Lost in the Bush -- At Night!!

Ok, so I decided that this was so unusual that it deserved a post of its own! :o)

We arrived back in Satara around 3:30PM or so and wandered around the little camp shop for a while, just killing time until Mary and I were to meet behind the shop to go on a "sunset drive".

Kruger Park offers morning, afternoon, sunset and night drives now.


It's a newer thing, though they've been doing them for several years at this point. Basically you go out in an open vehicle, driven by a Kruger Park game guide (armed with his/her rifle) for several hours.

This vehicle (to the right) is a little smaller than the one we went in, but it gives you an idea of how they are set up.

I had been wanted to do the night drive from 8-10PM in hopes of seeing predators on the hunt,
but Dad suggested that Mary and I go on the sunset (photo: www.nigeldennis.com)
drive from 4:30-7:30PM since it was for three hours,
cheaper and we'd be back around dinner-time and could turn in for an early night. It sounded good so that was the plan.


We filled out the necessary indemnity forms, agreeing that the park was not responsible for us, that we willingly chose to to "expose ourselves to the natural elements" -in other words, it was our own fault if an elephant stepped on us, or a lion dragged us away. They had a really nice way of wording that, ha!!


I found a spotlight at my seat (hurray!!) though we wouldn't need them until just after sunset. Mary found a spot on the opposite side of the truck, so she wouldn't have to sit in the middle. A couple American girls sat behind me, an English family in front and several elderly Afrikaaner couples to my right and behind. Our guide, named Meetwell, was a very pleasant, earnest looking guy and he quickly gave us instructions, showing us how to work the spotlights, pointing out the thick blankets on our seats, warning us not to shout loudly or wave our arms -- the truck is completely open after all!!


After those final words, we were off! The first thing we saw was a giraffe, followed by some big old "dagga boys" --- an expression we use for big old buffalo bulls ("Dagga" is a South African term for mud). They took their time crossing the road. We drove on another kilometer or so, crossed a little "spruit" (creek) and about another half kilometer on came across a traffic jam.

Now, a traffic jam in Kruger can only mean one thing.... there's something interesting to look at!
It's funny, depending on how the cars are situated in relation to each other, you can tell if it's big cats or big animals (like elephant, rhino, buffalo). When it's big cats, the cars are squeezed in close together at crazy angles. When it's elephant or other large creatures, the cars are spaced with enough room for a quick get-away should the animal get irritated with all the attention.

Well, in this case it looked to be a big cat and sure enough, on the left (my side of the truck) was an adolescent male leopard. He was partially hidden by a bush, but as we pulled up and turned the engine off, he mustered up his courage and came forward!! I WISHED I brought my camera! All I had brought was my binoculars so I could only watch as he came closer and closer... and closer. He was young and not sure of us. After a moment he lost interest and rooted about in the grass, looking for giant grasshoppers, birds, etc. But then that became boring and he moved closer to us once again. I was sitting just inside the back door of the truck, which was closed only with a piece of canvas. There was a gap there through which he could see my legs. I sat perfectly still as he came even closer, knowing that the slightest movement could trigger his hunter instinct. In 3 seconds flat, he could charge across the remaining few yards and be up and inside the truck!


A couple years back a young leopard, being inquisitive, jumped inside one of these trucks and savagely mauled the guide, so knowing this, I have to say my adrenaline was pumping but I was frozen in place! He sat there quietly --absolutely mesmerizing-- leopards are by far my favorites, they are so very beautiful!! After a short while, he turned and walked parallel to the road. We followed but a little behind him and then stopped when it was obvious he wanted to cross the road. He trotted across and disappeared down the bank of the river on the other side, birds squawking in consternation.


We continued on, turning off the tar road onto a dirt road along the Sweni Spruit and came across a very large breeding herd of elephants. The babies were tiny and Meetwell estimated the youngest to be about 3 days old. They congregated at a waterhole to drink, the mothers nudging the small ones forward and the young males mock-fighting and milling around the edges. We stayed for a while, just watching them and enjoying the scene, though it was getting dark. We soon had to switch our spotlights on and then the fun began!!


