Kruger, and Other Parts of South Africa

Welcome to South Africa

Tuesday 2nd - Wednesday 3rd September 2019

Negotiating Heathrow airport in the evening for the last outbound flight of the day was as thankfully calm and smooth as we had ever experienced. A ten and a half hour Virgin Atlantic flight from terminal 3 to Johannesburg arriving at 11.00AM on 3rd Sep was the beginning of this adventure. The strange woman in the seat next to me announced that she was sprinkling tea tree oil on the floor before we had a chance to object. I assumed it was to help a nervous flyer to relax, but she advised me that it was defence against germs. She later confirmed her title as “strange woman” by disappearing for hours on end, grabbing my arm when she awoke with a start, and just generally being a bit odd.

Once we had arrived in SA, found our meeting point (look for the man holding a picture of a lion they said) and been joined by the rest of our fellow travellers our driver introduced himself as Surprise. This amused him and both amused and surprised the rest of us. We eventually boarded our minibus, which fortunately had a trailer for all our luggage, and set off down the South African freeways. A couple of uneventful hours later we stopped at the service station for a comfort break. On entering the Gents, I was surprised to see a clear glass window starting just above the urinals and stretching the full length of the room. Further surprise (no, not the driver) when I saw what was the other side of the window. Buffalo, Ostrich, Kudu, Rhino calmly grazing around a waterhole only 25 metres from the toilets. OK, so it was a mini zoo with them all fenced into a small area, but it was our first wildlife encounter, and Michelle didn’t have to come into the gents to enjoy the sight as there was also a viewing area outside the building.

A further couple of hours down the good quality roads took us into a hillier more interesting topography and we finally pulled over in a dusty parking area. We transferred to the Toyota Landcruisers which would become very familiar to us over the next week. They could carry 9 passengers each so we jumped in and bounced and wobbled up an extremely rough, dusty track which took us through a very poor township where the houses ranged from corrugated iron huts to garden sheds, and occasionally something far more substantial made from breeze blocks with windows fencing and even a garden. As we passed the houses all the young children ran out to wave and smile and shout. We assume they were all shouting nice things like welcome to South Africa, and don't need anyone to shatter that illusion. The track got much steeper and even rougher but we made slow progress and witnessed a beautiful sunset as we neared the top of the mountain.

On arrival at Bongani Mountain Lodge, we were escorted to our rooms to unpack, and then back up to the dining area where the wonderful character known as Mama Africa had prepared our evening meal.

Chacma Baboon

Thursday 4th September 2019

5.45AM is a very unreasonable hour to be getting up on holiday, but we were in Africa and going on a bush walk before breakfast. Our guide was very keen to educate us in the different kinds of poo to be found in the bush to the point of putting some elephant poo in his mouth claiming that African people’s stomachs could cope with this better than us softy Europeans. We took him at his word. Staying on the poo theme - Hyenas do white poo as they tend to eat the bones of their prey. We hadn't seen white poo since the 1980s (I don't know what the British dogs used to eat in those days!) Apart from lots of poo, we saw Impala, Nyala, and Zebra grazing at various distances, and eventually a herd of Elephant destroying the trees not 50 metres away. Our guide told us that we should follow him and must not stop under any circumstances. He set off and after about 25 paces he stopped. Confused!

Being that close to the elephant in their environment without any form of protection, apart from our guide’s bolt action rifle, left us feeling vulnerable but it was an amazing experience as they tore down tree branches and rumbled at each other.

After a “Full English” breakfast followed by pancakes, jam and cream we had some free time to catch our breath and take in our surroundings. We spent some time on the verandah reading and preparing our cameras for what was to come, and then strolling round the grounds in the warm sunshine. After wandering amongst the Nyala, baboons, and vervet monkeys that obviously viewed Bongani as their home we discovered the viewing platform near one of the pools. We gazed across towards the horizon to see the mountain range stretching out into the distance, and down to the valley below where elephant gathered at the waterhole.

Later whilst walking up a path near the centre of camp, a snake and I startled each other. The snake reared up defensively as it headed off the path into the rocks, and I kept moving very quickly up the path with my heart beating very rapidly. Down the pub I claim I saw off a 3 metre black mamba, but in reality it was more likely to be an Olive Grass Snake.

