Our 4:30 wake up call was almost too much but the draw of
the bush overcame the desire to sleep in.
It was worth it. That morning we found the wild dogs growling and playfully
scrapping over their kill - a young,
pregnant, female impala. The foetus had been dragged away as the tasty prize by
the dominant male. Having eaten their
fill the dogs rolled around in the dirt chasing one another round and round the
parched bush only metres from the heavy lorries hammering along the N2 north of
Durban.
We had chosen to satisfy our annual safari itch by visiting
three game reserves in the far east of South Africa in the arid, drought hit
area of northern Kwa Zulu Natal. Our
first stop was the Zululand Rhino Reserve where we stayed at Rhino River
Lodge. It proved to be an excellent
choice.
We had two daily game drives, one at first light and one at
sunset and more food than was healthy.
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| Our private stoep |
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| Our own splash pool perfect for a cooling dip |
Between times we relaxed in our comfortable cottage which had a huge
veranda with comfortable sofas and a plunge pool. We could snooze away the hot
hours to recover from the early start.
Our
cottage also had a small pond where a constant stream of bulbul kept us
entertained and when a violet backed starling, a purple crested turaco and an
African goshawk showed up – well our cup of happiness ran over.
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| Violet backed starling |
The Zululand Rhino Reserve is a fascinating reserve full of
tracks and trails, narrow and broad, twisting and turning through an incredible
variety of terrains and vegetation providing different habitats for the
animals.
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| Alex from Zimbabwe |
Our Zimbabwean guide, Alex, was knowledgeable and funny and
all the guides from the different lodges work together so guests get to see not
just the expected animals but also cheetah, lion and wild dogs. The only animal noticeable by its absence
while we were there were the elephants that had managed to melt into the bush
and the shy leopards that rarely made an appearance.
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| Three lions looking for trouble |
However the highlight of our stay was coming across a group
of three lions, mother, son and daughter who were finishing off their nyala breakfast.
They then sauntered down the road in front of us before mother dropped down
into the dry river bed while the brother and sister walked along the road. A small group of male nyala that have poor
eyesight kept a nervous eye on the two lions not realising that mother was
quietly approaching from behind.
Suddenly she shot out and grabbed an unfortunate buck who struggled
gamely till finally being suffocated.
The three lions then played with their food, not hungry, as they had
already breakfasted. It was a window on
the brutality of nature.
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| Beautiful local ladies in traditional colours |
We reluctantly moved on to our second reserve; Tembe
Elephant Park right up on the Mozambique border. This park is run by the Tembe community who
are rightly proud of all they do. Employment opportunities in this area are few
and the tribal chiefs were persuaded that giving up farmland to create an
animal reserve would provide income and jobs for the local people. The staff
are very hospitable and welcomed us with song dressed in tribal colours and treated
us as guests to their community with a beautiful sense of service and pride in
the area and the animals.
It is an unusual park of sand forest, closed and open bush,
grasslands and swampland which is growing dryer by the day. The waterholes and
pans have mostly disappeared leaving just mud. It is several years since the
rain fell properly and though the trees and bushes sprouted fresh green shoots
the under brush was dry and brittle – everywhere the vegetation almost the same
colour as the grey sand.
Our two guides – Vusi with a Nelson Mandela voice and the
excitable Sakehile who took us out for morning and evening game drives were
knowledgeable not just about the animals but also the birds. There are hundreds of different species and
only occasionally did our guides have to resort to the bird books to sort out
exactly which species was fluttering around in the bush or undergrowth.
Our cup of happiness was filled to overflowing as we gazed
at an obliging gorgeous bush shrike that stayed still long enough for us all to
see and admire his aptly named plumage. We saw three different types of snake
eagles and were left filled with admiration as our guide pointed out a white
blob in a tree about 500 metres away which he confidently assured us was a
martial eagle. The binoculars proved him right.
As we stopped for morning coffee and a rusk a huge male
tusker meandered down the path. We watched him nervously but our guides
continued serving drinks. About 50 metres from us the elephant turned off into
the bush and made a detour round our offending vehicle.
