Amazing Satara bushveld sunsets!!
Our next destination was Maroela Camp, west of Satara, just about 3 kilometers from Orpen Gate. We decided that since the campground was so crowded in Satara, we would make for camp right away and try to find a prime spot to set up our tent.
We didn't rush, stopping along the way to view animals as we went. We made good time and to our disappointment, found most of the good spots already taken by elderly South African couples with their campers and caravans. We did find a spot right against the dry riverbed. The ground was on a slight incline, but it wasn't too bad. We claimed it and set to work putting up the tent.
We had to make a quick drive to Orpen gate to pick something up at the store. Mary and Mom set to work putting sleeping bags in the tent, etc. while Dad and I went to the store. Dad promised to let me drive the truck back to camp. I had gotten my international driver's permit back in the US especially so I could drive the truck. Unfortunately it is a standard and I've not had much experience with it. I know it was hard for Dad, but he let me drive the truck back. Let's just say I have a brand new admiration for those of you who can drive standard!! It was just a short distance, but we stalled twice and then lurched forward, engine roaring. Dad tried to be patient, telling me when to let out the clutch, push on the gas, change gears, etc. Poor guy! The gears stick and I found it hard multi-tasking...let's just it was an adventure driving back to camp -- add to that the occasional impala running across the road. The moment we drove through the camp gate - and it was permitting to alight from the car -- Dad ordered me to stop and he jumped in the driver's side and drove the last few meters to the campsite. I was a bit disappointed in my poor first drive, but I realize it takes time to get the hang of it. I'm not giving up yet!!
Mom and Mary were finished setting things up, so after that, we took off once more to look for wildlife until closing time.
My favorite view of the Timbavati River
Trying to warm up on chilly African morning!
Dad "braaing" (BBQing) meat, we tried to take a picture with the hyena behind him, but no such luck.
We stayed at Maroela twice before and anticipated an interesting night. Animals know how to get into this camp, despite the electric fence, and the first time we camped here, we were kept awake the first night, listening to animals prowling around our tent and the camp, knocking over trash cans and squabbling over scraps.
There is a little path that has been worn along the outside of the electric fence. It is made by hyenas prowling around camp every evening, looking for scraps. Despite the signs forbidding people to feed animals, people continue to thoughtlessly throw their scraps to the animals and in essence, signing their death warrant. Animals become a real danger once they associate people with food. Tragically, countless animals have been shot and killed by game rangers because of this.
Sure enough, shortly after we threw some steaks on the "braai" (BBQ), the first of the hyenas made its appearance, loping along, head drooping but ears pricked up and bright eyes watching us warily. It was a young one and rather unsure of itself. We shone a spotlight on it and it fled along the fence.
A rowdy group of South Africans were camped next to us and pretty soon we saw them tossing meat over the fence to the hyena. After a few laps past our spot, the hyena finally settled on hanging around our neighbors, hoping for more hand-outs. We finished our dinner, had our tea (in my case, I had Milo (a South African brand of hot chocolate)). We did the dishes and turned in for the night. The South Africans next door were very loud and kept up the noise until almost midnight. I woke up some time after that and laying awake, I'm sure something was in the camp in the early hours of the morning though I have no idea what. I don't think it came near our tent. Dad and I woke up early, planning to go on an early night drive to find it raining a little. We didn't want to leave Mom and Mary and worried that it would leak in the tent. It seemed to clear though so we went ahead.
We saw all the usual stuff and in addition, a couple jackals and a young hyena. The road was wet and there were puddles in the road. The young hyena, despite its fear of us, wandered about in front of our truck, lapping up the puddles. We were able to get some great photographs of it!!
There was a kill off on one side of the road. We had seen it the afternoon before and found that it was an impala ram. The day before, two large hyenas were feeding on it and vultures were huddled around, waiting. The carcass had been dragged deep into a bush, making it hard for the vultures. Some black-backed jackals wandered about and it was easy for them to dart in through the low-hanging branches and sneak a bite. Dad and I stopped by the kill that morning, but nothing much could be seen. Scavengers in Africa are very efficient. Often the only evidence of a kill will be single bones, scattered across the bushland.
Dad and I drove through several more rain showers and the sky looked ominous. We returned to camp to find the tent wet and our sleeping bags damp. Mom had been in the shower when it rained. Mary's quick thinking saved the day, she moved all the sleeping bags to the center of the tent, protecting them from the wet edges of the tent. The sky fortunately cleared up and things got brighter. We decided to pray over it - that we'd not get more rain and that things would have a chance to dry before nightfall. With that, we set off for another day of game-viewing. We headed north to a picnic spot named Timbavati (named for a nearby river). We came across a magnificent cheetah just sitting in the road. He didn't seem to concerned with our presence and just glanced our way before strolling off into the bush. What a sight it was!!
The first of 6 cheetah we saw on our trip!!
We stopped briefly at the Timbavati picnic spot for a bathroom break and then headed east, passing by Satara and stocking up for dinner at their shop. We saw a lot more of the "regular stuff" (impalas, wildebeest, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, etc.) on the way.
From there we headed to another picnic spot, Nwanedzi, where we planned to have our lunch. It is one of my favorite places, a lookout spot high over the Nwanedzi River, it looks south-east towards the red rock ridges of the Lebombo Hills, with Mozambique just over on the other side of those ridges. As a child growing up in South Africa, I was fascinated by the mystery and allure of Mozambique. It seemed like such a foreign and intriguing place, caught up in civil war and hidden behind those hills. Never did I imagine that one day we'd live there!