After a wash and brush up we headed for high tea at 3.30PM (I don’t think we will die of starvation here) before leaving on a sunset game drive in Mthethomusha Game Reserve. Heading down the mountain we soon encountered some of the Elephant and Impala we had earlier seen from the viewing point high above. The first elephant was at the waterhole and didn’t look very pleased to see us but our guide said he was fine, then we were in amongst a whole herd of tolerant elephant as they serenely made their way along the valley destroying most of the trees as they went. We just sat in the Toyota and enjoyed this amazing experience. Cameras were clicking away like crazy.

We continued down the track, past the other vehicle which had a puncture, and discovered a large giraffe wandering gracefully along the track in front of us. Another two browsed peacefully nearby. Further on we met a herd of buffalo with their centre partings who were mostly lying around chewing, although one or two did jump up at our arrival. Having told us the buffalo was one of the most dangerous animals in Africa and would attack without warning our guide and driver thought it would be amusing to make out that the vehicle wouldn’t start again. I can’t remember if we tipped them that day or not!

Our pre-ordered drinks were served on a rocky outcrop overlooking this very African of valleys as the day came to an end. Moonchester, the Manchester City F.C. mascot and our regular travelling companion, had his first outing of the trip - it was too good a photo opportunity.

The drive back to the lodge featured our tracker sat at the very front of the bonnet shining a powerful spotlight into the darkness, although we didn’t see very much, and I think one of our group also left their hat in the jeep. Another excellent meal followed, including some excellent traditional African singing by the catering staff, before we were escorted back to our rooms by the security team. Very glad of the escort tonight as lion tracks had been found in the compound from the previous night - maybe they had smelled fresh new meat!

Friday 5th September 2019

An even earlier start today as the alarm disturbs us at 4.15AM so we could trudge up to the dining area for coffee and cookies. We set off down the mountain in a light drizzle at 5.00AM. Ponchos were provided to protect us from the un-African weather. At the bottom of the dirt track we transferred to Echo Safari vehicles which at least had roofs even if they were canvas, and headed off down the highway towards Kruger National Park. It was chilly, cloudy, and along with the increasing rain resulted in a day for fleeces, waterproofs, and frozen fingers in our open sided vehicles. Nevertheless, we hadn’t come this far to bail out and go home so we entered Kruger, which is almost as big as Wales, via the Malelane Gate at the Southern end of the park. For some reason passport numbers had to be recorded along with our names and nationalities so they would at least know who the lions had eaten.

Things started slowly, and we were beginning to wonder if the animals all thought the same about this weather as we did, and were hiding in whatever shelter they could find. Then we encountered a few Impala by the tarmac road and soon we met elephant, hornbill, buffalo, nyala and even some distant rhino. A German member of our group thought that making the type of sounds you might make to a domestic cat would encourage the animals to come closer, despite Elsa pointing out that if that sort of thing worked she would have been doing it already. We had further encounters with giraffe, wildebeest, red hornbill and zebra all before our breakfast stop. Bongani Lodge staff had supplied us with sandwiches, crisps, muffin, yoghurt, granola, and a hard boiled egg which we had half finished even before the stop. We consumed the rest along with a caramel latte at a safe picnic site which had toilets, a shop and some yellow hornbills (who always look angry) to clear up any crumbs we left at the table.

An array of the usual animals followed our breakfast interlude as the weather deteriorated further and we wondered if there was African style weather back in England. The bad weather also meant there were no hot thermals for the vultures to soar on, so there they were high up in a tree looking thoroughly miserable.

Spirits lifted very quickly when we had our first really big thrill of the day - leopard. Maybe 25 metres away from the road he/she was slowly walking parallel with us through the undergrowth. To be honest the glimpses were short as it wove its way through the bush and the photographs won’t be winning any competitions any time soon, but we had definitely seen a leopard and we were happy. Almost immediately after this we came across a leopard tortoise, one of at least half a dozen encountered during the day. Apparently the rain had roused them from their winter hibernation.

A little while later, with the help of a WhatsApp group that some of the guides used, we received word of a Lion being spotted very nearby so we dashed to the scene. Now this lion was apparently “near the shady area next to the bottom of that big tree over there at eleven o’clock…….” Some of us took ages to get a bearing, some still aren’t sure we saw it at all but it was there!

