May 22, 2012: Lunch with Elephants, Love in the Bush & Hyena Hijinks

Hi All,
As promised here are some more tails and tales from Kruger National Park. On Friday we stopped off at a hide for lunch. A hide is an enclosed, usually raised platform overlooking a waterhole where you can safely sit and watch animals and birds. On the way to the hide we had to sneak past some elephants that were crossing the road. Turns out they were on their way to the waterhole for a drink. There was this little guy that ended up in the waterhole trunk first (photo 1).

He panicked when he couldn't climb out a let out a trumpet which agitated the rest of the herd. Fortunately, Mom was there to lend a helping truck and pushed the little guy to safety (photo 2).

That night we stayed at a camp called Shingwedzi. We decided to go on a night drive and heard lions roaring as we were getting ready to leave. I was hoping to run into them but, we were disappointed. As it turns out we decided to spend a 5th night in the Park which meant we had to pass by Shingwedzi Camp again on Sunday morning. As we approached there was a male and female lion on the road! They headed off into the grass to mate (photo 3 edited version). We were very lucky to have gotten a second change to see them.

We did go on another night drive from another camp called Punda Maria. We had better luck on this one. We ran into a female leopard and her two cubs! Marc managed to get a photo as she crossed the road (photo 4).

On our last game drive in Kruger we came across a Hyena den. There were 3 older pups and 1 young pup most likely from another litter playing around with each other. As we drove up they turned their attention to us. They circled the car and one put his front legs on the bumper and peered over the hood. Another inquisitive guy approached my open window and I thought he was going to jump in. When I went to close the window the car motor was off and these were power windows. A second vehicle pulled up and the hyena pups went off to check it out (photo 5).

One cheeky fellow ended up pulling a cap off from the back of the vehicle (photo 6).

I heard the driver exclaim "why you little b______d!" I could have watched them all morning but we had a long drive back to Pretoria. After spending the night with a friend, we are back in Joburg. Tomorrow we head to Mozambique for 4 nights. It's hard to believe our trip is nearing the end.

We hope all is well back home.
Peggy and Marc

May 22, 2012: Mad Dash to Skuza

Greetings All,
On our first afternoon in Kruger National Park we decided to do a game drive. Our plan was a bit aggressive and we found ourselves far from the rest camp we were staying at as the sun was sinking lower in the sky. We had to be back by 5:30 before the gates closed. We headed back a bit faster than the 50 KPH speed limit and encountered a guy parked on the side on the road indicating for us to slow down. We thought maybe there was a park ranger ahead. As we rounded a slight bend I caught a glimpse of a cat crossing the road. It was a leopard! We didn't get a great view of her but enough to snap a quick photo (photo 1).

The man who indicated for us to slow down drove up grinning. We weren't sure how he knew the leopard would be there. He must have been following her.

We really had to get back to camp. It was 4:50 and we had 45 km to go to get back to Skuza Rest Camp. No sooner had we left the leopard when I spotted a Serval cat on the side of the road. We snapped a quick photo but we really had to get back to camp (photo 2).

Literally a minute after spotting the Serval, another rarity in the Park was in the road ahead, 4 Southern Ground Hornbills (photo 3).

This was crazy. It was now 4:55 and we were no closer to camp. We started our mad dash in ernest, not daring to go faster than 60-80 kph. We had to get past the gauntlet of Helmeted Guinea Fowl and Chacma Baboons that were congregating on the road, no doubt a conspiracy to make us late getting back to camp.

The last thing we wanted was to hit an animal crossing the road. Sure enough there were animals in the road up ahead. "Stop, Wild Dogs!" I shouted to Marc. There were a pack of 12 or so in the road! They were feeding on a fresh kill. It was now 5:35 and unfortunately we could not stay and watch them. I tried to snap a photo with my camera but it would not focus in the dark. I did manage to get an image that we could lighten up (photo 4).

I wanted to stay longer but Marc didn't want to face the consequences of getting back to camp late. Heck, we were already late.

When we arrived at camp, the gate was closed! The gate attendant was there and was not happy. He asked "OK, why are you late?". "Wild Dogs", I replied. He gave us a warning but told us next time we would be fined. Whew, what a way to start our visit to Kruger National Park! More tales from the Park to come.

We hope all is well back home.
Marc and Peggy

May 12, 2012: Road Block, Wild Dogs Galore & Close Encounters with Cheetah

Hi All,
We've spent the last 2 days exploring Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve. Yesterday was White Rhino Day. We saw 16 Rhinos while exploring the park. Our first encounter was with 2 bulls then out of the bush comes a cow with a calf. One of the bulls approached the cow and her calf became very upset. He wasn't about ready to give up mom yet and chased the bull off (photo 1).

Today we headed into the park early and encountered a road block of the elephant kind. I was happy that we were 4th in line behind the pick up truck (photo 2).

We continued along the main road and came upon another road block. This time it was caused by a pack of 17 African Wild Dogs! We followed them for half an hour. They were toying with the cars, running back and forth across the road before they got tired of the game and trotted off into the bush (photo 3).

