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| elephants and giraffes at Imbali's water hole |
We were really lucky in Kruger, South Africa’s premier game
reserve. With the savvy of our guide, we
saw the “Big 5”, the animals every tourist wants to see (though I think it’s
just as wonderful to see giraffes and zebras)—elephant, lion, leopard, Cape
buffalo and rhinoceros.
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| leopard and kill in tree in the midst of a camp |
Except for elephants, the numbers were small, but we got to
see them. The 3 lions we spotted, 2
beautiful males and one lithesome female, were all in good shape, looking like
they had eaten well and recently. The
leopard had carried its kill, a bushbuck, up onto a large branch of a shady
tree. The amazing thing was that the
tree is in the middle of a tent camp, between 2 tents and above the walkway
between the tents. It seemed oblivious
to the human activity of the camp, at least while it was enjoying its
meal. And the camp’s occupants were
moving with great care while the leopard was a guest in their midst.
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| white rhinoceros |
Rarely does a rhino show up right next to your vehicle, but
the one we saw was on its way to water, was used to seeing Land Cruisers, and
had a mission, so walked right in front of us and down the river bank. It was late in the day, when the animals
begin to stir from their resting places to seek food and water. Because Kruger is very dry right now, there
are only a few water holes and no rivers running in our part of the reserve (so
no hippos), so animals have to congregate at the remaining water supplies. It also means that many animals have moved to
other areas where there is water, so while we saw the big 5, we saw relatively
few animals in total.
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| male Sable antelope |
Again, we saw Sable—such beautiful antelope. The males have dark fur, while the females
are lighter, but both are very large and quite hard to find as they tend to
hide out in the bush. When we came upon
a herd of Cape Buffalo, we sat and watched them for about an hour. Cowbirds are always busy all over the
animals, picking ticks and other insects from their skin, noses, ears and
around their eyes. These little birds do
the buffalo a great service, but are also really annoying, particularly when they
are focusing their foraging efforts inside the buffalo’s nose or eyelid. We watched these huge animals send the birds
flying off briefly with a flick of their giant heads, but the reprieve lasted
only seconds.
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| Cape buffalo and cowbird |
Our lodge, Imbali (I don’t recommend it because of the poor
management and surly staff—first time I’ve ever encountered unpleasant staff in
any of the many lodges where we’ve stayed), sits across a dry river bed from a
watering hole maintained by the camp.
It’s a beacon for all the animals since there is so little water in this
part of Kruger right now, so we saw elephants every day and, one day, a small
herd (called a “tower”, not surprisingly) of giraffes approach the water. The elephants simply bulldoze their way
wherever they want to go, but the giraffes approached a bit more gingerly in
order to avoid the ire of the thirsty elephants. Once atSeeibg water, a giraffe has to spread
its legs wide and bend low to drink, making it vulnerable to predators. Two of the large male giraffes stood watch,
facing in opposite directions, as the females and young giraffes drank.
One of my favorite antelope is the furry waterbuck, which
doesn’t spend much time in the water. It
has beautiful coloring, but our guide told us they smell awful because of oil
glands on the insides of their legs which spew a smelly oil onto their fur when
they do get into the water. This
protects them from insects in the water.
I still think they’re beautiful.
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| lioness out hunting |
Birds, of course, are prevalent in the bush. My two favorites are the lilac-breasted
roller, a smallish bird with lilac breast (as one would expect) and brilliant
turquoise wings that flash when it flies, and the fish eagle, a large black
raptor with snowy white head and neck. I
know people go on safari to see the big 5, but the birds are every bit as
fascinating as these giants of the savannah.
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| giraffe drinking from watering hole |
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| 2 fish eagles |
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