Christo and Justene Africa 2013: October 2013

Thursday, 31 October 2013

Umfolozi Wilderness Trail

We met our guides - Nunu and Jabulani and our fellow trailists - 4 from Germany and a couple from Portland, Oregan.
With only the essentials on our backs, no cells, watches etc... we headed into the bush after enjoying watching an elephant on the river. There is something about walking on foot in the African bush - makes you feel vulnerable and more sane at the same time.
We slept in a tent in a tamboti tree stand near the white umfolozi. Sipo was our camp cook and he produced some amazing food! The toilet was a spade! (one lady got lost as she went too far into the bush to do her business and lost sight of camp! ooops!)

Elephant on foot again.

The next day we went for a full out walk - with a record amount of white rhino sightings- large male sleeping only 60m away - and then a female and calf even closer - you know you are close when the guides both pick up stones to throw... in case..... Christo promises to sort some video to upload. General game - giraffe, impala,zebra, etc and loads of rhino further away. A breeding herd of buffalo and then closer in thicker bush was a few lone males - that made the heart pump! We were really close to a black rhino but the thick bush made tracking it too unsafe. That afternoon we got caught in a thunderstorm and hurried home - warm rain though - love it!

Nunu posing (means 'insect' in Zulu)

The next morning we were to leave camp but we had heard the lions walk past that night so decided to do a scout about for them - it was a coolish overcast day so they were likely still active - sure enough we found them - on the other side of the ridge and watched 9 lion - including a big male hunting blue wildebeest! Unsuccessfully! Was a great end to the trail. We really enjoyed our Zulu guides - they were super knowledgeable and gave us some nice Zulu history and culture. We exited the park by driving the length of the reserve and managed to watch this cheetah and cub on a fresh impala kill - when we got there they were just cooling down! Super fresh!

The last plains before the gate we had 14 white rhino in a 'crash'! It was a lovely end to our Umfolozi/Hluhluwe visit! Mkuze next!

Umfolozi /Hluhluwe Game Reserve

Well we finally got some reception here at Crocodile Bridge in Kruger Park and we are cooking hot at 35 degrees with a lovely hot wind! Bit too hot to go on game drive just yet so have a few mins to do some uploading!

Here are some photos from Umfolozi game reserve in KwaZuluNatal - we stayed 2 nights at Mpila Camp in a beautiful cottage with Hester - Christo's mom, Felicity - Christo's sister and Ron - a friend. The view was amazing. Sunrise photo!

A highlight for us was a tour of the game capture bomas - where they were holding some white and black rhino and some babies until they go to their new reserves!

A female white rhino in the boma.

We enjoyed game drives that made us smile! New warthog piglets were a treat to watch!

The birds were amazing - we watched a sunbird make a nest and this pygmy kingfisher was happy to have his photo taken - he smaller than a sparrow!

We had no less than 23 white rhino sightings on the first day! The poaching is well controlled on this reserve, luckily! Elephant and buffalo were also plenty.

To be fair we did suprise this elephant and he took exception!

We signed up for a night drive where a lady ranger took us out with spotlights to see what nocturnal animals we could spot. We only missed the leopard from the big 5 in one drive and had the bonus of a black rhino sighting! A porcupine was the icing on the cake!
We had a few visitors to camp - there is only one strand of wire to keep the elephants out- birds, impala, warthog, nyala and every night a spotted hyena came to supervise the braai - South African BBQ! Cheeky!

Helmeted Guinea Fowl with Christo and Hester.

In an emotional and simple ceremony we buried Jan's ashes (Christo's dad) at Mpila camp - the place he loved so much.

Our trip with Hester, Felicity and Ron was over and we said a tearful goodbye and headed to the base camp for 2 nights in the wilderness on foot.

Saturday, 19 October 2013

Johannesburg

Well we are here in Joburg, 'safe' and sound. We had a lovely treat from Felicity - Christo's sister - and stayed our first night at the Fairways Golf Course and Spa Hotel. The shower was as big as our bathroom at home and was so welcome after more than 30 hours of travel time. We enjoyed our first braai with Felicity and some friends. Today I woke very early - jet lag continues but then realized that we would be waking up early in the bush to get the best game viewing and so started the day! Spent a nice morning relaxing and birding in the garden. We visited my uncle Barry and aunty Marlene with my cousin Guine and her 2 - Henry and Elisabeth. The thunder and lightening after a lovely hot day was a great show!

Hadeda Ibis - ubiquitous large bird with a LOUD call 'HAAA -DE DAAA' that for me means I'm in South Africa again. Actually has a lovely pink iridescence on the wing but the light was not right for this shot. Trying out the lens we rented - a 100-400mm Canon...