Amakhala - Day 2 - Afternoon
Apr. 17th, 2007 05:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
emmelinemaySo off we set for the afternoon game drive in Amakhala - the plan is to try and find the lions again, hoping to see the whole family, go on a boat trip to maybe see some rare birds, and perhaps the buffalo.
It started so well...
So we set off for the lion enclosure.
We're looking around for some time, and Kulani starts to wonder if perhaps the family have moved on from their usual spot - when suddenly he sees something. We all follow his eyeline, but cannot see anything. This guy has incredible eyesight, and such a knack, as we drove right up the hill - and there she was - the female lion. Seconds later, the male appeared from behind her - we all gasped as he just seemed to melt into view from nowhere. He yawned hugely, and all of has had a brand new respect for being very quiet.
We edge a bit closer, and then saw the cubs. 3 of them, 2 of them very inquisitive, and they came quite close to us, apparently as interested in us as we were in them.
I couldn't get a very good picture of Dad, as he preferred to stay in the shade and observe from a distance, while kids climbed all over Mum.
We headed off for out boat trip, past a variety of Antelope, which i totally failed to photograph with any success, but we saw Eland - which can jump a 3 foot fence from standing still, Impala which are tiny, and their bottoms look like the letter M so are sometimes called Mcdonalds of the jungle! Nyala who are all stripy and the babies look like bambi, Red Heartebeeste, so called as their horns make a heart shape, Blaisebok, Bontebok, Springbok, lots of boks.
There's time for a toilet break before we go on the boat - and unlike most other spots in the reserve where the toilet is behind a handy bush, there is actually a toilet here. Literally- that's all there is. A toilet. Behind a bush.
We have a little boat trip, where we see a bunch of rare birds, almost break the boat trying to get a picture of all of us, and i once again fail to get a decent photo of monkeys.
It's now getting dark again, and very cold, and out come the hot water bottles and blankets as we make moves to head back to the Lodge - via the buffalo hopefully.
On our way to where the buffalo, and the elephants - although we are less interested in them having fulfilled our elephant quota for the day - were last seen. On the way, we happen across a female Rhino and her Baby!
And now. How Elephants Made Us Late For Dinner.
Then we turn round, and try to find the buffalo - It's getting very dark now, and Kulani has got out the flashlight, which the guide use on night drives. The light is flashed around int he dark, to try to pick out reflections from animals' eyes in the darkness. It's far too dark to take any photos.
We find the buffalo, at the bottom of this scary dip in the bumpy track, which Kulani rolls down slowly withthe engine off. The buffalo are in no hurry, wandering up out of the water and lumbering along the track in front of us. The radio goes, and it's the other Guide out on a drive, Simon, asking Kulani if he's seen the buffalo. Kulani tell shim where we are, and Simon says it's far too late for him to get there, and says we should head home for dinner. Kualni tells him that we'll carry on this route, hopefully passing the buffalo, and should be home soon too.
So, we pass the buffalo. Despite being part of the 'Big Five', we unanimously decide that buffalo are really just bigger versions of cows wearing a viking hat, and therefore not terribly interesting.
Kulani has also spotted fairly fresh elephant dung on the path, and wonders if perhaps we might see some elephant on the way home. The prospect of seeing elephants in the dark is quite exciting!
We carry along this path for perhaps 3 miles, 2 miles of that being quite a scary path with a sheer drop into a valley on the right hand side, when Mum somehow spots elephants in the valley below us. Kulani shines the light down, and we all go 'ooooh' and 'ahhhh' at the elephants in the dark. We drive on, Kulani aware that we are starting to run late. When the flashlight picks up a baby elephant right in the road, happily munching away at the shrubbery on the left hand side of the road. We're all going, 'awww. baby elephant!!' but Kulani seems nervous, and is sweeping the light around.
Of course, we'd all forgotten how the big elephants were so protective of the babies earlier....
