Madikwe - South Africa Accompanied to the airport by the travel rep certainly eased the way through security and other formalities, so we were able to snack in the lounge before boarding and settling down for the 8 hour flight to Johannesburg. On arrival, temperature circa 12 C, we were met at the gate by two young ladies who led us through passport control and baggage claim to the car waiting to take us to the air field. We reorganized our bags and delivered the larger ones to another car for transfer to Pretoria while we went on safari! We took a 12 seater ‘plane ride for 50 minutes and arrived at Madikwe Safari Park in sunshine. The ranger who met us explained that he would be our guide for the next 48 hours and drove us up to the Lodge, passing Zebra and Impala on the way. Madikwe was a perfect location as it is malaria free and well regulated – not too many cars full of visitors viewing the animals simultaneously, therefore really good perspective on the habitat. At 3.30pm, after a delicious high tea – and home-made marshmallows, we set off with a young British man, Robin, for our first drive. Lions sitting by the side of the road (2 mums and five 8-month cubs), a rhino in the distance, impalas, zebras, a myriad of colourful birds of all sizes, etc. We stopped for a sundowner and warm up – it was certainly colder than we had anticipated (thank goodness JP had the foresight to provide blankets) and a strong gin was certainly necessary while watching the bats darting around! Back at the Lodge, Frances warmed up with a hot shower and we made our way to dinner – a traditional barbecue with many varied flavours. A wake-up call at 6am, took us to the coffee table for 6.30, before setting out for the morning drive – scheduled to be just over three hours. Hot-water bottles proved to go with the blankets and we both wore socks on our hands to keep out the cold wind. With the four-wheel drive being so high, the wind whistled around our ears, despite hats held on with scarves!! Thank goodness for the bottles. It was, however, worth the discomfort. Robin, our British co-traveller spotted a male Kudo camouflaged in the trees just after we left the compound, but not the leopard we were seeking. The first call was to notify us of two young male lions sharing a kill – some of you might already have seen the photo! – and it was a spectacular sight. The two ‘pals’ pulling and tugging at the carcass of a small water buffalo and then playfully wrestling over it. We also saw giraffes, more zebra and impala, different birds – including blue starlings, yellow hornbills, kingfishers - hippos wallowing in a river, blue wildebeest, the tiny klipspringers (which could stand four- footed on a coin the size of a Canadian dollar or British two pound coin), water buffalo, wild dogs, jackals . . . . . We stopped for coffee while still hunting that elusive leopard – having heard a sighting had been made – but no luck. The circuitous route back to the lodge meant we arrived for 10 am breakfast closer to 11am, but it was waiting for us!! We then had a few hours to sit in the sun and warm up (not a swim as the plunge pool was just as cold in the morning as it had been the previous afternoon!) – Frances fell asleep on the sun lounger, waking up in time for afternoon tea and another drive! We had been joined by a local Johannesburg family – Mum and two late teens – and set off again on the hunt for the leopard and the elephants whose rear ends we had seen earlier. We were lucky to see the giraffes, hyenas, and elephants walking across the road, into the bush and then - just before stopping for our sundowner - a caracal (lynx). We searched for the cheetahs which had also been sighted by another ranger, but were not lucky enough to see these. Back to the lodge where dinner was served to the various groups in three separate spaces – ours was close to the fire in the lounge! 6am call again, and into the jeep with the ranger (minus the 20-year old lad) to be rewarded with a sighting of giraffe, impala and zebras immediately. Next, we moved into our slot for the lion sighting. It was the group we had seen the first drive but in two groups – the cubs were all lined up waiting at the side of the dam just in front of us and the two mothers straight ahead across the water to the right and left; preparing for the chase; as we watched the motionless cubs, one lioness circled round and the other started chasing the impala. Both quickly disappeared from sight but the cubs stayed motionless for a few more minutes, before moving on as if they had been called, they quickly picked up speed and chased after the mothers. We learnt later that the kill had not been successful so we assumed that the mothers called to the cubs to follow. Back on the road in search of the elusive leopard only to come across two white rhino in the middle of the road ahead. We stopped and waited and they made their way along towards us, hesitating slightly, but then carrying on and walking just to the side of the jeep – amazing sight. On the way back to the lodge for breakfast and pick-up for the next adventure, we saw more klipspringers, giraffes, blue wildebeest and impala. The driver was waiting for us as we finished our breakfast to drive us to the next departure on our adventure.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 21:19:02 +0000
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