travelswithalice
October 08, 2005
A farewell to Africa
Which may or may not explain why these males are fast asleep. At any rate, lions- male and female- are known to sleep as much as 20 hours a day.
They are still there when we start back for camp. They have awoken and are looking mildly curious but they still can’t be bothered to get up.
We have no time to wait for them to do something more energetic; we all have to pack.
We drive away, leaving the wild for the last time.
At breakfast, the group poses for pictures and exchange addresses and phone numbers and promise to keep in touch. Hugs and kisses all around. Have we not done this already?
All it means really is that our world just got bigger. To encompass new friends and the wild world of Africa.
We say goodbye to Greg and Johnson and thank them for introducing us to this beautiful adventure.
On the road, as we drive out of Mala Mala, my giraffe is waiting to say goodbye to me.
Labels: safari, South Africa.
October 07, 2005
Our last day in photogenic Africa
Our last day in photogenic Africa.
It’s our last day in Mala Mala.
It’s our last day in Mala Mala.
From camp, we see a Land Rover already out and in viewing position on the other side of the river. They are watching two male lions sleep. If we hurry, we might catch them.
I climb into the front seat and notice that we have a different vehicle. Turns out we broke the other one last night. It was only four months old!
Just outside the gate, a leopard crosses the road ahead of us. We stalk her as she moves fairly steadily all the way to the adjoining property. Neat trick. She shakes us off as expertly as a seasoned celebrity dodges unwanted paparazzi.
Other animals don't mind posing for photos though:
Impalas strike a pose against the rising sun.
A leopard lounges on a rock formation set among striking greenery.
Labels: safari, South Africa.
October 06, 2005
A time for a kill
Breakfast is my favourite time of day in Mala Mala.
Day 4: I opt out of the morning drive. To shake off the creeping effects of sleep-deprivation, I stay in bed an extra hour and plan to spend the morning padding about in my bathrobe and slippers, enjoying the comfort of indoors while marveling at the beauty of outdoors.
I do battle with a full English breakfast on my private deck as nyalas and guinea fowl parade up and down the lawn before me. A family of elephants and two giraffes have joined me for breakfast too. They are grazing on the far side of the river.
Breakfast is my favourite time of day in Mala Mala. After morning game drives, most of us are tired and hungry and look forward to the glorious morning meals on the terrace. The incredible landscape spread out before us, the day just begun.
A time for a kill.
On the afternoon drive, those same lions are lying on the riverbed, spent but content.
We spend most of the evening careening through the rough terrain at the edges of the riverbed and I was glad to go back to camp for dinner.
Day 4: I opt out of the morning drive. To shake off the creeping effects of sleep-deprivation, I stay in bed an extra hour and plan to spend the morning padding about in my bathrobe and slippers, enjoying the comfort of indoors while marveling at the beauty of outdoors.
I do battle with a full English breakfast on my private deck as nyalas and guinea fowl parade up and down the lawn before me. A family of elephants and two giraffes have joined me for breakfast too. They are grazing on the far side of the river.
Breakfast is my favourite time of day in Mala Mala. After morning game drives, most of us are tired and hungry and look forward to the glorious morning meals on the terrace. The incredible landscape spread out before us, the day just begun.
A time for a kill.
While I was enjoying my breakfast in the comfort of my suite, those who went out on the morning game drive witnessed a dramatic day-time kill. Seven lions versus one pregnant impala. Not very good odds there. I'm not so sure I would have liked to be there.
On the afternoon drive, those same lions are lying on the riverbed, spent but content.
As a leopard comes into view, we start to follow him but he really doesn't seem keen for company so we leave him alone.
We spend most of the evening careening through the rough terrain at the edges of the riverbed and I was glad to go back to camp for dinner.
Labels: safari, South Africa.
Am I “safaried-out”?
Greg introduces the new couple, Ashe and Smita, and we settle on a new seating plan. I abandon my usual place in front and take the middle row with Stuart. I have also abandoned my camera for the moment and decide to concentrate on game viewing as opposed to photographing.
As we find our giraffes and monkeys and elephants and antelope, I begin to wonder if I had already seen enough game to last me for a while. A lady we met on our first day in Mala Mala had claimed to be “safaried-out” and now I wonder whether I am too.
Evening falls as we watch a pride of male lions lying on the riverbed. I wonder if they're ones we’ve seen before. Greg says they are.
Sometime later, we stop in the dark to collect a new couple, Chris and Dee from another camp vehicle that had brought them to join the group. They had arrived late and missed the afternoon drive.
There’s a terrific trumpeting beside me.
We resume our drive along the riverbed. Johnson's powerful night-light methodically sweeps the area we are crossing. Soon his now familiar whistle signals a sighting; his light shines on a leopard. It’s a nervous young male that obviously doesn’t want us around. We follow him gingerly, from a distance.
We see an elephant through thick, tall reeds; then another and another. No time to stop; we are rushing to get to a lion sighting.
