Day 2 – Afternoon - Drifters South Africa 18-day Tour

Andy’s Camp

31 August 2011   

We met for snacks at 2:30 before settling into our open air 4x4 safari vehicle. Joostie took the roll of spotter, sitting on a chair at the front of the hood. Once he was belted in, Milton fired up the engine and we peeled away. Our lodge was on a ridge overlooking a valley where the waterhole was and one quick turn later and we were heading to a lower elevation.

Joostie in his seat 

Thirty minutes into the ride the lodge was nowhere to be seen. Even though we were coming out of South Africa’s winter months and the grasslands and leaves are sparse; you get swallowed up by the enormity of it all. We stopped and left the vehicle so Joostie could show us a burial plot dating back between 250 and 500 years. Tribesmen would bury their dead under termite mounds. The dead would be placed sitting up, with their most prized possessions and wrapped in an animal pelt. They were buried sitting up because death is seen as a journey, and you cannot go on any journey if you are lying down. A clay pot containing food and one containing water were left at the foot of the termite mound to help the dead on their journey.

The termite burial mound 

Despite not seeing anything other than numerous birds and a few herds of impalas, the trek out into the bushes at that point was still amazing. The sounds kept you mesmerized and every rustle of leaves drew every eye in the jeep hoping to spot something different.

Two Spotted Eagle Owls

Cape Turtle Dove  

Milton was constantly on the CB talking with other guides in the region learning of sightings and movement patterns. We tried to follow some lion tracks by cutting back across roads but they soon disappeared. Milton then got a call and he headed straight there. We had no idea what it was. At that point, it could have been a herd of zebra for all we knew. But as we neared, it became awfully apparent. We had just found elephants! 

We parked about 30 feet away and were reminded not to stand up in the truck and not use flash photography. A rowdy teenage boy was the first to test our nerves by bellowing and flapping his ears around. We sat and watched them for 10 minutes, cameras snapping, excited murmurs being exchanged. And then the elephants moved.

The herd of around a dozen stomped through trees and bushes and came straight towards us. The younger ones walked by us without a care, coming within 10 feet of the vehicle. The ornery teenage boy had other ideas and gesticulated as he neared us, his trunk being tossed around like a rag doll, his ears flapping, the held straight out from his head as a sign of dominance. By the time he veered away from us he was only 5 feet away, the enormity of this animal too much to comprehend.

The teen giving us some attitude 

This guy got really close 

When the coast was clear we began to move but paused again when a mum and two calves appeared. Mom didn’t seem to like us hanging around and trumpeted at us, constantly snapping limbs from trees and stomping her feet. When she eased and corralled in her young, we finally let them be, the buzz in the jeep electrifying.

Mom and young 

We had brought a cooler of drinks with us so the plan was to stop in the bush to have a sundowner: a drink while watching the sunset. On our way to our spot, we stopped to watch a playful herd of impala when I spotted an animal that turned out to be a waterbuck, one of the largest of the antelopes.

The Waterbuck. You can just make out the ring around his tail end.  

We stopped at a large watering hole where only one lonely steenbok was drinking. We parked and leapt out of the jeep, grabbed a beer and watched the sun sink under the cover of Acacia trees. I marked my territory so a part of me will live on in Africa … at least until the next rains come.

A solitary Steenbok 

A Black-Backed Jackal

The group about to enjoy a beverage in the bush  

Watching the sun sink in the bush.

We all shared a drink around the campfire after being introduced to Joostie’s two flat mates, big pig and little pig, two frogs that lived in the main lodge. We shared stories and jokes until we all headed off to bed thinking it would be hard to top the day we just had.

Big Pig

Little Pig  

Words and images copyright Geraint Isitt 2011