White River  - Kirkman's Kamp 100km 

Sunday 22 February 2004

After breakfast we drive via Hazyview to Kruger National Park. At Krugergate we find out that we are at the wrong entrance. Our first night is in Kirkman's Kamp, a luxury resort in the private reserve of Sabi Sands. This is next to Kruger and has its own entrance. South Africa has the unusual situation with privately owned game reserves bordering the National Parks where, within government regulations, luxury safari resorts offer a high quality wildlife experience. There are no fences between Kruger and Sabi Sand and the animals are can wander in and out between the public and the private reserves. We drive back for a couple of kilometres and find the right turn off. Then follows a 10km drive on unsealed road, but even before we enter the reserve we see our first of the Big Five: an Elephant. The Big Five include Elephant, Rhino, Lion, Leopard and African Buffalo.  We drive on and arrive at reception. We are welcomed by our host Elliot, who will care for us the next 24 hours. There are 10 guests in total in the resort today. 

Elliot shows us the facilities. Then we have a short break (or so we think), but minutes later Elliot calls to tell us that it is time for our bush walk. Five minutes later we are outside and ready to go. Armed with a rifle he takes us on a short walk. The camp is not fenced, which means that we cannot go out of our room alone after dark. On our walk we are being followed at a good distance by a Landrover, where we could jump in should the situation require it . It has become very hot and sticky (it is 10.30am) and very few animals show themselves. Elliot teaches us a lot about animal habits and shows us the different tracks. Then we see a group of Impala's, a big antelope. We take lots of pictures. The coming days will learn that this is one of most common animals in the country. After an hour or so we have seen enough and return to camp (in the vehicle). 

Lunch follows soon after that and we spend the afternoon relaxing in the large pool. At 4pm we are ready for the Sunset game drive. Elliot takes our orders for the "Sundowner" - for South Africans a drink to enjoy looking at the sunset. We have Elliot and the vehicle for the two of us. We are accompanied by the tracker, who takes position high up at the back of the car and is looking out for the animals. During the first hour we see nothing much, except for the ubiquitous Impala's. Then suddenly we stand eye to eye with a White Rhino. Our second of the Big Five. It is just taking a mud bath. A White Rhino is not white. It distinguishes itself from its black colleague by its wide mouth (a black Rhino has pointed lips). The name is based on a misunderstanding between the British and the Dutch born Afrikaners who saw the animals first. Afrikaners called them Wijd bek, which the British understood as white instead of wide. The White Rhino is docile, the rare Black Rhino is very aggressive. Via the radio Elliot informs the other two vehicles with the other guests. When they arrive we move on. A bit further on we see a group of Elephants. They walk right through the bushes and we follow them for a while driving off the road through bushes and trees.  We also see lots of smaller animals like a leopard turtle, various antelopes and quite a number of giraffes, a group of baboons and lots more. Then it is time start the "hunt" for a leopard. This big cat can be very elusive. It is solitary and hunts from bushes. For a while we are unsuccessful at locating one. Then Elliot receives a report of a sighting. We go for it! And yes, after a lot of criss crossing through fields and bushes find one. It is pitch dark, but suddenly we see one appearing in the light of our headlights. The leopard keeps on walking slowly but undisturbed by our lights and the fact of two landrovers following him. Although we have been told not to get obsessed with the Big Five, we have already seen three out of five in one day!  

Back at the camp we have an open air buffet dinner in a Boma, a semi circle around a camp fire. Dinner is concluded by traditional song and dance by the wait staff. We are escorted to our room by Elliot, just in case there are animals on the camp grounds. Tired and full of impressions as we are we soon fall asleep.  

Weer: zon, 33 graden.

 Kirkman's Kamp - Satara rest camp (Kruger National Park): 120km/75mi

Monday 23 February 2004

Erik gets up a couple of times during the night and sees some animals walking past our room: a mongoose and a couple of antelopes.  Wake up call is at 5.30am. At six we leave for the  morning drive. The game watching starts a bit slow, with few sightings. Then we see two lions, lying in the high grass. We are not more than two metres away from them, but they are undisturbed. I am looking them right in the eye, but they do not seem to notice us and stay where they are. Animals perceive cars as a unit, which they do not associate with humans. We have to remain seated, however, because if you do stand up they will recognise the figure of a human being and will not hesitate to attack.  Nor should we stick arms or legs outside of the car. Elliot makes a growling noise and one of the lions stands up and growls in response. Our hearts miss a beat, but Elliot is only amused. Nothing happens, but we do get a good look and photo opportunity. We drive on and see some bathing elephants, steenbucks, a grey duiker, an eagle and lots more. Frantic attempts at finding buffaloes remain unsuccessful. We see very fresh tracks, but they must have reach the reed at the river side by now where we cannot see them. At 9.30 we are back for breakfast. And after breakfast it is time to leave. 