Suddenly, as i think Kulani was expecting, a big elephant thunders up onto the path up ahead, and eyes us. Robert is the first to notice the 'tears' - as i mentioned earlier when we met Norman The Elephant, the sign that the male is up for mating, and so likely to be more aggressive. In addition, he's protecting a baby.
As long as we don't go any further forward, he seems content. This of course leaves the question - how do we get home? Reverse 2 miles along a track only just wide enough for the jeep with a sheer drop on the right hand side, or take our chances with a bunch of potentially aggressive and protective elephants?
We chose the option which leave us less chance of death - reversing. In the dark. Mum and I were at the back, and keenly aware of how dangerous this was proving to be - especially as Kulani was now very concerned as to a - our lateness and b - the possibility of an angry elephant not to mention c - the fact that there may be buffalo behind us...
We survive the reverse, and a terrifying 3 point turn up a cliff which takes us right to the edge of the sheer drop into the valley. We speed past the buffalo, who fail to live up to their 'big five' status by barely taking more notice than to offer the bovine equivalent of going 'duh?' as we go by.
Kulani speeds thought the bumpy trails, which isn't terribly enjoyable now that the danger and excitement are passed and we've all realised we need a wee. After what seems like forever we reach the main road through the reserve, which means we're not far from home, and is considerably less bumpy...Kulani is speeding along at a terrifying pace, the wind is making our eyes stream as the tyres kick up dust...
Then, as we hurtle along the road, we realise there is something in the road ahead. Something big. Something grey. Something in no hurry whatsoever. It's Norman The Elephant. And he's right in the middle of the road.
We've no hope of passing him without pissing him off, so Kulani has no choice but to make yet another detour, down and even bumpier track, clearly rarely used and very overgrown. After what seems like forever, we stop at a 'safer' place so we can all crouch behind a bush...
once we've all dealt with that, and are within site of the lodge and minutes away from dinner, and no longer in danger of unexpected elephants, the whole things begins to be very entertaining indeed.
And we can use the excuse, when we apologise to the other guests for being the cause of the delay to dinner, that were were late due to 'elephants on the line'.
full photo gallery so far
It started so well...
So we set off for the lion enclosure.
We're looking around for some time, and Kulani starts to wonder if perhaps the family have moved on from their usual spot - when suddenly he sees something. We all follow his eyeline, but cannot see anything. This guy has incredible eyesight, and such a knack, as we drove right up the hill - and there she was - the female lion. Seconds later, the male appeared from behind her - we all gasped as he just seemed to melt into view from nowhere. He yawned hugely, and all of has had a brand new respect for being very quiet.
We edge a bit closer, and then saw the cubs. 3 of them, 2 of them very inquisitive, and they came quite close to us, apparently as interested in us as we were in them.
I couldn't get a very good picture of Dad, as he preferred to stay in the shade and observe from a distance, while kids climbed all over Mum.
We headed off for out boat trip, past a variety of Antelope, which i totally failed to photograph with any success, but we saw Eland - which can jump a 3 foot fence from standing still, Impala which are tiny, and their bottoms look like the letter M so are sometimes called Mcdonalds of the jungle! Nyala who are all stripy and the babies look like bambi, Red Heartebeeste, so called as their horns make a heart shape, Blaisebok, Bontebok, Springbok, lots of boks.
There's time for a toilet break before we go on the boat - and unlike most other spots in the reserve where the toilet is behind a handy bush, there is actually a toilet here. Literally- that's all there is. A toilet. Behind a bush.
We have a little boat trip, where we see a bunch of rare birds, almost break the boat trying to get a picture of all of us, and i once again fail to get a decent photo of monkeys.
It's now getting dark again, and very cold, and out come the hot water bottles and blankets as we make moves to head back to the Lodge - via the buffalo hopefully.
On our way to where the buffalo, and the elephants - although we are less interested in them having fulfilled our elephant quota for the day - were last seen. On the way, we happen across a female Rhino and her Baby!
And now. How Elephants Made Us Late For Dinner.
