We geared up for a full day road trip into Kruger National Park. We started early in the morning with our hopes high to see the Big Five but settled for a different kind of magic near Onder Sabie in the south of the Kruger.
The plan was to go deep into the Kruger today. My uncle had his eye set on Onder Sabie, an encampment set up along the Sabie River. The entire day the plan was to dog the Sabie River and see what wildlife we could spot. This stretch was supposed to be full of rhinos and lions. We already spotted two of the Big Five yesterday – the elephant and the buffalo. I was keen to see all Five.
As we started our safari, we were greeted by the usual suspects. My first mammal of the day was the rooibok (Impala). It stood fast in the bushes nosing the air. He was waiting for the sunlight to warm his body. It looked like a statue slowly coming to life. As we drove on towards Skukuza, our first pit stop, we saw some elephants, giraffe, and more Impala.
This section of the Kruger was vastly different to yesterday’s terrain. It consisted of woodland and thorn thickets, making it harder to spot the wildlife. The trees also grew thicker and closer together, especially in the dongas, which are often the favourite places for Kudu to dwell. We kept a wary eye on the treetops to spot an owl or the lazy tail of a leopard.
There were many elephants alongside the road today. It can be a tricky situation, as they can be quite capricious. An elephant can graze calmly one minute, and when irritated can charge a car down the next. We rolled by quietly and quickly. Not before I grabbed some snapshots of course.
We have been driving for a few hours now without any success, apart from the odd Impala and Baboon. Even the birdwatchers were despondent. The sun was high overhead, and the mercury was climbing to 28°C. We started eyeing the shade in the hope of spotting a laid back lion with his pride. But to no avail.
We were on the H4-1 road driving South towards Onder Sabie with another thirty odd kilometres to cover. This distance can take its time when limited to 50km an hour on the Kruger roads. The river meandered alongside us, without a care in the world. It was an old river, that took the shape of a braided stream. It meant there were lots of little islands in the centre of the river, where all the crocodiles and hippos were basking in the sun.
The Sabie river in the south of the Kruger.
We turned off at a small inlet to see what we could spot. The trees were a favourable shape for a leopard or an owl. We were having such a dry day, so we had even resorted to counting the tree species we saw. In this case, we parked next to a Tamboti tree. Suddenly, we saw movement through the thicket.
“It’s an elephant,” someone whispered.
We were all quiet, waiting in anticipation. Hendrik killed the engine. I watched one trunk appear behind the other. We stumbled onto a whole troop of elephants. They were slowly mobilising towards the river for a bath and to stoop for a drink. There were big ones, little ones, and the smallest baby elephant I have seen.
We were all caught up in the silence, marvelling at this simple act of nature. The elephants were aware that we were parked nearby and kept a wary eye on us. We watched them in return. Only now it wasn’t silent; we could hear the splash of the Sabie River as the elephants stepped into the water. A loud chirping was coming from the tree tops which complimented the snort coming from the baby elephant.
Then we moved along, thanking the elephants for letting us share this moment with them.
It was growing hotter by the minute, and we put the aircon on full throttle. We were getting close to Onder Sabie where we planned to have lunch. After a quick pit stop, we set off.
En route we spotted one or two more exotic birds. We got stuck trying to identify this one eagle. After consulting the various bird books in the car, we turned to a passing car to get their verdict.
“It’s a roofarend (tawny eagle),” the driver said confidently. “They spotted a cheetah with her cubs just on from here, at the first turn left.”
The juvenile Tawny Eagle that my aunt and uncle’s keen eyes spotted on H4-2 near Onder Sabie.
This sighting is what we had been waiting for all day. And we were off again. After a short delay with an elephant crossing, we hit the left turn and scoured the grasslands for the signs of the fastest land animal in the world. But that was exactly the problem: grasslands. It’s a cheetah’s habitat and its best camouflage. The grass was almost waist high and spotting the cheetah in her natural habitat would be near to impossible.
We pushed on nonetheless, eyeing every bush and checking out every movement. At least the birders were happy. We had never seen as many birds the whole day as we saw in that stretch. Eventually, we gave up the chase and made a U-turn to return to Onder Sabie.
At least we managed to see some more zebras and waterbuck along the way.
The fellowship was all feeling a little disappointed. But as we came to the final dip before joining the tar road, we saw a horde of cars stopped on the left-hand side. That must be the cheetah. The Toyota edged closer.
“You just missed it. A cheetah mom and her two cubs just vanished into the grass,” another driver told us.
Apparently, they had been parked off under a tree less than a couple of metres of the road. We were horrified that we had just missed them. We drove back towards Onder Sabie with our tails between our legs.
After a quick lunch snack at the Mugg and Bean at Onder Sabie, we set off on a quick trail home. The gates would close promptly at 17:30 and we were an approximate two hours drive away. It was 16:00.
I woke up just in time to catch the Kruger sunset.
I fell asleep on the road back. We had been up since 5:30 and the heat of the sun made me sleepy. I awoke at several moments… an elephant crossing… a giraffe sighting. When next I woke the sun was low on the horizon. The car came to a sudden halt. I opened my eyes to watch a creamy tail trot off into the grass. It belonged to a small lioness.
“They saw lions. Where are they?” someone in the car whispered urgently.
I smiled softly, glad that I had at least caught a glimpse of the beautiful wild cat.
The sun was pulling lower in the sky, and the last dregs of sunlight were draining out of the heavens, leaving the world dressed in grey. We reached the Paul Kruger gates at 17:20, with ten minutes to spare. The fellowship decided to end off the long day in the wilderness with a sundowner at the Marriott Protea Hotel.
Sundowners on the deck at the Protea Hotel near the Kruger Gate.
We sat on the deck, sipping our gin and tonic. This cocktail was supposed to keep mosquitoes at bay, so I drank mine eagerly. It was a beautiful setting and looked quite regal with the dim lighting. We were all exhausted after a long day in the sun and turned in for the night as soon as we got home.
