Wild walks

For quite a few years I've been wanting to go on a Wilderness Trail in Kruger. So when the possibility of doing so presented itself in December, I didn't hesitate.

This was the first time I flew to Kruger and as the rolling hills and granite koppies came into sight, my heart was pumping harder with joy. As I stepped out into the small and rather beautiful terminal building, I heard someone calling out my name! I was pleasantly surprised to see one of my former collegues, Christiaan, waving like a madman. He was there to meet his fiancé arriving on the same flight... but that didn't matter, nothing feels like home as having someone greet you at the airport.

 

Meeting up at the main camp in the afternoon, we realized that we were only going to be two people in the group, lead by a team of two rangers, what luxury! One of them was a very social and talkative young guy, while the other was more of the quiet lone-wolf variety.  

Arriving at the bush camp in the late afternoon, far away from the crowds of the tarred roads and braai smoke of South African campers, we thoroughly enjoyed the rustic ambiance. The only night light was the moon and some solar powered glass jar lights, that now are becoming increasingly more popular camping equipment.

One of the luxuries was however the gas-heated showers! Something which really came in handy due to the afternoon rains we experienced. If you go to South Africa in summer, rain is something you need to be prepared for... and of course, we were.

It's rather a small camp with four huts, set in thick bush. Both the toilets and the huts have views of the bush outside the one metre high fence that surrounded us. It's presence is not as much for protection, I guess, as for keeping the guests from wandering off into the wild... They sometimes try to do that you know!

In camp we mostly had birds, insects and a couple of tortoises in a “romantic” mood for company. The resident toilet lizard gave me quite a shock the first night as he was hanging out on the toilet roll, but after a while I think we got used to each other, even though I find it difficult when someone is watching me...

I definately enjoyed the morning walks, soaking up the sights, sounds and smells, as well as a few litres of dew, you feel immersed in the wild... and nothing else matters. After a while you get into an even pace and it becomes almost meditative walking quietly with your own thoughts. For hours we made our way through the high grass and sickle bush thickets, stopping to inspect tracks, birds, dung and the occasional rhino.

The second day we also visited a place where there are bushman paintings. Not sure about the age of these though, or if someone's just decided to improve a bit on them, as they looked to be in a rather excellent condition... Maybe that's just me being a sceptic as usual? I do love the simple drawings however and wouldn't mind this sort of graffiti on my living room walls.

The breakfast stops came with some of the best views ever and I could have stayed forever, just pitch a tent and never go back; three days pass way too quickly. However, the brunch on our return to the camp may actually be worth going back for. If there's bacon, I'll be there!

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Back for more

Two weeks later I was coming back for more, this time however with a family member... and one of those in-laws you sometimes love so dearly (and sometimes don't!). Anyway, it was probably quite a mix when it came to experience in this group, with me and an Asian guy being the total novices, and two rather experienced bikers, of different aptitude, and then one in-betweener, the girlfriend of one of the rangers.

At four we were picked up from our lodge, perfectly located outside Kruger's Phalaborwa gate. We didn't drive far in the park before encountering a small herd of buffalo... and only a couple of hundred metres from them, we disembarked from the relative safety of the game-viewer.  

The safety briefing was more rigorous this time and the rangers made a solid impression. The distance we were told we'd be going had me wondering if they were serious though... I didn't have time to ponder that piece of information for long however, as the others were already on their way downhill on a gravel road that looked like a dried-out riverbed, at death-defying speeds; thrown in at the deep end again! When you're used to paved bicycle lanes, this is not how you picture your second go on a mountain bike...

 

It was a good thing at least one in our little group realized the depth of my inexperience and self-doubt and talked me through the first few down-hill sections. I don't trust bikes of any kind much (or myself), even if it's been ten and five years respectively since I last became airborne on two-wheeled inventions.

 

I guess I eventually loosened up a bit and came to enjoy the ride, even on the most eroded stretches of “road” and hippo tracks. After a while I even began looking around to spot things of interest and didn't just focus on the next five metres in front of me and... I spotted a flat! The Asian guy had been struggling in the loose sand for a while and as the ground became harder again, I realized why he seemed so much more out of breath than the rest of us. He was quite happy to learn that a flat was the reason! 