We fried up some bacon and had what we call "bacon butties" (British term for "bacon and butter sandwiches"), crisps (chips to you Americans) and something cold to drink. We bought it from the local guard whose little house was tucked behind the trees off to one side of the picnic site. A group of African men braaing meat were the only others there and we got into a delightful conversation with them. They were South Africans and were fascinated to learn that we were from Mozambique. We chatted with them for quite some time. It was really nice.
We have noticed this trip that sadly, remnants of apartheid are still very much alive in South Africa. While in Satara, we noticed some of the treatment of white South Africans towards blacks as being very condescending. Similarly, we noticed that many black South Africans treated us in a very aloof, cold manner -- nothing like the warmth and friendliness of Mozambicans. I don't want to lay blame on either side, but it is easy to see that a lot of fear, distrust and resentment remains. Being able to just visit and chat with these South African men at Nwanedzi was a real bright spot after having witnessed this. We actually spent a little too much time just visiting.
We realized we'd have to push to make it back to our camp on time -- before the gate closed. We drove along, pausing just long enough to get some good sunset photos.
Driving along the Timbavati river, we rounded the bend and found a white mercedes pulled off to one side with a flat tire. We stopped to see if we could help and the Indian gentleman asked us to inform the officials at Orpen gate. Orpen gate is about 2-3 kms beyond the turn-off to our camp, so we really had to rush!
We made it to the gate, relayed the message to the guard at the gate and then turned tail and headed back to the turn-off to our camp. We bumped along the dirt road and rounded the bend in the road, confident that we'd made .... and the gate was closed!!! We stopped in front of it in disbelief... we were only 3 minutes late after all! This was the FIRST time in our many hundreds of visits to the park that we had ever made it to the gate late. Dad honked the horn and the camp guard came to the gate. We explained ourselves and he graciously opened the gate and flashed us a big, friendly smile. We sheepishly drove in, our fellow campers staring, and settled down to getting dinner ready.
The rowdy South Africans were gone and so things were much quieter around camp. Only problem: our friends the hyenas now took a keen interest in us, since their feeders were now gone. There were three hyenas, the young skittish one, a larger adult in her prime and a very large, older female with a real sinister look. Her eyes were milky (perhaps from cataracts?) and she had several large scars on her face, one causing her lower lip to droop, exposing her lower canines and giving her a grimace. She was not scared of us at all! The others would move off, looking at us over their shoulders, when we'd shine our bright spotlight on them. The large female would only back off after standing there staring at us a while.
As we watched them, we realized that we were camped over a drainage ditch that opened out just outside the electric fence. The hyenas would climb down into the ditch and lay there, just out of our sight and out of the beam of our light. It was a bit unnerving to know they were sitting there in the darkness, peeking up at us now and then and listening to us chewing on our dinner. I was delegated to do the dishes that evening and carried them up to the little kitchenette, as I was walking along, I passed a large grate in the ground and heard a rustling inside it. I quickly realized that the grate opened up on that drainage ditch that ran under the camp. The hyenas were prowling around in there -- under the camp! I quickly shone my flashlight around the edges of the grate and was relieved to see that the grate was firmly secured down - the hyenas weren't going to get in that way!
Washing the dishes was a sociable time. Several other campers were there as well and we traded stories and experiences of our current and past visits to the park. Always fun to trade yarns!
Dad and Mary went to get a shower each and so Mom and I sat by the fire. We heard something rustling on the other side of the fence. Shining the spotlight, we saw a beautiful civet cat, delicately picking its way along the path. As we followed it with the light, we realized it was trying to find an opening under the fence. Just as it was about to sneak under, it looked up into the darkness, turned tail and fled into the undergrowth. I shone the light in the direction it had been staring and saw the large female hyena approaching. She disappeared again down in that ditch.
Once again, we had our customary cups of tea/Milo and called it a night, the hyenas still prowling about just feet away on the other side of that fence.
Around 2AM, we were rudely awakened by rain. It was running down the sides of our tent and our sleeping bags were getting wet around the edges. We had anticipated the chance of this happening and had packed most of our stuff in the back of the truck. We pushed our sleeping bags into a pile in the center of the tent, grabbed our pillows and blankets and climbed into the cab of our truck, scrunched up, we tried to get comfortable and sleep the rest of the night. I woke up refreshed, but poor Mary tossed and turned.
We headed south towards the main camp of Skukuza and from there to Paul Kruger Gate, where we'd exit the park. We saw a lot of wonderful things this day, just a few kilometers from Maroela, we were treated to 5 cheetahs together, grooming each other. It had stopped raining at this point, but they were still all wet. We took our time watching them, until they finally wandered off into the bush. We saw more elephants, rhinos, ostriches, and lions this day -- in addition to more of the "regular stuff".
We took our time and left the park at the last possible moment. As usual, I was feeling glum leaving the park. I stuck my head out the window, trying to breathe in those last deep breaths of the sweet smells of the grassland. We were treating to another amazing sunset that turned the bushveld into beautiful, glowing shades of pink, orange, green and gold. I always feel so close to God, surrounded in His Creation and am always loathe to leave Kruger and face the hustle, bustle, noise and pollution of civilization once more.
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