Suddenly, there’s a terrific trumpeting beside me. I nearly jump out of my skin and scoot over to Stuart’s side as an equally surprised elephant rears and backs up, one enormous foot in the air. It’s two, maybe three meters from me.
I think it was about to cross the path we were on and we cut it off.
Lions file past our vehicle.
We get to the lions.
The glare of the combined spotlights of four vehicles doesn’t seem to bother them. They start to move; in single file, they walk past our vehicle. Stuart goes, “Three, four… the big one must be right behind us… maybe I’m wrong. There it is! It’s coming toward us!”
The glare of the combined spotlights of four vehicles doesn’t seem to bother them. They start to move; in single file, they walk past our vehicle. Stuart goes, “Three, four… the big one must be right behind us… maybe I’m wrong. There it is! It’s coming toward us!”
Although lions coming at you and walking at arm’s length beside you may seem unsettling, particularly in the dark of night, it is a total non-event for the lions who are really just passing by. I am told the animals only see the vehicles as single units, never mind what’s in it.
The lions had spotted two rhinos and are following them listlessly, keeping their distance. It’s surprising that they would do this as they don’t usually bother with rhinos. They lose interest after a while when they discover a warthog burrow. They dig feverishly for the warthogs for a long time but without success.
Back at camp, dinner is served on the terrace where we usually have breakfast. It’s a nice change and a good way to break the ice with a wonderful new group.
The stars put on a good show.
Safari fever is back. There is no such thing as being “safaried-out.”
Labels: safari, South Africa.
October 05, 2005
Our guides go walkabout
Our guides go walkabout.
We are on the track of the lion pride we saw last night. This morning they are nowhere to be found. We've been circling the area for what seems like a very long time. Suddenly, Greg stops the engine and grabs the rifle from its mount. He signals Johnson, and together they climb out of the car.
A rhino makes a big production of its business.
The MGM lion.
A leopard makes a meal of leftovers.
Later, we catch a leopard feeding, perched high on a tree branch. She is eating something that, from the look of it and the sound it makes when she tears at it, is clearly not fresh. These are parts leftover from a two-week old kill.
We are on the track of the lion pride we saw last night. This morning they are nowhere to be found. We've been circling the area for what seems like a very long time. Suddenly, Greg stops the engine and grabs the rifle from its mount. He signals Johnson, and together they climb out of the car.
The group exchange bemused glances; the only two people who have any idea where we are- and what to do in it- are walking away, each one headed in a different direction. Neither one of them has said a word.
Nervous chatter in the Land Rover. Great, now what? What if they don't come back? Shall I take over and drive, ha ha? What if they get attacked, do we try and save them or do we stay put or do we just get the hell out of here?
After a few long minutes, the two come back looking very smug. They have spotted the lions.
And then a rhino comes into view.
A rhino makes a big production of its business.
Now that we know where the lions are, we turn our attention to the rhino. He walks over to a not too fresh mound of dung, sniffs it repeatedly to determine its provenance, then does his own business on the same spot.
This is an elaborate ritual and the rhino makes quite a production of it. Lots of kicking around, prancing about, and raising dust, and dung.
The MGM lion.
Back to the lions. There are five females and two sub-adult males in a loose huddle in a shady clearing in the bush. Some are sleeping, others just lounging, their distended bellies heaving, their breaths coming fast. They must have hunted the night before; their faces and legs are smeared with traces of blood.
It's an oddly bucolic scene. These animals look so quiet and peaceable, not at all menacing. Until one of the lionesses suddenly rears her head and bares her teeth at no one in particular. Maybe she's just yawning?
She then gets up and starts walking. She walks past the sleepers and loungers, turns to the Land Rover, then straight towards me. I ask Greg if this is a good time to panic.
That's when Romy declares, "It's like MGM!" The lioness veers away, finds herself another spot, and lies down again.
We leave this pride and head to the riverbed. Here, three male lions are cooling off in the shade of tall reeds. These are young adults, their manes short and punky, not yet fully grown.
A leopard makes a meal of leftovers.
Later, we catch a leopard feeding, perched high on a tree branch. She is eating something that, from the look of it and the sound it makes when she tears at it, is clearly not fresh. These are parts leftover from a two-week old kill. 
Back in camp, at breakfast, we pose for group photos and exchange addresses and phone numbers. M.V. & Don and Emy & Romy are flying out today.
What a finish!
Don says, "It doesn't get any better than this!"
M.V.’s lucky cat hat has delivered on its promise. Greg and Johnson probably helped a little bit too.
Labels: safari, South Africa.
October 03, 2005
Greg is in charge
Greg is in charge of the group in and out of camp. He educates us on everything we experience in the wild; he drives the Land Rover and leads the game walks. He is our host at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, escorts us to our rooms after dark, and wakes us up at 5:30 every morning for the early game drives. I guess Mala Mala rangers never sleep.Our group of three couples has bonded very well and we chatter away happily as we stalk our preys. Today, M.V. wears her special cat hat. This bodes well for our mission to catch the elusive fifth on our Big Five list, the lion.