Then we turn round, and try to find the buffalo - It's getting very dark now, and Kulani has got out the flashlight, which the guide use on night drives. The light is flashed around int he dark, to try to pick out reflections from animals' eyes in the darkness. It's far too dark to take any photos.
We find the buffalo, at the bottom of this scary dip in the bumpy track, which Kulani rolls down slowly withthe engine off. The buffalo are in no hurry, wandering up out of the water and lumbering along the track in front of us. The radio goes, and it's the other Guide out on a drive, Simon, asking Kulani if he's seen the buffalo. Kulani tell shim where we are, and Simon says it's far too late for him to get there, and says we should head home for dinner. Kualni tells him that we'll carry on this route, hopefully passing the buffalo, and should be home soon too.
So, we pass the buffalo. Despite being part of the 'Big Five', we unanimously decide that buffalo are really just bigger versions of cows wearing a viking hat, and therefore not terribly interesting.
Kulani has also spotted fairly fresh elephant dung on the path, and wonders if perhaps we might see some elephant on the way home. The prospect of seeing elephants in the dark is quite exciting!
We carry along this path for perhaps 3 miles, 2 miles of that being quite a scary path with a sheer drop into a valley on the right hand side, when Mum somehow spots elephants in the valley below us. Kulani shines the light down, and we all go 'ooooh' and 'ahhhh' at the elephants in the dark. We drive on, Kulani aware that we are starting to run late. When the flashlight picks up a baby elephant right in the road, happily munching away at the shrubbery on the left hand side of the road. We're all going, 'awww. baby elephant!!' but Kulani seems nervous, and is sweeping the light around.
Of course, we'd all forgotten how the big elephants were so protective of the babies earlier....
Suddenly, as i think Kulani was expecting, a big elephant thunders up onto the path up ahead, and eyes us. Robert is the first to notice the 'tears' - as i mentioned earlier when we met Norman The Elephant, the sign that the male is up for mating, and so likely to be more aggressive. In addition, he's protecting a baby.
As long as we don't go any further forward, he seems content. This of course leaves the question - how do we get home? Reverse 2 miles along a track only just wide enough for the jeep with a sheer drop on the right hand side, or take our chances with a bunch of potentially aggressive and protective elephants?
We chose the option which leave us less chance of death - reversing. In the dark. Mum and I were at the back, and keenly aware of how dangerous this was proving to be - especially as Kulani was now very concerned as to a - our lateness and b - the possibility of an angry elephant not to mention c - the fact that there may be buffalo behind us...
We survive the reverse, and a terrifying 3 point turn up a cliff which takes us right to the edge of the sheer drop into the valley. We speed past the buffalo, who fail to live up to their 'big five' status by barely taking more notice than to offer the bovine equivalent of going 'duh?' as we go by.
Kulani speeds thought the bumpy trails, which isn't terribly enjoyable now that the danger and excitement are passed and we've all realised we need a wee. After what seems like forever we reach the main road through the reserve, which means we're not far from home, and is considerably less bumpy...Kulani is speeding along at a terrifying pace, the wind is making our eyes stream as the tyres kick up dust...
Then, as we hurtle along the road, we realise there is something in the road ahead. Something big. Something grey. Something in no hurry whatsoever. It's Norman The Elephant. And he's right in the middle of the road.
We've no hope of passing him without pissing him off, so Kulani has no choice but to make yet another detour, down and even bumpier track, clearly rarely used and very overgrown. After what seems like forever, we stop at a 'safer' place so we can all crouch behind a bush...
once we've all dealt with that, and are within site of the lodge and minutes away from dinner, and no longer in danger of unexpected elephants, the whole things begins to be very entertaining indeed.
And we can use the excuse, when we apologise to the other guests for being the cause of the delay to dinner, that were were late due to 'elephants on the line'.
full photo gallery so far
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no subject
Date: 2007-04-17 06:11 pm (UTC)I'm reading all your entries with great interest, even, shockingly, the phant-free ones! Your Pork Episode sounded horrible, and that poor girl.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-17 11:17 pm (UTC)