Too see or not to see

The Giraffe we saw were often in pairs or small groups feeding from the highest of leaves. They use their long tongue to bring the juiciest young branches into their mouths then their incisors to strip the branch clean of greenery. 

The Zebra, were mostly in small groups and always a big favourite with us and like the giraffe, stripped small branches with their top lip and incisors. The spectacular thing about Zebras is their pattern: which is unique for each and every horse. Just like a fingerprint in humans. 

Rhinos were mostly in pairs, and some days we saw five pairs a day. In Kruger they have black and white rhino though there is little difference in the skin colour between the two. The black rhino has a hooked mouth shape, while the white rhino gets its name from the Dutch word 'wyd', meaning wide, as they have a straight wide mouth which they use to graze. So, with rhinos, it is all about the mouth. 

Sadly, there are reports, still, of shocking numbers of rhinos being poached in Kruger--mainly because too many folk in China and the Far East believe rhino horn is needed as a health aid. A memorandum of understanding between South Africa and China was signed just before we arrived, but we fear it will take much more policing to make an impact and reduce the poaching. Tragic. 

We saw Warthogs aplenty, again often in pairs. We love to watch them graze, as they kneel foreword on their funny front knees in order to feed. Very cute. Mind you, they are not a pretty little pig. 

Hippos we found in most waterholes. Particularly during the warmth of the day. Mothers often had babies close and others arrived in pairs. Hippos breed in the water as they are too heavy to mount on land. They are heavy beasts, around 2.5 tons, and need to eat around 60-70kgs of grass each day, so are often seen good distances from waterholes seeking their sustenance. 

The animal we were most delighted to see this time was a single Large Spotted Genet, which is a shy nocturnal cat and rarely seen. It came right up to our rondavel patio both nights that we stayed at Berg-en-dal as it took its evening stroll searching for dinner. It has dark spots evenly spaced over its back and a lovely black-tipped striped tail. We only saw these reported once on all the evening walks that Rangers led around the different rest camps we stayed in, so were chuffed at our sightings. To be fair, we think he lived close. 

Cats. We saw the big ones. The classic: a leopard in a leopard tree having a well-earned post-prandial sleep. We saw him, as did half the population in the southern part of Kruger as once a cat has been sighted the message goes out instantly and everyone, including large numbers of safari groups carrying dozens of tourists converge on the spot where the cats are sighted. And stay for ages. 

This was an exceptional sighting, though hard to distinguish his spots from the spotted bark of the tree. He lay, sprawled, paws either side of the large branch for the better part of a day: well satisfied with his last meal. 

The next day on a remote road the only other vehicle within cooee was in front of us and the driver suddenly pulled up at an angle crossing the entire road. We slowed and waited patiently behind until he again moved to allow us access. When we drove up beside him and asked if he had a problem he said that a leopard had just crossed in front of him. He had cut off all viewing access apart from his own.




This happened to us another time in Kruger when we came across African Wild Dogs. We parked behind a family who had the only clear view of the wild dogs from an ordinary sedan vehicle. That family stayed in the same parking spot for longer than we stayed: we left in disgust, after 25 minutes of waiting for them to let someone else have a view. Higher safari vehicles in open topped canvas could occasionally see one of the restless dogs over the roof of his vehicle, so we were able to pass our cameras to some of the more amiable tourists for a photo. We were lucky. Dozens of others who tried to see these dogs behind us were not.



Just as we were leaving a single wild dog came out on the verge between two vehicles and Pete managed his shot. Of which he is most proud. It was hard to take, under terribly trying conditions.


Lions. We saw four of them. Three beautiful looking adolescent lions were out for an afternoon's prowl along the Lower Sabie river road. Healthy, buff and gorgeous. They would have attracted any female in the vicinity. Two days later we saw a mature female, on the same road. This time we quickly took our photo and left others to have a view.

Our favourite sighting of the trip, though, was that of a single Klipspringer. We had been searching for days for one, deliberately driving into rockier hilly terrains where they live, trying to catch our first sight of one, then finally we were lucky.



These delightful, nimble-footed little antelope are so hard to sight as they don't need to go to waterholes: they can satisfy all their water needs from tender shoots, so they tend to hang around their high rocky habitats, only coming out for fresh leaves. They are terribly tentative, and clippity-cllp over the rocks with their pretty little hoofed feet, creeping into secret rocky crevices in koppies at the very first sign of threat trying avoid their predators--leopards, baboons, eagles, jackals. We were so lucky to see one. And it was the only one we have ever seen.





Two animals we were looking for we missed this time: hyena and cheetah. Close to our exit gate, Numbi, on our very last day, we came across African Spotted Hyena within about five minutes of leaving the park. We could see their tails in the air, their heads occasionally turning as they lay deep in long grasses a few metres back from the road, but we couldn't manage a clear photograph of them in the time we had before we had to make it back to the airport, so we shall have to leave a viewing until next time.



As the sun set on Africa we realised we had not seen Cheetahs: tho' others did: often five at a time with their impala kill. The solution is simple. We shall have to return. Which is never a hardship. As this time, as before, we loved every precious minute.

Elegant giraffe

  

We loved their beautiful markings

Zebras at lunch

Stunning zebra markings

Mama and baby

Mean looking warthogs

Hippos love the water

Rare nocturnal Large Spotted Genet

Where cats are there are cars

Leopard after a kill 

Male and female leopard out walking

Mean looking African Wild Dog

Buff gorgeous lion

Delightful clicking Klipspringer

Ah, Africa!