Nancy Vandermey, Author
South Africa Trip October/November 2013 part 6
Today we were going on the Metsi Metsi wilderness trail, but the trail camp is being refurbished. We had been told in advance the temporary fly camp would be on the Nwatimwambu River, and we assumed the experience would be similar. WRONG, they picked a horrible place for the fly camp, do NOT do the Metsi Metsi trail until it’s back where it belongs! The bush is much too think for walking near the camp and all along the nearby road. For evening game drives you end up on the regular roads with everyone else. The rangers were great and tried to make up for the poor walks with long game drives, which was nice. There were only 6 people in our group, which made the game drives even better (3 rows of 3 seats each in the vehicle).Heading to the fly camp, we saw skink at SkukuzaGot to take a private road along the Nwatimwambu riverSaw elephantAnd were appreciative of the large tentBut the chemical toilet was nearly full from the previous occupants, and the rangers were expected to clean them, not cool!The dinner area and campfireThe dinner was a tasty stew. It was raining lightly, we hoped it would stop before the morningNovember 11, there were thunderstorms overnight but it was just overcast at 5 am. During our hike Andre described the plantsAnd we saw hingeback tortoise, birds, snails, bugs, bones, rhino middens, and frogsTowards the end of the hike Andre heard a white rhino, and we got a glimpse of it in the thick bush. We got back to camp around 10 am, showered, and had a siesta. At 3 pm we went for an evening drive, ending up at Lower Sabie for sundowners. We saw many eagles on this drive (martial, bateleur, fish, brown snake, tawny) along with elephant and rhino. During the night we could hear distant lions.On the 12th we drove a little bit before hiking, but the bush was still very thick. We did see some elephantWe headed out at 3 pm for a long game drive. Andre and Ronnie took us almost all the way to where the Metsi Metsi camp is, a much more open area! We saw baby elephantBlackbellied korhaansBuffalo (several large herds actually)Zebra, wildebeest, waterbuck, kudu – this would have been a great area to walk in (which is why I booked the Metsi Metsi trail). And a total of 29 rhino in many many sightings! But, no cats. Andre was determined to find us lions! After taking a big loop – H4-1, H1-2, private road, S128, H10, H4-1 – we passed Lower Sabie heading home at 6:20 pm. A guy in a small white car stopped us and said there were 13 lions 5 km in on S21! Off we went, and sure enough there they were2 lionesses, 10 cubs of a few ages, and one skinny maleWe followed them down the road, then they went into the bushOh, and we saw two porcupines while heading to the lions. And then with perfect timing, we left the lions, started down the Nwatimwambu road, and there in the headlights was a leopard!Many thanks to our rangers, who are frustrated by the location of the fly camp but are trying hard to please their guests! We also set up our trail camera here, capturing steenbok, porcupine, and a curious civetThe last morning, you just eat breakfast and get driven back to Skukuza, no hike. But it was to be a memorable drive – wild dog! A pack of about 10 (or more) had just caught an impala fawn and through the bushes we watched them rip it to pieces. Then the rangers led us over to the kill site, with dogs barking at us, and one leg had been left behindCloser to Skukuza, a boomslang snake slithered across the road too fast for a photo – beautiful snake!After being dropped off, we tried the S114-S21, but it was quiet – birds, general game, and a warthog with a MohawkA water monitor lizard with Egyptian goose at a pan off the S21Then we took the tar road all the way to Crocodile Bridge, to go shopping in Komatipoort, seeing wildebeest, impala, zebra, elephant, and giraffe along the way. I was happy to find the community shops at several of the gates, as the wares in the Kruger giftshops did not impress me. On the way back north we took S28, seeing a decent tusker off S107At the new view site/hide Nhlambanyathi, we found snapping turtle, yellow stork, and hippos.A newborn impala was very wobbly!Checking in at Lower Sabie, we had safari tent #18. It was time for our afternoon braai, with buffalo and hippo in view, and frogs by the refrigeratorWe saw a nice sunsetand watched a cape rat in the grass after darkOvernight I heard lions at least 4 times in the distance. On the 14th we were again out at 4:30 am, heading south to the H10/S128. It was very quiet, we got excited if we saw a single impala! Eventually we found some rhinos, and elephantsJust before Nkumbe viewpoint was a rare reedbuckThe viewpoint was hazy, but with binoculars we could find elephant, rhino, and wildebeestNext up was a comfort stop at Tshokwane. We had planned to turn around here but a fellow heading south mentioned lions at Kumana dam, so north we went. Just above the picnic area a single hyena crossed the roadand a brown snake eagle posedAn antipoaching plane kept circling near Mazithi dam, and a truck of soldiers was nearby, we hope there was no recent kill there. Just past Kumana dam we found the lions, a young adult female and a sickly looking subadult maleAt the dam we found lots of game (waterbuck, impala, and wildebeest), and a juvenile saddlebill storkOn the road to Orpen dam we found a great herd of zebra in the sunAnd a hippo at the dam itselfHeading south on H10 someone else pointed out lions under a bush, with some patience and good glass we made out 2 adult females and 4 cubsMore rhino and elephants entertained us after that, before we headed in for a break and to do laundry.Heading back out at 4 pm we found yet more rhinoand elephantsand a cooperative African hoopoeAll in the area where the 6 lions had been that morning, we couldn’t relocate them. We did the Salitjie road (S30), which had nice open areas but just impala to look at. There was lots of general game on the way back to Lower Sabie, including some slender mongoose, which became my animal for this trip to see but not get a photo of. Back at the tent we watched as 9 hippo came out of the river.On the 15th we headed north at 4:30 to S21 looking for lion, but only found sparring impalaAt the H12/H1-2 intersection two young hyena were hanging out, one with a bone to play with, the other looking sorry for itselfAlong H4-1 we found a giant kingfishergoliath heronwhite egretpythonand ground hornbillsWe returned to Lower Sabie at 9 am to shower and pack. We took the H10 again north, watching some elephants play in the water just before Tshokwane
Part 1 – Planning and Kgalgadi: Twee Rivieren
Part 2 – Kgalgadi: Urikaruus and Kalahari Tented Camp
Part 3 – Kgalgadi: Nossob, Grootkolk, Mata Mata
Part 4 – Kgalgadi: Twee Rivieren and Black Footed Cat group
Part 5 – Kruger: Berg En Dal and Skukuza
Part 6 – Kruger: Nwatimwambu Walking Trail and Lower Sabie
Part 7 – Kruger: Satara
Part 8 – Kruger: Sweni Wilderness Trail
Part 9 – Kruger: Olifants
Part 10 – Kruger: Tamboti and Biyamiti
Part 11 – Notten’s Bush Camp
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