Due to some unforeseen circumstances I was allocated to do Safari not too long ago. And I was nervous and excited at the same time. It had been almost 6 years since I have last done a proper “game drive” Needless to say Craig found this very amusing – as I was cleaning the vehicle, charging my radios and digging in my closet for some Khaki clothes.
The morning of the safari I must have been at the lodge about 30 mins before the guests were even scheduled to wake up! I made myself a cup of coffee and planned my route. I got my camera ready, packed my coffee box and folded the blankets. I was as ready as ever…
When the guests arrived in the lounge for their morning cup of coffee I was ready to go. As soon as everyone bundled onto the Land Cruizer I asked what they were most interested in seeing on drive. David Penny said “We want to see Cheetah” with utmost earnest on his face. I was a bit thrown by this request as Cheetah and Leopard are most probably the most difficult to spot on Safari. Nonetheless I smiled and said “No problem, Cheetah it is!” The previous couple of days we had managed to spot two different coalitions of Cheetah not too far away. Craig spotted the Female with two cubs and Mike had seen two males on an afternoon Safari. So I knew they were in the area – but finding them was going to be rather difficult as I was also aware of the pride of Lions that were hanging around.
So we set off and I was determined to track the Cheetah. Around the first corner we spotted fresh Lion tracks heading in a westerly direction and we must have missed them by about an hour. Around the next corner I saw something far off in the distance – the silhouette of the animal immediately struck me as Cheetah! I was beyond excited – could it be my lucky day? As we drew near I identified and indeed it was a female Cheetah with two cubs! I was ecstatic! And as you can imagine the guests were over the moon! Cameras flashed and we all managed to get some great photos – the cubs were playfully chasing each other in the grass as Mom lied not too far off. We spend a good 15 minutes with the cats, until they seemed to get bored of us and run into the thicket.
So an excellent start to the morning, as we progressed we saw Wildebeest, Impala, Woolly Necked Storks, a lone Marabou Stork and some inquisitive Vervet monkeys. On Coffee stop as we were all discussing the success of the morning a curious group of Zebra started walking towards us – but got spooked when there was sudden movement, we moved on to a watering hole where we spotted two Hippos. We also saw Kudu Antelope and Giraffe J I was very pleased with our morning’s game viewing and as the sun started warming the earth we returned to the lodge for breakfast.
In the afternoon I was at the lodge an hour before drive – again doing all my pre – drive checks. Packing the cooler box, folding blankets and making sure my camera is ready. We set off with the prospects of finding Leopard (a long shot I know) as we drove leisurely through the reserve we had already spotted a couple of animals. Impala, Wildebeest, Kudu, Vervet Monkeys, a White Backed Vulture and a couple of other bird species the drive was going pleasantly well. I was planning to stop at one of the lakes for our Sundowner drinks and we were slowly making our way in that direction. As we drove onto the wall of the dam we saw some large animals on the other side – Rhino! A mother and calf had just finished their afternoon “mud wallowing” session and were starting to make their way back into the thicket. I snapped a couple of pictures and they were gone. I parked the vehicle and set out the drinks and snacks, all gathered round and started discussing the animals we had seen thus far. As we were having an intense conversation about the Loch Ness monster (funny topics arise on drive) I saw some movement in the water. Rick lent me his binoculars and I identified the object as being a VERY large crocodile swimming straight towards us. One could only see his snout and eyes sticking out of the lake – so not ideal for taking pictures. After a heated debate about “water creatures” we decided to press on and start the Evening part of our drive.
This is the time where we take out the “Spotlight” or “Lamp” and shine around the thickets for Nocturnal animals. We managed to spot quite a few antelope – but we do not view them in the night – as their eyes are accustomed to daylight. We picked up a Leopard track not too far from the lake and started tracking – by the looks of the track it must have been only a couple of minutes old! I was starting to get very excited once again! How lucky could one person be on one safari?? We tracked the Leopard for quite some time – not seeing much else, apart from a very brief glance of a Civet. Sadly at some point I had to admit defeat and we started heading back to the lodge.
Once we arrived Christopher was waiting outside with his signature “Hot Towels” and Shane had prepared a mouthwatering supper as always. The Leopard might have eluded us (as pretty much always) but we had a wonderful day of Safari! I was well pleased with myself and had forgotten how much I missed being out in the bush!