We had several encounters with elephants. One group of mums
and babies ambled around us carelessly demolishing the vegetation and one
afternoon at the waterhole we watched for nearly two hours as a group of male
elephants queued up for the fresh water from the hosepipe rather than the muddy
water of the hole. The dominant male
however would not give way and in the end all the other males left him to
it. Our reward for our patience was the
arrival of a male and female lion who were reluctant to approach the water with
the elephants there.
On our last evening game drive Sakehile finally spotted the
suni, a tiny antelope, which we had all been hoping to see. The pack of wild dogs had apparently
emigrated, albeit temporarily, to Mozambique.
We were fortunate that our fellow companions on the game
drive vehicle were even keener birders than ourselves. We had moments when we
would sit by some bush and just watch and wait and spot the birds. If we had
been with people who only wanted to see the Big 5, it would have been a
frustrating time. The birds really are worth pursuing.
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| The restaurant at Tembe |
Our third destination was the KZN Wildlife park at Ithala 70
kilometres from Pongolo. It borders the Pongolo River and lies across the
northern Drakensburg with stunning views, a wide variety of animals and over
800 bird species.
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| Christopher overlooking the Pongolo River |
It took a little adjusting from the high level of service of
the first two parks to the DIY of this game reserve.
The reception staff were welcoming and our
chalet was clean if a little spartan. The main lodge area, perched on the side
of the mountain has fine views over the surrounding countryside. However all
water comes in by tankers. When the water ran low, hot water came out of the
cold tap and nothing out of the hot tap. The problem was the water tanker could
not deliver its load even though it was at the camp because its brakes had
failed so it sat there overnight, full of water, till someone came and repaired
the brakes. Normal water service was resumed next day.
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| Ithala Game Reserve |
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| The unusual sight of lying down giraffe |
Next morning we took our first game drive and quickly
realised what we were missing – an experienced birder.
Birds flew all around us and we managed to
identify only a few of them.
After
breakfast we took a long drive from the elevated main lodge right down to the
banks of the Pongolo River. What a treat as the narrow track wound down through
deep riverine landscape to the picnic area on the banks of the river.
Birds flitted tantalisingly through the trees
and we were the only people enjoying the peace and beauty here.
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| What you looking at? |
The one thing that was not so good was the food in the
restaurant.
Being unable to self cater
we were dependant on the restaurant and though the chefs were enthusiastic and
there was usually masses of it, the food was generally overcooked.
The second two nights with the camp full, the
restaurant put on an extensive buffet but I suspect much of the hot food had
been sitting around for hours.
On our second full day in Ithala we took the other main route
from the rest camp along a bumpy track with stunning views but few
animals. It was here that our
high-off-the-ground vehicle came into its own. Once we came down the
mountainside and along the dirt road to the picnic site by a river we passed
more dry waterholes. The animals were finding water and grazing by the rivers
but all the areas we visited are suffering from the 3-year drought.
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| Howick Falls |
Our final weekend was spent in Hillcrest with our good
friends Norman and Jean. The sharp change in the weather from baking hot to a
heavy, low cloud with constant mizzle took some getting used to.
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| Nelson Mandela's head |
It was wonderful though to catch up, eat far more healthily
and visit Sarepta church in Hillcrest. On our final day we all went up to the
Midlands Meander above Pietermaritzburg and visited Howick Falls and the very
clever ‘statue’ of Nelson Mandela’s head marking the spot where he was arrested
before being sentenced to life imprisonment.
You can only view his head from one spot. Looking from anywhere else and
you only see a random collection of oddly shaped poles.
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| Christopher. Norman and Jean at Howick Falls |
We finished off our day with a lovely meal and a drive
through the scenic countryside, more like England than South Africa. Next day we flew back to a cooler, fresher
Cape Town.
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| Misty morning |
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| Monkey driving! |
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| Back shouldered barbet |
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| Baby rhino |
As we stopped for morning coffee and a rusk a huge male
tusker meandered down the path. We watched him nervously but our guides
continued serving drinks. About 50 metres from us the elephant turned off into
the bush and made a detour round our offending vehicle. 
