Our South African Safari

Due to the fact that Kruger was for all intensive purposes closed due to extreme flooding in the south, we (well me with a lot of arm twisting on Jen) decided that we'd do a one day safari at one of the local game reserves near Ladysmith called Nambiti.  It turns out that Nambiti is owned by a French gentlemen living in Durban but he has 10 concessions on it for lodges and tented camps of about 10-20 people each.  Each resort has its own vehicles and can prowl the 10,000 Hectares of the reserve.  The reserve has all five of the big five (Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Cape Buffalo and Rhino) as well as enough plains game to sustain them.  It was about an hour and a half north of Wits End and a pretty drive up through where much of the Anglo/Boer war was fought so I gave the kids a running history lesson on what I'd learned about the battles and the war on Wikipedia (I love that resource!)

We had a quick lunch in Ladysmith and then headed to the main gates of Nambiti where we were told where to park (inside a 10K volt electric fence) and then our ranger would come in the big Land Cruiser to fetch us and take us to our tents.  These tents were like the ones in Tanzania...  you'd be happy to live in them.  Ours had a king bed and a double birthed bathtub as well as an outside shower looking over the hills.  Ditto for the kids!  Anyway, after we got things settled, it was time for our evening game drive.

We went out knowing that with all the rains, the animals wouldn't have to be bunched around water holes and therefore may be hard to find.  They hadn't seen any of the 7 lions in about a week (which was my main reason for wanting to do this).  Jen gave me a knowing look....  but frankly, I enjoy all the game so was not put off in the least.  It was good to be on the prowl again!


We didn't have to wait long as even on the drive from our car to the tents, we had to make way for a couple of very large male Kudu.  We saw lots of birds, Zebra, Wildebeast and even a few Rhino when we got the call that they'd found three lions and we headed right there.  When we arrived, there was another Land Cruiser was parked (stuck actually) in a mudhole about 15' from two large males (2 years old so not fully grown) and a lioness.  We watched them for a good 45 minutes.  They didn't move around much but rarely took their eyes off us although each of them looked very pettable (not that you'd likely survive the attempt!).  The other Land Cruiser managed to extract themselves from the hole and we had a great view of them.  Then it was back to have a picnic drink next to some Zebra, Wildebeast and Impala before heading back to the lodge for a nice dinner.  It was quite cold so Jen was very happy that they'd drawn the bath for her upon our arrival at camp! We could get used to that!

The next morning it was up at 5am for a 5:30 game drive to see the animals as they are more active then.  We found lots of antelope and even some thousands of extremely small frogs (smaller than a dime) migrating to a water hole when we got the call that they'd found some hyenas.  We took off in chase of those when Jen's eagle eyes picked out a lone lioness about 500 yards away in the long grass.  I'm constantly amazed at her exceptional eyesight.  To give you an idea, I had the camera at 63 times zoom and could barely make out the lioness at that distance.  The guide was blown away and said that took the prize.  We then drove up to her (this was much different than the Tanzanian game drives where they were not allowed to leave the roads) and watched her from a distance of 15-20'.  Her name was Trashcan as they found her by the garbage bins one night.  Trashy was part of a pride of two lionesses and a male that they'd imported to the reserve to bring some needed genetic diversity but the existing male lion (about 2 1/2 times the size of the males below), killed the other male and the female.  Trashy had recently given birth to some cubs but the pride leader of the other pride got to them and killed them so Trashy was on her own.  She's supposed to be an exceptional hunter and they've said she's brought down stallion Zebra by herself which usually takes 4 lionesses to do!

We were pretty excited about that and by this time, they'd lost the hyena's so we decided to see if we could find some elephants.  I'm proud to say that while the rest of the truck were spotting a jackal, I spotted a couple of Rhino!  (Not that they were hard to pick out as they were dead in front of us!).  We watched them for about 10 minutes while the guide told us the issues they have been having with poachers.  You'll notice they'd taken the top off the horn of the mother to prevent poachers from killing her for it but they've had other Rhino killed right on the reserve (to get at the rest of the horn).  He told us that in all likelihood within 20 years, the Rhino will be wiped out due to Chinese buying up the horns (as a cure for impotence - which has been proven not to work).  Its very sad to see these majestic creatures and know that they are at a such a low level now that they'll likely not make it as a species.