A short while later we met some beautiful giraffe browsing right by the side of the road for us, followed soon after by some warthog and then a definite lion sighting. A male looking straight at us from about 50 metres away trying to decide if we might be worth the effort for an afternoon snack, but instead deciding to flop down out of sight for a rest.

We drove on wrapped in blankets against the cold with the rain coming in the sides and forming waterfalls off the canvas roof to experience a few more sightings before we stopped at another “service station” for lunch - chicken wrap and fries and a quick look round another souvenir shop.

A very quiet, and fairly miserable drive back to Bongani followed. Not because the day was so terrible, but because we were all so cold and wet and the thrills had come to an end for the day.

When we finally reached our room back at Bongani, we were stopped in our tracks as we found half a dozen baboon having a party on our verandah. The first few scattered as we approached but one or two did need a bit of shooing to give up their prime spot out of the rain. We put the small table, chairs, and ashtray back where they belonged and went inside for a hot bath and change of clothes before our evening meal prepared by Chef Nimrod. The free standing bath was very welcome.

Saturday 6th September 2019

A lie in! Well until 6.45AM breakfast anyway. A 7.30AM departure on a cloudy (but dry) day started with the usual 50 minute fairground ride to the bottom of the mountain in the supercool ponchos, and waving to all the small children in the township. At this time of day it was once again very chilly when we transferred to an Echo Safari vehicle - this time we all piled into a minibus with Elsa our guide once more, and Sonny Boy our driver.

We were to drive along the Panorama route in the Drakensberg Mountains, and our first stop was a comfort break where we were supposed to have access to toilets, coffee and an ATM. However, when we got there it seemed that there were renovations going on and we only had access to some dodgy toilets that the workers used, and no coffee. The German couple disappeared to the local KFC for the coffee they couldn’t do without and kept the rest of us waiting for 5 minutes.

We moved on and after driving past many acres of Scots pine forest eventually reached Lisbon Falls, a 308 feet waterfall near Graskop. It was still early, cold and windy as we all disembarked to take the obligatory selfies and photographs of the falls themselves. There were also a few hardy souls wrapped up against the weather and manning their stalls at the “souvenir mall” in the car park. We spotted a carving of some African women in brightly coloured headscarves which took our fancy and the stallholder rather easily dropped the price by 50 rand (£3) on seeing our interest. I chanced my arm with an offer further reduced by 50 rand to be met by laughter. So we paid the asking price and concluded that I was rubbish at haggling. She disappeared below her stall to wrap the carving in many sheets of newspaper and lots of sellotape to the point that we did wonder what might actually be in the parcel we carefully carried back to the bus to get out of the chilly wind.

Lisbon Falls

Next stop - Bourke’s Luck Potholes - and thankfully the weather was improving and the day was warming up. There were a group of girls doing their best African singing and dance routine at the side of the car park, who I think were hoping for donations. Bourke was one of the original gold prospectors who swarmed to the area and the potholes are a geological feature formed by thousands of years of water erosion at a confluence at the mouth of the Blyde River Canyon. There are three bridges which criss-cross the river so we worked our way back and forth and over the rocks to view the amazing shapes eroded in the rocks below. There was also a hat lodged half way down towards the river but it wasn’t so amazing that I thought about retrieving it. Back at the car park we grabbed a couple of lattes to keep us company on the next leg of the tour.

Bourke's Luck Potholes

The Blyde River Canyon is allegedly the third deepest in the world and the best part of it is the Three Rondavels. Another amazing geological phenomenon, the three eroded rocky stacks topped with greenery, resemble the traditional beehive huts of the area and the views of the canyon and river below are outstanding. We spotted eagles soaring below us as the canyon was so deep and were taking lots of photographs. Michelle posed on a rock for me to create a new album cover style photo, and then promptly stood up and cracked her head on the sturdy tree branch above her. Ouch!

The next scheduled stop was God’s Window, but he had closed the curtains. The low cloud meant that we couldn’t even see the car park let alone the view. On a clear day the view over the escarpment to the Lowveld 900m below is the reason it’s known as God’s Window. A little further down the road we had descended enough to find a lay-by which rewarded us with a beautiful clear view across the lowlands. We couldn’t stay long as we had a dinner appointment in Graskop.