We chance upon a family of elephants bathing in a waterhole. We enjoy a good hour or so watching, photographing, and laughing at the antics of the baby elephants and their harried mothers alternately frolicking and arguing in the water.
A cloud of dust in the distance signals that a large herd of buffalo is on the move in search of food and water. We catch up with them and park just ahead of the moving herd; soon we are completely surrounded. These huge animals graze relentlessly, mowing the dry brush effeciently to the ground. Line after line, females and young ones in front, old bulls lagging in the back, forming a protective rear guard. The setting sun filters through the thick cloud of dust that follows the herd as it moves through the parched soil and dry vegetation.
Sometime later, we see a herd of elephants in the distance. As we approach, we notice a mysterious, heavy odour permeating the air. This signals the presence of a bull in musth, agitated and anxious to mate with a female in the herd. Not a safe place for us to be. We quickly retreat from the scene.
It’s Emy’s birthday. 
It’s Emy’s birthday. Back in the Boma that night, the song and dance chorus line composed of women from the dinner staff delivers a cake and sings Happy Birthday in Shangaan (I guess.)
Labels: safari, South Africa.
October 01, 2005
An African Safari
We play “Chicken,” the lioness and I. She looks straight into my eyes as she strides quietly and resolutely towards me. I keep my lens trained on her and wait for her to blink. Or veer away. She can’t be more than five feet from me.
“It looks like MGM!” somebody behind me quips. And the magic dissolves.
I have never before been this close to a wild animal. In truth, I have never been close to the animal kingdom as a rule. I give even household pets a wide berth.
We are in Mala Mala, a private game reserve adjacent to the Kruger National Park South Africa
But I'm getting ahead of myself. The adventure begins in Johannesburg.
My suitcase is missing.
A small plane flies us to Nelspruit where we pick up a rental car. We stay the night in crocodile country.
It’s a beautiful drive through replanted forests on the panoramic route and we’re in Kruger National Park before long.
To Stuart and me, they're all just deer.
The birds are beautiful, some of them native to the area and rarely seen elsewhere.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. The adventure begins in Johannesburg.
My suitcase is missing.
My suitcase is missing, probably still in Hong Kong where we started from or Singapore where the Africa flight originated. Whatever. I’m too excited, just being in Africa, to care too much. At the airport, the airline gives me shopping money to buy clothes in case the suitcase does not turn up soon. I blow the lot on a pair of yoga pants.
A small plane flies us to Nelspruit where we pick up a rental car. We stay the night in crocodile country.
“But where’s the croc steak?” Stuart asks the waiter at dinner.
There are no crocs in sight but a party of monkeys in the garden livens up breakfast the next day.
On the road to Mala Mala.
It’s a beautiful drive through replanted forests on the panoramic route and we’re in Kruger National Park before long.
A herd of impala look up to gaze at us nonchalantly. I see my first giraffe on the road. We arrive in Mala Mala in time for lunch. A party of nyala and guinea fowl graze on the lawn just outside our room as we get ready for the afternoon game drive.
We're on safari now and we don't really know what to expect.
Our ranger has a rifle mounted in front of the Land Rover. When I ask him if it's real or only a prop, he says it's real alright but he doesn't guarantee that it would really make a difference if and when he is required to use it.
"It's only to be used for damage control," he laughs.
To Stuart and me, they're all just deer.
The birds are beautiful, some of them native to the area and rarely seen elsewhere.
There are antelope of various kinds, differentiated by their horns, size, shape, color, and stripe. To Stuart and me, they're all just deer.
We see our first African elephant and Cape buffalo.
As daylight starts to fade, we watch leopard cubs on some rock formations above huge clumps of poisonous cactus-like plants called euphorbia.
We make four of the Big Five on this, our first outing but our ranger is not happy with some of the sightings, particularly of the rhino, which could only be seen darkly from afar.
Two welcome arrivals: my suitcase and a full moon.
Somebody from camp radios us that my suitcase has arrived.
We wait for the moon to rise. The sky is clear and Venus is so bright it looks like several stars stuck together. The Milky Way stretches a creamy vertical band directly overhead. The Southern Cross lies on its side. We applaud the arrival of the full moon. The Man in the Moon is upside down.
An animal blocks our path and we call for help.
On arrival, we were instructed never to walk back to our rooms at night unescorted by staff. We were also told not to approach any animals wandering about in the grounds. Well, on our way to the Boma, that wonderful walled campfire where dinner is served under the stars, an animal wanders into our path.
We get back to our room and call for help.
Someone on the phone reassures us, “It’s ok; it won’t hurt you.” He probably has not stopped laughing to this day. Imagine that! Two grown people, afraid of a sweet little bushbuck!
Well, what did you expect? We’re city dwellers, Stuart and I. We had to think long and hard before taking a pair of lovebirds into our home!
Labels: safari, South Africa.
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