Then we headed on again and had a warm drink of coffee by a water hole which was much needed (it was freezing cold).  Off went again and I picked out some Elephant!  We'd seen lots of Elephant in the last three months but this big boy (they called him Beefy - Big Friendly Elephant) was massive!  He'd rolled in some red sand so looked red from head to toe.  We pulled up about 30' from him and shut down the engine.  He was in the process of ripping a 5' bush right out of the ground with his trunk.  Then he decided that we were interesting so wandered over to have a look at us.  Our guide by this time was getting a bit concerned as we had Elephant all around us and whispered for us not to make a sound.  Then Beefy wandered right up the side of the Land Cruiser that a British women (Hanna), Rachel and Shawn were on!  He put his trunk right over Hanna's leg and then walked by Rachel (who had scooted right up beside Jen on the other side of the Jeep) and then stood beside Shawn with his (sole) tusk about 12" from Shawn's face!  I'll give Shawn a lot of credit... he didn't even blink!  Beefy then walked a little further back so that his tusk was behind the vehicle and our guide said for us to hang on and he started up the vehicle and took off... with Beefy in hot pursuit!

Shawn and the women were pretty freaked out but we all appreciated the close look.  I got the whole encounter on video so when I figure out how, I'll put a version up so you can see how close we (and especially Shawn!) got to him.  The guide later told us that he's never had that happen before and that he was pretty concerned. I wasn't overly concerned (rightly or wrongly) as it looked to me like he was just curious and wasn't showing any signs of being upset... even when he chased us, he wasn't displaying the ears out and trumpeting or anything... and he was calmly eating his food as he was inspecting our Land Cruiser.  Jen was a bit more concerned but then Shawn said that Beefy was now his third favorite animal after Simba and Rocco so I guess he thought it was cool.  We certainly got more than we paid for!

Then we saw some hippos and then it was back to the lodge for a fantastic breakfast and checkout.

One of the two male Kudu's we saw on the drive into the lodge from the car park.  He's about 6 years old.  You can tell because he's got three full turns on his horns (one for every 2 years).  He's also got some white at the tips so he's getting on like those of us with grey hair!

Unlike the time of year in \Tanzania, we saw lots of young Plains Game here at Nambiti.

We saw lots of Giraffe too.

LIONS again!!! (Living up to their name... just lyin around)

I never get tired of looking at them.. These three have left the pride (they are siblings) and about 2 years old.

Notice how well they blend in....

Stretch!!!  She's been doing most of the work.  She's a great hunter that feeds the three of them.

Now you'll understand why we called our dog Simba...  the resemblance is uncanny.

Hey Jacob baby.... you think you have teef?  Look at these!

Just letting it all hang out.

Chillin...

Easy to see why they call a herd of Zebra a "Dazzle".  It's almost impossible to pick out the individuals when they are together... makes it hard for the lions, etc to find just one to go after.

No swimming here!

He had a very pretty song... Nice Mohawk!

You can't see me!

Our guide Dave showing us a Millipede

This is what Jen picked out from a quickly moving vehicle.  This picture is 63.8 times zoomed to give you an idea.  Shawn saw it as soon as she said she saw her.  I had to use the camera to find her and this is what I was able to see.  They blend in SO well.

This is Trashcan.  Notice the black follow me spots on the back of her ear(s).  This is so her cubs can chase her through the plains...  they really help you notice her from the back end... but for us prey, that's not the real issue is it?

I've got Teeth too Jacob!  Notice the satellite tracking collar they had to put on her - because she's escaped three times now.  The last time they frightened her back in with guns and fireworks and it seems to be sticking but there are cows the next ranch over that can be seen in places from here that must be VERY tempting for her.... they are worried that the Zulu ranchers will kill her.

Flat cat.

See these eyes so green... I can stare for a thousand years....

Sure looks like Simba...  but you wouldn't want to try to rub those ears!

I think this female Kudu can get 57 channels with those ears!

This is our new friend BFE (Beefy).  It stands for Big Friendly Elephant.  Here he's effortlessly ripping a bush out of the ground with his trunk by the roots.

About 5 seconds later, it's almost all gone.

This is where we stopped

He's only got one tusk (remnant from a fight with a smaller bull) but its handy for resting that heavy trunk!

Let's have a look at those silly tourists!

Now for my close up...  notice the weeping musk glands... one of the females is in heat.

Giving us the chase...  those ears are just flapping for bugs... he wasn't upset... but he can run pretty fast!

Hey, I'm huge too!

Mom and "Baby"

Watch out... here I come!

See how they cut off Mom's horn to try to stop the Poacher's from killing her?

Mom

Baby

Half in / Half out... very rare

A Secretary Bird..... notice the backwards knee joints... its easy to see they are descended from Dinosaurs.... if you ignore the crazy hairdo!