We didn't come across many big animals, but lots of insects, a few birds and numerous fresh lion tracks. I got all the adrenaline rushes I needed anyway this morning though, without having to deal with any dangerous game surprising us this time.

As we made our way back to where the vehicle was parked it was becoming a lot warmer, something which my stepbrother very much enjoyed helping me out with. Half a litre of ice water pored down my back was rather a shock to the system. Needless to say however, I had my revenge when he least expected it...

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Loosing my mountain biking virginity

In December I finally had the chance of doing something I've been wanting to do for a very long time... twice! Mountain biking in Kruger is regarded as their most dangerous activity on offer, as you move quickly and quietly through the bush, on hippo trails no less! A certain level of fitness is required, but the difficulty of the activity seems to also be adjusted according to the rangers' perception of your fitness... as well as their own experience and fitness of course.

 

The first mtb trail was conducted from Olifant rest camp, maybe the most stunning of the main camps. The views from the restaurant as well as the room were magnificent. Watching elephants slowly making their way down to the river in the relative cool of the morning for example, while having breakfast, is something which I'll never forget. 

 

At a quarter to four(!), in the middle of the night that is, we met up with a couple from Australia and our two rangers. We were going to drive a few km before starting off on the bicycles and on our way we saw a spotted hyena running south on the tar road... the only hyena on this trip unfortunately.

After an almost non-existing safety briefing we headed off on a gravel road marked with “No entry”, parallel to the Olifant river. The pace was slow and the trail smooth and easy, the two rangers went in front and the rest of us followed in two lines. Our aim was to follow the road for a while and then take one of the hippo paths down to the river; solid plan, right?

One of the rangers had gotten a bit ahead of the group, maybe about 30 metres or so. Suddenly he started screaming and threw his bike to the ground, and so did the other ranger, incoherent at first, but after a while a clear “Get back, get back!”. It took a second or two to realize exactly what was happening and from what direction the danger was approaching... In the corner of my right eye I saw the startled hippo and as quick as possible let my bicycle fall to the ground and hid behind bush-sized mopane tree on the left-hand side of the road. A second later I think we'd all moved to relative safety and the rangers had their rifles at the ready.

I must say though, if this had been a grumpy mother with young instead of a sleepy rather startled creature, serious damage would have been caused long before those rifles would have been anywhere near doing any good... We had seen a lot of hippo tracks as we had slowly pedalled along, nonetheless both us and the rangers got quite a freight... but probably not more so than the poor hippo, who quickly ran a bit further away, before returning to the safety of his beloved Olifant.

...at least the six of us had something to talk about as we settled on the banks a couple of km further up the river to enjoy this morning's first breakfast and the bit more peaceful hippos in the water.

 

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Back down south

It's rare for me to get time to enjoy the bush on my own terms, so sometimes I just need to set aside time to do just that. Many places have a special Place in my heart, and southern Kruger definitely is one of them. Therefor, that's where I was headed on my latest private trip. Driving around on your own, or with friends, in Kruger is always a great experience, no matter what you encounter, but some days are simply fantastic.

I've actually only seen sable twice Before in Kruger and both times it was a single antelope in the distance...

Not so this time around though; a herd of about 15 greeted us half an hour into the drive. My happiness knew no boundaries and as enthusiasm is of course contagious, these beautiful animals held us spellbound for quite a while, though all they really did was eating grass..!

Just to top the morning off, three cheetahs showed up shortly thereafter and decided to pose for half an hour next to the road. Movement further away in the bush suddenly stole their attention however and two of them bolted off, slowly follwed by the less interested third cat.

As my interest in birds is growing ever greater, I always keep my eyes peeled for the creatures of flight... however, not to everyone's amusement I might add. Though, most people will appreciate them if you're persistent enough(?!) and you of course aren't stopping for every LBJ (little brown job).

