Highveld flight

Back in  Gauteng, after a week in the lowveld, I was unexpectedly invited to go flying with my friend's daughter, Cassandra. She is allowed to bring two passengers with her in the four-seated Cessna. I gladly accepted and at eight o'clock the next morning, we left for the airport.

After the safety controls had been carried out, we swiftly took to the skies. Ascending we were informed that there were no barf bags on board, but as I was to excited, I didn't really pay that piece of information much interest at this point.

 

We soon passed by the skyline of Pretoria and shortly thereafter, Cullinan diamond mine, which is where the largest gem stone quality diamond in the world (Star of Africa, 621 g) was discovered, in 1905.

Heading eastward, the ride soon started to get rather bumpy and I was glad I wasn't the only passenger, as that would have made me the dedicated map reader. I was amazed that Cassandra's colleague, Craig, didn't seem to be showing any signs of motion sickness at all, though he had an eye on the map during the whole flight. Meanwhile I was starting to get a bit worried about the no barf bag-situation and concentrating really hard not to have to use the cooler bag instead...

In spite of my predicament I enjoyed the views of fields, rivers and mountains rushing by, but was glad when Wonderboom airport yet again came into view. Afterwards, our pilot confessed to having been affected by the bumpiness as well this day, something which definitely made me feel a little better... as did some home baked treats and half a litre of water.

 

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Love in the Lowveld

When it comes to lions, I've mentioned a few times earlier that they usually aren't very exciting to watch, as their most common activity is sleeping.

Once in a while you're just in the right place at the right time though, as we were this spring afternoon, when love was in the air...

We found the three lions close by one of the dams and every few minutes one of the lionesses got up and did her best to entice the male, with the expected response. The other lioness decided to respectfully keep a few metres distance and relaxed in the shade of our vehicle, to everyone's delight.

Afterwards, I must say, she seemed rather pleased with her achievement. They would continue with this activity on average every twenty minutes for about five days.

A couple of nights later, neither of them seemed very interested in mating any longer though, but nevertheless dutifully kept to their routine.

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Chilled to the bone

As I arrived to South Africa for the first tour of the season, I was told that it's been unseasonably hot lately; something which I was of course looking forward to. The group of nine guests received these news with mixed emotions though as they had booked a springtime safari to avoid the heat.

Descending to the lowveld I eagerly kept an eye on the bus's thermometre, as the numbers got higher and higher and by six o'clock that evening had reached a pleasant 25 degrees. As the night progressed however the temperature kept getting lower. Next morning as we met for the first game drive it was a frozen bunch sipping coffee to warm up. We slowly thawed in the sun... only to realize that the evening was going to be clear, with a perfect starry African sky, meaning that the upcoming night would be even cooler!

It was 2 degrees that night, in a tent without heating! I woke up at three, unable to move my legs, as they had warmed up one spot and the rest of the bed was unbearably cold to touch. After contemplating the situation for a few minutes I rushed out of bed and fetched some extra clothes and towels. With towels on top of the duvet and pillows all around me under it, I soon went back to sleep, dressed in knee-high socks.

But as the days went by, the temperature increased again to a pleasant 30, and a week later when the guests had left, to a boiling 39.

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Flying high

I have always wanted to fly in a hot air balloon and when I got the opportunity about a month ago, I of course jumped at the chance.

One early mid-winter morning at Entabeni I was woken up by a phone call from the balloon pilot, to be informed that there was a spot available, if I could get there within half an hour! Urgently I phoned the general manager to get a ride to the take-off spot at the lodge Hanglip, on the other side of the reserve. I was told I didn't wake him up, but I'm pretty sure I did...

 

It was still pitch black outside with a temperature of around zero degrees. As we were driving through the reserve I questioned the sense of doing this in winter. It took us a bit more than half an hour from the phone call until arrival, but fortunately they had waited for me. I climbed into the basket and got the very short version of the safety brief.

Soon we were taking off and I was surprised to find that it was rather warm and cosy as the warm air doesn't only fill up the balloon... so, hot air ballooning on a cold morning is actually a good idea!

Sunrise in the bush is always stunning and from the air even more so. The mountains looked like they were on fire and the mist was rising from the dams... how can you ever want to be anywhere else?!

The wind had changed direction, so we weren't going east as planned. Slowly we travelled west and even though that wasn't according to schedule, we saw elephants drinking in the distance. For me, it couldn't have been planned better!

 

Unfortunately they did look up at the funny huge object and decided they didn't like what they were seeing and hence took off into the bush. The matriarch stopped for a while, stood tall and shook her head at us, before following the others. It's hard to spot them in the photo, but I promise, they're there, along the river.

A lot of impalas, waterbuck and kudus were also spotted, as well as something that we finally agreed on must have been a duiker. We also came across a game viewer with some of my guests in it and from the excessive waving and shouting that was going on, I gathered that it could only be my core group - the crazy A-team!