We finally got a decent sighting of a male Nyala (photo 4).

We headed back to Emdomeni Lodge early to help feed the cats. The Lodge has a rehabilitation center for cats and there are Cheetah, African Wild Cats (photo 5),

Caracals and Servals in residence. I got to help feed the caracals by chucking zebra meat over the fence (photo 6).

Two of the male cheetahs were hand reared and were very tame. We were able to scratch them under their chins making them purr loudly (photo 7 ).

The center breeds cats that can't be released into the wild for one reason or another then gives the kittens/cubs to game reserves and parks in order to increase wild populations. One of the female Servals preferred her dinner up in a tree (photo 8).

That's it from South Africa. We're off to St. Lucia Wetlands early tomorrow morning.
Marc and Peggy

May 11, 2012: Barrier of Spears

Greetings All,
We are in Hulhluwe, South Africa after completing our 6 day trek in the Central Drakensberg Mountains. In Zulu they are referred as uKhahlamba ("barrier of spears"). We covered 90km during the course of our trek. We started at Injisuthi trailhead (photo 1)

and on our second day reached what's known as the high berg via Leslie Pass (photo 2).

The approach to the top of the escarpment was quite steep as seen in the photo. The actual pass is the grassy slope in the left of the photo. Once on top of the plateau a vast landscape of valleys, ridges and peaks unfolded before us. Our campsite was near the top of the pass (photo 3)

a good starting point for the hike up Mafadi Peak, the highest point in South Africa the next day. The summit of Mafadi Peak at 3450 meters is a broad, rocky one (photo 4).

Two of the many prominent rock formations we encountered along our route was Giant's Castle (photo 5) and The Hook (photo 6).

We didn't encounter many other trekkers on our route, just a few Lesotho sheppard's tending their flocks of sheep. They spend the summer in stone huts with grass roofs (photo 7)

but this one has been abandoned for the winter. Our trek culminated with an accent of Thabana Ntlenyana at 3482 meters it is the highest peak in Lesotho and Southern African for that matter. That's Marc, Carlos our guide and me on the summit (photo 8).

As the clouds were gathering, we made a hasty retreat to Sani Pass. At the pass we were rewarded with a warm chalet and a bottle of good South African wine at the highest pub in Africa (photo 9)!

It's hard to believe we'll be home in less than 3 weeks. We hope all is well back home.
Peggy and Marc

April 29, 2012: Feeding the Kitties and Bedroom Visitor

Greetings All,
Yesterday we got a call from Howard that he was going to feed the kitties if anyone wanted to watch. Sure we did. We rushed off to the kitty enclosure and Howard was there in his land rover with a dead Impala in the back (photo 1).

We followed Howard into the lion enclosure in vehicles of course and the lions were waiting for lunch (photo 2).

It's kind of hard to see through the bushes but the Impala was pushed off the back of the land rover and the lions pounced on it dragging it into the bushes (photo 3).

The 3 lions (1 female and 2 males) feasted on the carcass with a few snarls and growls (photo 4). The experience gave new meaning to time to feed the cats. No friskies for these kitties!

No sooner had we settled back into camp when Elisa got a frantic call from Loren. A giant monitor lizard had crawled through a hole in the roof and was dangling above her bed! He fell to the floor with a thud and promptly disappeared. Loren was requesting back up to find him and get him out of the house. We arrived on the scene and carefully peered under the furniture finally locating him peering from under Elisa's bed (photo 5).

We devised a plan to herd him out of the house with a broom but he wouldn't budge. No one wanted to grab him since monitor lizards have formidable claws and a bite laden with bacteria. Finally, Elisa got brave and threw her towel over him, gingerly lifted him up and carried him outside (photo 6).

Luckily, he did not put up a struggle preferring to play dead instead. Once released he slunk off in the tall grass (photo 7). There's never a dull moment when you live on a game farm in South Africa.

We hope all is well back home.
Marc and Peggy

April 26, 2012: Bucky Escapes

Hi All,
Today we were just finishing checking the waterhole pumps when we got a call from Howard. Bucky, the pet Nyala had escaped (no, we didn't let her out). He wanted to know if anyone wanted to go with him in his helicopter to fetch a dart gun and drugs from the local vet. We drew sticks and I got the longest one so
Marc and I got to join Howard (photo 1).

We met the vet on a neighboring farm, set the chopper down and picked up the gun and drugs. We returned to the air strip then piled into the back of Howard's land rover to find Bucky who had wandered into a nearby village. We located her literally in the village next to a house (photo 2).

Howard darted her and his workers lifted her to the back of the truck. I keep the blindfold on so she wouldn't get too stressed out (photo 3).

We drove back to the farm where Bucky was given a reversal drug (photo 4).

She almost immediately got up on wobbly legs (photo 5). I think Bucky learned an important lesson today. The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence.

I threw in a few misc. photos. The first is Howard's lion (photo 6) and the second is a Bat-eared Fox (photo 7) we saw today while checking the waterhole pumps.