I have to confess I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the years of going to Kruger Park paid off - I knew where to look for bushbabies, high in the trees and how to sweep the spotlight systematically from right to left. It's often easy to find animals by spotlight, as it is easy to spot eyeshine. It can be much harder to identify the animals however, in the thick bush though. I was able to identify scrub hares, large-spotted and small-spotted genets, a civet cat, duiker and steenbok (antelopes) and all sorts of other night creatures. I was in my glory when the South African gentlement across the aisle from me asked if I had been a game ranger in my former life (I wish!!)

Our guide drove the truck down a non-entry road (seen in the photo above). I thought nothing of it since I've been on nightdrives before and rangers will often take shortcuts on those private roads. We continued on, spotting wildebeest, impala, etc. The stars were amazing, the Southern Cross standing out from within the Milky Way stretched out over our heads - breathtaking!

The road was increasingly getting rougher and we crossed through numerous dry spruits and dongas (streams and gullies). It was slow going and we found trees lying across the track, knocked over by elephants no doubt. We drove carefully around them and continued on. After a few more kilometers, Meetwell, our guide, turned and said, "I think we might be lost". The South African couple laughed and said, "Oh, that's ok, just take us to the lions!". Poor Meetwell, turned and kept driving. A kilometer or two further on, the road (if it could be called that) simply disappeared. Meetwell shone his spotlight ahead as though he couldn't quite believe it. He turned the truck around and we headed back the way we came. I glanced at my watch and realized that it was already 7:30PM (time for us to be back in camp!). Meetwell was now in contact with his fellow rangers back in camp - although they couldn't help us, after all, they didn't know where we were! He was anxious to get us back to camp and began driving more recklessly. I hadn't been concerned before, but now was anxious that driving down through those dry river beds so fast, he might overturn our truck (the last thing we needed!!).

We made it to an intersection we had passed earlier. Meetwell stopped the truck and actually asked us which way we should go (I thought HE was supposed to know!?!?). Mary (bless her!) piped up, "I think you should just keep going back the way we came!" Meetwell looked at her gratefully and kept going. He sped up and soon we were bumping along in the truck, thorn branches whipping past - we had to be sure to keep our arms and heads inside the truck to keep from getting hit.

We finally made it to the dirt road and a sign post, "Satara, 33Km" - at least we were back on track. We got to the tar road and Meetwell began turning west instead of east (to Satara). The poor guy was really unsure of himself at this point. He quickly turned east when we all started to protest! We drove the remainder of the way to camp without stopping except for an encounter with three spotted hyena in the road. I kept shining the spotlight and saw plenty of eyeshine, but we were travelling so fast, I thought better of asking Meetwell to stop at this point.

We ran into the 8PM nightdrive people about 10 km from camp. The ranger leaned out of his window and said, "glad to see you all still alive!" - that sobered up the jovial South Africans in our truck!

We pulled into Satara at 9PM, an hour and a half AFTER we were supposed to be back in camp. Dad was waiting anxiously just inside the gate with the gate keeper. The gate keeper didn't know what had happened to us and they had assumed we'd broken down someplace. Fortunately that was not the case. Poor Meetwell got some sizeable tips, despite the incident. I stopped to talk to him and encourage him a bit. I found out that he had been working up in the Pafuri region of the Park (the northermost area) and this was his first nightdrive in the central park of the park. It was all new territory to him!

I looked at the map later and realized that he had intended to take a shortcut that went north to the tar road, but we had actually ended up on a road that headed west (who knows where we would have ended up?!).

Needless to say, Mom and Dad were relieved to have us back safe and sound. We were hungry, but none the worse for our adventure. I was pleased we had gotten MORE than our money's worth! Hehe!

Dinner was a little overdone (Mom had been trying to keep things warm until we got back). We had buffalo steaks, which were rather tough!! We managed to eat them though and finished off the evening with a cup of tea each and then settled down in the tent for the night. Waking up in the wee hours to hear lions roaring back and forth to each other from either side of the camp, punctuated with the eery howl of a lone hyena and wails of jackals.