1 September 2014
After a drive
from Nelspruit to Numbi Gate we entered the park on our way to Nkambeni Safari
Camp, which would be our home for the upcoming days. On Camp road we spotted
our first animal: a grey duiker. As he froze on sight it took some time for all
to spot him, but he gave away his position by running away. We also spotted
some impalas in the background, but chances are we will see them closer by!
We checked in
and then first had a spot of lunch. It was an entertaining affair as we saw
some elephants passing by, heard hippos as well as zebras and in the end even
spotted the hippos too.
The guest then
had some time to relax as their first drive was a sundowner safari.
They were
taken to a beautiful spot where the enjoyed the sunset with a drink in hand. To
make the safari an extra success they had some amazing sightings: a big herd of
buffalo, a couple of elephants, a large spotted genet and because some
elephants had been rude and blocked a road with branches they had to take a
different route back which happened to be the same road as a leopard was
walking!
Sharing stories
at dinner was a bit more difficult than usual as the cultural Nungi tribe was
giving away a show. But it made dinner quite entertaining. It was a very good
first day of this safari!
2 September 2014
Early this
morning we set off for our morning drive. Camp road was busy this morning as we
came across a group of buffalo bulls, some elephant bulls as well as a grey
duiker. When we turned onto the Numbi tar road even more buffalos were hanging
out close to the road. We saw a bachelor herd of impalas with a duiker that
looked a bit out of place. Also the impalas weren't quite sure if he belonged
in the group as they all stopped to stare.
Then there
were the first kudus of this safari as well as vervet monkeys and zebras.
We had heard
about wild dogs denning on the Pretoriuskop Koppies and wanted to take a look.
We were in luck as we did see first an adult wild dog lying on a rock and
shortly after we saw a couple of wild dog puppies coming up to play. Those
little buggers were very cute, but so energetic it was difficult to photograph
or even count if it were four if them, five or maybe even seven! Nonetheless it
was great watching!
Then a driver
of another car pointed out a leopard to us, which was watching the same
sighting as we were. As the leopard crept closer bit by bit we grew worried he
was after the puppies. And even though every tourist, secretly or not, wants to
see a kill, a leopard killing wild dog puppies isn't really what they have in
mind. Relief showed on their faces when the adults noticed the arrival of the
enemy and when he dared came closer, the wild dogs chased the leopard to the
other side of the rocks. Like clockwork, the puppies had disappeared back into
their den.
When the
adults had returned the puppies played a bit longer in between the rocks closer
to the entrance to their den. But the little puppies are barely visible in
between the larger rocks so all we got was glimpses. We left the sighting to go
around the block and maybe look for the leopard. As luck would have it, the
leopard had decided to come look for us too. As soon as we got to the other
side, a line of cars were standing still, all staring into space. But right
where we were the leopard was walking from open area in between trees to
hopping on rocks. The moment other cars showed up though, he had disappeared
into the bushes once again. This lovely play happened another couple of times before
even for us he stayed invisible.
We then made a
trip around Circle road where we saw kudus multiple times, once even suckling a
little one as well as a young bull, cape glossy starlings, zebras, impalas,
warthogs, a large herd of elephants crossing in front of us (and disappearing
in mere minutes), a dwarf mongoose and vultures circling on a thermal.
We had an
awesome start of the morning and deserved a break so we stopped at
Pretoriuskop. After coffee we headed out to Shithave Dam. There were waterbucks
lying close by and a bateleur was flying over. But except for some terrapins on
a rock, the dam was rather quiet. We turned around to make our way back to camp
when we spotted some elephants feeding.
We drove back
on Napi and Numbi tar getting our first giraffe, but this lady wasn't the
youngest and was battling old age by the looks of it. Red-billed oxpeckers were
frequenting her back as well as neck and behind in search of ticks. And we saw
more kudus, even more elephants, a large herd of buffalos that had just crossed
the road and a brown hooded kingfisher on a branch right next to us.
In the
afternoon we set off again for another game drive. This time we drove up
Albassini where we saw a large group of impalas, kudus and zebras right at the
entrance. A stop at Mestel Dam showed us some snoozing hippos at the opposite
bank as well as a couple of them with their head bobbing on the waterline.
We continued
past the overflow where we saw a troop of baboons crossing the toad in front of
us. The little ones were playing and goofing around, while the adults just
stopped once in a while to have a snack. A steenbok ran across in the opposite
direction, disturbed by the baboons. But nothing prepared us for the havoc that
happened next. When the baboons settled on a rock further into the field we
were about to pull away when all hell broke loose. Baboons started screaming
from multiple directions, big clouds of dust flying in the distance and baboons
viciously chasing and attacking each other. The kings tried to call for order
or encourage them, we didn't know, but the sound of them got overpowered by the
rest of the noise. A grey duiker got caught in the middle of the mayhem and was
seen running from left to right and back scared of everything. As none of the on
looking baboons climbed in trees, but just stayed wary behind little bushes, we
ruled out a predator attack. It seemed to settle down when two baboons crossed
the road behind us in opposite direction, only to flare up again a little while
later. More baboons were running away, scared of others, giving us the idea
that two rival gangs had met on the streets of New York. If we were right, who
knows. We didn't dare ask one of them as the were all baring teeth at each
other...
When it had
quieted down for quite some time we decided we would never know what just
happened and decided to continue our drive. We turned onto Shabeni Link where
we saw a bull elephant in the distance as well as a giraffe feeding quite close
to the road.
We then drove
back to the place where we had seen the wild dogs this morning. And we were in
luck as upon arrival the puppies seemed to come out and play. First we spotted
them on the rocks, together with some of the adults. Then they descended and it
looked like the adults went of to go on a hunt. Hungry puppy stomachs needed
feeding. The pupies however started playing tug of war with a little bush. Five
little puppies versus one little bush! All the bush lost was a leaf, the
puppies their belief of being a strong warrior. One by one they gave up and
plopped down for a nap. That was our cue to make it back to camp as it was
getting close to closing time.
Our new guests
didn't join on this afternoon drive, but went out on a sundowner. They actually
caught up with the adult wild dogs that were indeed hunting impala. Trying to
ambush them on opposite sides on the Numbi tar road they had an excellent view
on strategy. However this one was one of the few failed attempts a wild dog
makes. Although, when we past the spot later on, and were told the wild dogs
had just crossed and ran into the bushes, we saw multiple vultures descending
and land in nearby trees. They were hoping for a successful ending of the hunt
for the wild dogs, or maybe already knew it had...
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