We hope Spring has sprung in Vermont.
Marc and Peggy

April 23, 2012: Rhino Darting

Hi All,
I'm going to fast forward to recent events and fill in the gaps as internet access allows. After our cultural and wildlife safari in Botswana we volunteered on the Tuli Conservation project in eastern Botswana for 2 weeks (I'll sent more details later). We left the Tuli project 2 weeks early to join a Rhino and Buffalo darting project back in South Africa. As some of you may know rhino poaching is on the rise. The demand for rhino horn in Vietnam for traditional medicine and more recently as a perceived cure for cancer is driving the demand. There have been 171 rhinos poached in South Africa so far this year. 103 of these rhinos have been poached from Kruger National Park. As security in the the park is tightened, poachers will move to private game reserves. Reserve owners may not have the resources to protect their rhinos. Here's where we come in. The money we pay to join the project will help to pay for darting rhinos and putting collars on them. This way reserve mangers can keep track of them as well as the volunteers who can now track them on a daily basis.
Last Friday we joined a team to dart a Rhino and a Buffalo. Our job was to track the rhino and radio the location to the helicopter pilot on standby. We didn't actually see the rhino but found her tracks so knew she was in the area (photo 1).

We didn't see the actual darting as it is done from a helicopter by a vet (photo 2).

The drugs used to dart a rhino are very powerful and can only be administered by a vet. Once darted the pilot radios the ground crew (us) and we move in to affix a collar (photo 3).

I got to hold the rhino's leg so she wouldn't kick Anthony who was putting the collar around her ankle (photo 4).

I felt her leathery hide and she was quite warm.. Water is poured over her to keep her cool. Luckily it was cloudy. She was a beautiful rhino and may be pregnant. After the darting I was overcome with emotions. What a privilege to be so close to such an amazing animal. It breaks my heart that her species may not survive on this planet because of the greed of humans. I hope I've helped in a small way to help protect her kind.

Now to collar a buffalo. This time we waited for the helicopter pilot to find the buffalo, dart her and call us in to put the collar around her neck (photo 5).

Mission accomplished. Yesterday we went to track the collared rhinos. We received signals from their collars but did not get sightings. I did spot a magnificent bull (photo 6).

We watched him until the sun set. I hope generations to come will get to experience a wild Rhino on the African plain.

That's it for now. Hope all is well back home.
Peggy and Marc

March 16, 2012: Figa Gets New Mates, Learning to Dart and Goodbye to Khulula

Hi All,

After Sam and Kiara left Khulula, Figa was extremely upset. She paced back and forth and growled as I approached her enclosure. Would she ever trust me again? On Saturday afternoon after Petronel returned from watching her son's rugby match, she announced, "we're putting the cubs in with Figa". Just like that we let the cubs out of their enclosure and they followed Petronel to Figa's enclosure (photo 1).

How would she react? Would she attack them? Would she accept them? We were more apprehensive than Petronel. She opened the gates to Figa's pen, the cubs waltzed in and immediately started playing with Figa. It was instant bonding. much easier than introducing domestic cats (Photo 2).

The cubs were growing up fast. We starting introducing meat and bones to their diets. No more skinless, boneless chicken for them (Photo 3).

Yesterday, we had a lecture on the proper darting of wild animals. Animals are darted to transport them, give them medical attention or to simply calm them down. Certain drugs can only be prepared by a vet but can be administered by a marksman. An animal is darted in certain sites where there is a lot of muscle such as the shoulder or flank. The drug usually starts to take effect in 2 minutes and after about 15 minutes the animal can be safely handled. The animal must be monitored during the process. Respiration, heart rate and body temp. should be taken regularly. A small amount of drug is lethal to humans so extreme caution must be taken. Little did we know that we would get the chance to actually shoot a dart (blanks for practice) gun. Mark had set up a target 20 meters away and we were each given 3 shots. The person with the highest score would win tea and cupcakes (not something I would choose). It was actaullay easier than I thought. You just line up the crosshairs on the target and pull the trigger (photo 4). I came in 3rd after Marc and Louise the detective from the UK won. Of course shooting a moving animal from a helicopter is an entirely different ballgame.

Today we said goodbye to Khulula Wild care. We had an amazing 2 weeks taking care of the animals there. It was very rewarding to see Sam and Kiara get moved to a larger Game Lodge where they would have more room to roam, releasing a rehabilitated Goshawk and Buzzard and watching the white lion cubs thrive and grow into proper lions. I attached some more photos of some of the other animals at Khulula:

Photo 5 - Marc dancing with Kevin ( a released male Ostrich who still visits)

Photo 6 - Harley the wild male serval who would hiss and growl at me every time I fed him (Red, this is a real Harley)

Photo 7 - One of the Lesser Bushbabies lapping porridge

Photo 8 - The Wood Owls

This morning we were dropped off at the Nelsprit Airport to pick up our rental car for the drive back to Johannesburg. They upgraded us to a BMW. I'm not sure I want to drive around Joburg in a BMW but, here we are back at our friends Steve and Jayne's house. We'll spend 2 nights here before flying to Botswana on Sunday morning.

We see that it has been unseasonably warm in Vermont and the the biking season has begun.
Enjoy!
Marc and Peggy