God's Window

We arrived in the town and were immediately descended upon by a gang of men trying to sell us carved parrot type mobiles, or macadamia nuts (they’re a big thing in that part of the world - the best available they said). Anyway, once we had promised to buy something on our way back from the restaurant we made our way to Harry’s Pancake House and had Dutch bacon/Sticky Pork, peach and spring onion pancakes with strawberry milkshakes. We managed to dodge the street hawkers on our way back to the bus so didn’t bring any parrots or nuts back to the UK.

The weather had improved as the day wore on and most people nodded off during the journey back to Bongani (all the early morning starts catching up with people). Whilst heading back up the mountain, the jeep got a puncture and we all helpfully stood and watched and took photos whilst our driver changed the wheel. We have the luxury of a day off tomorrow so we shared a bottle of South African merlot with dinner and then adjourned to the bar for a couple more drinks. We felt we had earned them.

Sunday 7th September 2019

Once again we were awoken by the sound of baboons running over our roof at 6.00AM, but it’s our day off so we went back to sleep once they had moved on. Breakfast was at the civilised time of 9.00AM and was of the usual high standard. Once fed we headed back to our room. Venturing out onto the rocky outcrop in front of our room (checking carefully for snakes on the way) we were rewarded with baboons running around entertaining us before the day got too hot. Shortly afterwards we spotted some elephant appearing stage left down in the valley. Not surprisingly they all slowly headed for the waterhole and once they were all gathered closely together we calculated there were approximately 40 of them. This place is amazing even on a day off.

We spent some time relaxing and reading on the verandah before heading off on a bit of a walkabout around the lodge grounds. We discovered a new viewing point on another rocky outcrop past a few other rooms and went to inspect the rock art, but failed to see anything we could recognise. Also failed to spot any snakes we could photograph. We arrived at the dining area in time for high tea to discover some of our tour group drinking cocktails in the warm sunshine. Perhaps they had a better idea what to do with a free day.

Back to our room where I utilised the outdoor shower with the viewing cutout, and Michelle was almost caught naked in the bath by the maids who had come to service our room. Whilst waiting for our escort to take us to tea we noticed a small female Nyala had curled up and settled down right at the front of the verandah, and was still there hours later when we returned, only now she had a larger male companion.

Our escort turned up and took us “the wrong way”, and we ended up in the Boma for a South African outdoor dining experience. A large fenced area with a firepit, barbecue style cooking area, and a bar. Our long table lit by lanterns seated 15 and was soon laden with lamb, oxtail, kudu sausages, broccoli and sultana coleslaw, potatoes, maize and mixed veg followed by chocolate sponge with chocolate sauce, or creme caramel.

Monday 8th September 2019

Bongani Day again - 6.00AM departure for our morning game drive in the local area. We set off in search of lions which had been reported in the area. After an hour of following lion tracks along the dirt track all we had seen was a dead tortoise - absolutely no sign of any other life at all. Shortly afterwards we spotted a small group of wildebeest but they soon legged it. Our team of guide and spotter, as well as those in the other vehicle, were so convinced that lion were in the reserve that the two guides set off on foot to track them. This left the spotters who usually sat at the front of the bonnet to drive us around in the hope of something to keep us amused. We didn’t see a thing. We stopped for coffee and a rock hard biscuit to relieve the monotony, before picking up our guides again who had apparently been charged by an elephant but we didn’t see that either. On the drive back to the lodge we did manage to spot kudu, impala, baboon, and a giant plated lizard on the wall at the lodge entrance.

The middle of the day was spent lazing around and viewing the waterhole and the rock art where we think we finally identified something thanks to the descriptions by some of our tour group colleagues who obviously have a better eye for this sort of thing.

The afternoon game drive was very different as we were much more successful - starting with a fine looking waterbuck stood high up in the rocks surveying his ‘hood. Zebra and kudu followed on in quick succession, and then major excitement. We had tracked down 3 white rhino who gave us a magnificent defecating display followed by a bit of urinating before grazing peacefully. Soon afterwards we ploughed into the bush and concentrated on avoiding the needles on branches which are known as acacia to witness a mother rhino with her youngster who perhaps understandably were a little more jumpy that the mature rhinos who seemed quite content for us to watch them.