We eventually landed in a field just outside the game reserve. The cows that were grazing there weren't as alert as the wild animals and they didn't really notice us until we were about ten metres above them, but then they got a bit of a fright and quickly moved away.

We were also welcomed by two farm workers that came running, grinning and chatting away in Afrikaans. Even though only one person in the group knew the language, I think we all understood exactly what they were saying... they were amazed by the balloon and excited to finally seeing one up close! I don't think that any trespassers have ever received a warmer welcome.

After the flight, we naturally had some sparkling wine and got diplomas. We were all happy (and some of us also starving!) as we made our chilly journey back to Hanglip for breakfast.

 

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Too close for comfort?

Normally you try to avoid driving up too close to the animals, as not to disturb their natural behaviour, but that of course doesn't stop them from approaching you to investigate. When these gigantic creatures stop just a metre or two from your vehicle usually one can hear the entire group of guests taking a deep breath... and hold it.

This female elephant has no problem at all closing in on you to have a good look. This time around she stood there contemplating us for a while, until she finally was convinced by our ranger, to walk away. Speaking calmly to elephants may have the effect that they realize that you're not of any threat to them and then go about their own business again.

Another day we had the fortune of bumping into a female rhino with her calf walking along the road. As they went into the bush we continued on the road ahead. Of course, the huge lady changed her mind and decided that the road was the best mode of travelling after all. As she has no road sense, she just cut in front of us... not even signalling before doing so! A close encounter that probably even startled her.

I was amazed by her climbing skills, as she came up the dam wall onto the road again! Standing three metres above a rhino, on a steep bank, is apparently not a safe spot! Her calf struggled a bit before also making it and then quickly running in front of her, true white rhino style.

Crocodiles ususally head for water as soon as you get close enough for decent photos. But this fellow was probably soaking up the last warmth of the afternoon from the sandy track and so had no intention to budge, not even a little.

This caused a bit of a traffic jam with three vehicles getting stuck on the dam wall, enjoying his company for a while, before having to turn around the same way as we came.

 

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Misty mornings

Winter in South Africa is always a bit of a shock, even though you've experienced it before. Most houses in South Africa aren't really made for winters, as their real winter is only two months long or something like that... as if it's ok to freeze your butt off for 15-20% of your life!? You learn to dress quickly in the mornings though and I'm starting to understand the idea of always wearing shoes indoors, but of course, I also brought my slippers, like a proper grandma.

The early mornings in the bush are wonderfully still and beautiful in the mist. The frost in the grass however gives you an indication that game drives at 6:30 in open vehicles may be a bit chilly... though I was told it hasn't been really cold yet while I've been here, as the temperature only dropped to about -4 one night... I usually get frost bites when it drops below +25!

A game drive is however always a game drive and it's one of very few activities I'll gladly get up before daybreak and accept being frozen solid for. As the sun rises you'd expect the air to warm up, but this is actually the coldest time of the day..!

Some mornings, I could have sworn that even the animals had had enough of the cold and were hibernating in their nests... especially the lions and the elephants! The afternoon drives were less of a slap in the face with a bag of ice cubes and we were treated with some really good elephant and cheetah sightings.

On the day of departure, after a week at Entabeni, a small group among my guests hadn't yet seen any lions and they were crossing all fingers available, as we headed out for one last morning drive. Fortunately there were other groups out on the same mission and with combined effort, the southern side of the reserve was combed through. There were tracks all over the place and eventually one of the rangers struck gold. Of course, we made our way there in a heartbeat.

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Big 5 marathon

This past weekend, more than 300 crazy people from all over the world had decided that running around in a Big 5 area was a great idea. Most of them ran a full marathon, others “only” a half... but they all had to climb up and down the dreaded 2.2 km long Yellowwood road... which is a 500 m climb! As if this wasn't enough, deep sand and wobbly stones made the route a challenge, even when there weren't any hills.

The previous day we had all been driven around the track on route inspection; 42 km took 3 hours! Needless to say, I was pretty thankful that the 2 month flu I had had, actually had made me sane. I'm afraid I would have been among the crazy ones otherwise! Instead, I was positioned at the start and finish line taking photos etc... though I must say that I did feel my legs twitch a bit as the herd raced off.

On route inspection we had seen a lot of wildlife and some people had been a bit concerned, especially regarding elephants and rhinos...

As the last runners were struggling with the soft sand at the lower escarpment, they were blissfully unaware of the lions closing in on them. Luckily, the cats stopped a few hundred metres away, but still, that information might have made them hurry up Yellowwood a bit faster. At the very end, only 1 km from the finish line, a herd of elephants also made their approach. This time however, a runner spotted the animals and ran back to the nearest ranger for protection. Seems to have been a rather great race actually and all the runners were very happy and many said it was their favourite marathon so far. Next year... maybe!

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