their vehicle, spoiling the skyline and scared it off. We sat
for a while and went back later but no luck. On our evening drive we
saw some monkeys playing, hyena, crocs, two different lizards and
sadly a tortoise which had died. We had another braai and tried wildebeest, it was fab.
Jamie
and I sat up till 10.20 playing cards and having a few beers,
scandal!!
Saturday
20 September
Today
we traveled from Satara to Pretoriuskop (140km), we stopped off at
Skukuza on the way which was very much a 'tourist' camp and very
busy.
On
our drive this morning we were very lucky to see another pride of
lion just at the side of the road , a baby hyena and my first white
rhino. Each camp has a map you can mark where you've seen certain
animals, because of poaching Rhino aren't marked. So 4 out of 5 of
the 'Big 5' with just leopard to go.
We're
in little huts again here but each one has an outdoor kitchen,
kettles, toasters, cutlery, crockery and a massive bedroom, decent
bathroom and huge bay doors. Really cute and nice.
Totally
missing Rudi cat now and looking forward to getting home to seeing
him. Not wishing our holiday away.
Our
evening drive was good, we saw a family of Rhino, mum, dad and baby,
very nice to see that in the wild. We tried to track a lion but no
luck. We had another braai tonight, besbok skewers, some kind of
sausage and Impala steak. Jamies mum made some stirfry veggies which
made a difference to just BBQ'd veg.
Sunday
21 September
Unfortunately we haven't seen any bush babies yet – gutted.
Up
at 5.30am and out by 6.30am.
Our
morning drive was pretty good, some hyena, rhino and Sable antelope.
Beautiful creatures.
Tomorrow
we head home, one last drive on the way down then 426km to the
airport.
Tonight
we have an evening drive with a guide. Still leopard left to complete
the Big 5, and I'm holding out for wild cat but I doubt it. Our drive
left at 6pm and it was already getting dark.
In
all honesty I didn't like our guide, he went speeding about, almost
crashing into Rhino, shinning lights into elephants eyes (which
unless an animal is member of the cat family you should never do),
scaring Rhino, wakening them up – he just wasn't great and I felt a
bit uneasy when he parked beside an elephant which was clearly pissed
off.
However
we did manage to see, white mongoose, scrubhare, duiker, Genet, baby
rhino, reedbuck, more hyena and lastly, we saw leopard! Just casually
strolling down the side of the road as you do!
 |
| Big 5 - African lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, African leopard, and White rhinoceros |
Our
journey back was an interesting one. Jamie did a lot of the driving
down and boy are they crazy!!! It was a little ropey at times. We
stopped half way at a Wimpy to have some lunch, kind of miss Wimpy
here it was the first that I remember here.
Once
we reached Johannesburg airport we dropped off the car and our
luggage and headed to the Inter Contiental where Jamie's dad treated
us to lunch. It was nice to have fresh fruit and veg, plus two
bottles of prosecco went down well. After that we went back to the
airport to spend the rest of our spending money. Jamie got himself a
Springbok t-shirt and I picked up the standard tea towel.
Home time
Our
flight back was pretty decent, it was almost empty so we moved and
had a row of 4 seats between the two of us. Both being short had it's
advantage here and we were able to lay down for a bit and get a few
hours sleep. I watched 'The Other Woman' with Cameron Diaz which was
quite good.
Getting
back into London took AGES. We'd just come off a flight into security
but still had to go through three different check points and it took
about an hour. Where as on the way down we didn't have to go through
anything between Edinburgh and Johannesburg. Anyway, we got back into
London to learn Alex Salmon had resigned and then got our flight to
Edinburgh. I felt terrible for the business man sitting next to us,
after a 10 hour flight at about 8 hours driving I'm sure we weren't
the nicest folk to sit next too. I was glad to get back to Jamie's'
parents and pick up the car though, it was worth it but it was a lot
of traveling too.
I
would absolutely love to go back at some point, and for future I would
love to take our kids when their old enough to appreciate it. I think
personally I'd go back to Cape Town first as there was so much we
didn't get to see and do. Plus to have some more of their mussels in
garlic & white wine sauce, yum!
Now
how on earth do we top a holiday like that next year??
If you'd like to see more pictures from our holiday you can check them out on Flickr
If you'd like to see more pictures from our holiday you can check them out on Flickr