We are advised to take a short cut into Kruger, but it turns out we're not allowed to enter Kruger that way. We drive to Kruger Gate and enter Krugerpark there. I have booked our overnights in Kruger in advance by Internet and after a brief inspection of the car for fire arms we drive into the National Park. Slowly but surely we drive to Satara Rest camp our next address. The maximum speed inside Kruger is 50km/h (31mi/h) on sealed roads and 40 (25) on unsealed roads and there are speed checks! We stop for coffee at Skukuza, the largest rest camp. It is like a holiday resort with a large convenience store, cinema and ATM (one of two in Kruger). One hour later we stop for lunch at the Tsowannah picnic spot. This is supposed to be the spot with the highest lion density in the world, but we do not see a single one. Around 3pm we arrive at Satara. The distances in the Park are considerable. It measures around 22.000 sqkm (8500 sqmi) which is larger than Wales or Massachusetts. On our way to Satara we see lots of Impala's but also Waterbucks and a herd of Wildebeest. 

We get a Rondavel as accommodation, a round thatched bungalow and we make a booking for the sunset drive. It absolutely not a busy time here, because we are the first to book for tonight's tour. It is even not certain whether the tour will go ahead.  

The tour does go ahead, as it turns out, at 5.15pm with 7 passengers. We see some elephants, giraffes and wildebeest right at the start of the tour.  Later also large herds of zebra. When it gets darker we see less and less - except for impalas - and a thunderstorm is approaching. Shortly before reach Satara we stumble upon a group of lions following the road. Four males, two females and a couple of cubs. One of the males limbs and growls at us. The rest of the group starts the hunt for impalas. We see a two lions sneaking around behind the impalas while the rest lie in ambush. A subtle game of waiting starts between the impalas and the lions. We can't wait to see it out, as the restaurant is about to close and we have not had dinner yet. The hunting scene can take anything between minutes and hours before the lions will attack. It has been very exciting just seeing it this far. We drive into the rest camp just in time to pick some items from the dinner buffet before it closes. 

Weather: sunny 33°C/91°F. At night cooler and thunder in the distance

Satara restcamp - Olifants restcamp (Kruger National Park): 52km/32mi

Tuesday 24 February 2004

We sleep in until 7.30 (!). It has rained overnight and it still does. We have breakfast in the restaurant, before we drive to Olifants. On our way there we see Spotted hyenas and a number of Impalas. In Olifants, perched on a mountain we get a Rondavel on the mountain's edge overlooking the Olifants river flowing down in the valley. We have our own little patio where can enjoy the view and write some postcards. We have lunch in the cafeteria and book for the afternoon walk. Because we are running out of cash I drive to Letaba, the next rest camp, 33km (20mi) north, because that camp has an ATM. On my way there I see an Elephant, Vervet Monkeys and a green snake. I am there and back in 90 minutes. 

At 4pm we start our walk, but we have a 40 minute drive first to the walking area. We drive to the banks of the Letaba river where we do a 40 minute walk along a set of rapids. Then we drive on through the bush over unsealed roads to the confluence of the Olifants and Letaba river. A beautiful sight. In the distance we see a Hippo swimming. On the way back we see groups of Zebra (with fowls) and a Hippo searching for nice grass. 

Back in the camp we have dinner in the buffet restaurant and retire to our rondavel.  

Weather: rain early morning, but bright and sunny later. 33°C/91°F

Olifants restcamp - Lower Sabie restcamp(Kruger National Park): 145km/90mi

Wednesday 25 February 2004

There was some heavy thunder during the night and even the power went down a few times (you notice when the airco stops). In the morning it is still raining hard. After breakfast we are on our way to Lower Sabie in the South of Kruger Park. It is a long drive and on our way there we see hyenas, baboons, zebras and francolins. These birds have tendency to throw themselves in front of the car all the time. In Lower Sabie we get a cottage on the banks of the Sabie river. While we are sitting on our patio we see a group of Hippos swimming by and later even a crocodile. The hippos make there typical gawking noises. 

We have again booked a sunset drive, starting at 5.30pm. This time there are ten of us. Right outside the camp we meet a large group of baboons sitting on and blocking the road. A bit further down we see a group of Hippos in a lake. Later on our drive we do not see an awful lot animals for a while, because of the bad weather earlier today. We do see a number of giraffes and later - after dark - a couple of genets (cats), but these are extremely shy. Then we see a buffalo in the bushes. That was the one of the Big Five still missing on our list!!. Still further on we see a Rhino. Rhinos are easily blinded by the light of the car and it makes a quick run for it. We also see a hippo. Hippos are also very sensitive to light which is why the ranger switches of the lights. Hippos are dangerous when they are blinded. The run away in any direction which may well be in the direction of the truck. In such a collision the Hippo can easily move a three ton truck!!  This Hippo hides away in the bushes.  After a lot of searching we find a group of female lions with cubs. It seems they have already eaten, as they seem happy to lay lazily in the grass playing with the cubs.  Later we also see a hare and finally a crocodile on the banks of the Sabie river. All in all a good score tonight.

After the drive we have dinner in the buffet restaurant with a view on the river.

Weather: morning rain and heavily overcast. Afternoon dry and clearing. 29°C/84°F. i