Green backed herons usually won't let me anywhere near them if I have a camera in my hand, so this guy actually made my day.

...but when the day was already made, a brown snake eagle for once decided on doing what it's supposed to do: catch a snake and eat it in front of me!!!

Inspired by the raptor's snack, we decided on a lunch break... but a lunch break in Kruger doesn't necessarily mean that there's a break from animals. At the rest stops there are usually interesting sightings to be had as well. This fruit bat even had a baby tucked under the right wing.

 As we approached Bergendal in the early afternoon, we'd also been able to tick off a leopard in a tree and lots more, quite enough for one day, especially since it was just a matter of getting to Bergendal for the real adventure to start; a Wilderness trail.

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Critter catch

One day our ranger, Flower Boy, decided on catching a scorpion. He was running around like a crazy person (as rangers often are), over-turning stones like crazy (which rangers admittedly quite often are). Now, there are a couple of ways of doing this... the right way and the wrong way. Which one FB decided on remained no mystery, a girlish yelp followed by some swearing told us exactly what his choice of action had been.

 

Luckily this one wasn't one of the dangerous ones and all he got was a sore hand and bruised pride.

 

He did however also show us a bunch of other little ones, of a more harmeless variety. He had some good help finding these guys from an excellent critter spotter though...

Maybe I should let you in on the fact that he successfully managed to catch another one a couple of months later... and thereby redeemed himself.

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Wildside moments

On the second tour this season, I was back with my new-found love; Entabeni. This time the weavers were going crazy building their nests at the Wildside camp. These chatty little guys, as well as the amorous tree agamas and warthogs, were common sightings in camp and thoroughly enjoyed by the Norwegian guests.

A sighting I won't forget is probably one of the more unusual animals to be called in over the radio on a game drive... a frog! Not just any frog though, but a bull frog, the largest species in southern Africa. It was my first encounter with this enormous amphibian and one that really made my day.

Elephants are always a joy to encounter and sometimes their playfulness really remind me of dogs interacting with each other. I never get tired of them!

However, the elephants weren't the only creatures to be monkeying around...

Another important ingredient to this trip was the weather. The thunderstorm one night killed the generator and we periodically had to manage without electricity and water. I had saved up a few litres in bottles and kettles however and so wasn't suffering too badly... I even managed to “shower” after being out running!

A few of the game drives were even cut short because of the sudden burst of the clouds. Other times the violent fury of Thor stopped as suddenly as it had began and we were treated to fantastic sunsets. 

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First tour of the season

As it's been a while since the last post, I want to share some memorable moments from past tours.

Early on, our driver Leonard, realized that the bus wasn't behaving as it should, but he was hoping for the best as a replacement vehicle would take a whole day to arrive. The real break-down however, didn't occur until we had just reached the Lowveld, with half an hour left to go. We stopped at a small kiosk where people had gathered with their vehicles at the junction, playing loud music and mingling, as it was Saturday night. Tired but intrigued, we joined in on this weekend activity for a couple of hours, as darkness settled.

We were picked up by Karongwe's staff and left poor Leonard to wait for help on his own. When we eventually arrived at the bush camp, it was decided that we'd have a late start the following morning. I think we all appreciated that, as the night temperature of two degrees made us all want to go into hibernation. Needless to say, I managed to stay out of the swimming pool, even though it looks very idyllic.

The bus breaking down and the cold nights are probably two of the memories of this trip that stand out, but one of the highlights was a female cheetah with four cubs that we encountered on foot the first day.

This female has been part of a breeding program and thus is not too bothered with human presence, but in an effort to keep the cubs wild, a respectful distance is still a must.
 

Usually on a tour, there's one or two guests celebrating birthdays and this time was no exception. The bush lunch we had on one of the guests' 70^th birthday was truly a memory for life, as the setting couldn't have been more beautiful. When having meals in the bush, many expect sitting down in the dirt, eating chunks of meat with bare hands, cave man style...

This is however certainly not how we usually do it. We were soon joined by some of the other local primates, but luckily they were content with watching our feast from the treetops.

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