Then it was time for our sundowner so we sipped our drinks in almost complete silence as it got darker and darker. Also spent some time looking for a hearing aid with the torches on our phones, which we later discovered hadn’t actually come on this trip as she had taken it off to shower and never put it back on. On the way back we met up with a herd of elephant in the bush and paused to watch them browsing by torchlight. We also “saw” a mongoose and a bush baby. I did see something shoot across the road in front of the jeep and can only assume that was the mongoose, and we certainly didn't see a bushbaby.

Tuesday 9th September 2019

4.15AM wake up alarm to depart at 5.00AM and Kruger bound. Setting off in our faithful Toyota Landcruisers we managed about 5 minutes before ours lost power and we had to stop in the early morning darkness hoping that there were no lions prowling the area. Shortly afterwards a replacement vehicle turned up and we all transferred to this one and made a grand total of about 100 metres before someone realised this one didn’t have enough fuel and we transferred to a third vehicle to complete the journey down the mountain.

We eventually reached our usual car park where we once again joined up with Elsa and the Echo Safari team who were to take us back to Kruger National Park. Although still chilly at this time of the day, the weather was far better than last time we made this journey - it wasn’t raining for a start. It was at this point that we realised we had forgotten our passports, the details of which we had needed to submit to get into Kruger previously. A quick panicky discussion followed which resulted in us realising that no-one had actually asked to see them, but merely to have a record of our names and passport numbers. On arrival at the Malelane Gate entrance we completed the paperwork with made up passport numbers, eventually making sure that they had the same number of digits as everyone else on our vehicle and held our breath. After all we weren’t crossing an international border so this could hardly lead to deportation or a diplomatic incident could it? A short while later as we sat waiting to get in Elsa announced that things were taking far too long and there must be some kind of problem with the permits, so went to find out what the hold up was. Now we were getting nervous. Thankfully she soon returned with the permits and we both recommenced breathing as we entered the park again.

It was well worth the effort of getting in today as we soon saw guinea fowl, buffalo, lion, kudu, mongoose, and then a huge herd of buffalo crossing the road near a river which also had some motionless crocodile which we all failed to notice for at least a minute. Michelle even thought they might have been statues or something as there was absolutely no movement from them and no-one else mentioned them being there.

Over the next hour or two we also spotted klipspringer, kingfisher, zebra, giraffe, warthog, and elephant, one of whom didn’t appear entirely pleased to see us, and seemed to want us to move on (she did have a youngster with her). We stopped at a viewpoint and actually got out of the vehicle in the hot sun. It was a raised mound just off the road, and there was a view of the park for miles in all directions (well the park is nearly as big as Wales). I did ask Elsa if the lions knew not to come up to the viewing area, and she pointed out that we would at least be able to see them coming.

We stopped at the service station we used last visit when it was raining and cold, and we were in need of hot coffee, only this time we could sit outside with waffles and ice cream in the sun. Unfortunately, when it came time to pay Michelle couldn’t get away until she had added at least 10% gratuity - the first time anyone had insisted like this during our trip.

More lions and rhinos followed until we spotted crocodile from a bridge, along with some large fish which made circular “nests” in the river. There were also a number of different bird species hunting in the river as we left the park. The people in the other vehicle apparently spotted hippos from the same spot but we had already driven off.

That evening we once again ate al fresco in the Boma, and the staff gave an amazing display of singing and dancing around the fire pit.

Wednesday 10th September 2019

By the time we got up, only two members of our group were still at the lodge so we joined them for breakfast. The rest of the group had left in the early hours of the morning for their onward trips to Victoria Falls, or Mauritius. Our two breakfast companions were shortly to be setting off for Capetown - we weren’t in the slightest bit jealous of any of them. One of the large baboons decided to attempt to join us in the breakfast room, but was seen off by a member of staff wielding a large umbrella just as he was eyeing up our breakfast plates.

Lots of packing, a little bit of shopping by Michelle - once she had persuaded them to open the shop - left us with a little bit of time for a few last photos of buffalo at the waterhole from the rocks outside our room. Then it was time to go.

Once again we undertook the familiar bouncy journey down the mountain to meet our old friend Surprise who drove us back to the airport in Johannesburg. Once aboard the plane we were told that the World Health Organisation insisted on us being sprayed with insecticide to ensure we didn’t bring home any unwanted souvenirs. So one of the cabin crew took great delight in parading up and down the aisles spraying some unknown aerosol all around.