Mini South African Safari

[PT123]

I happened to be in Johannesburg on business in December and did a quick two night visit to Timbavati game reserve (adjacent to Krueger NP ) over the weekend. I stayed at the Ngala Safari Lodge and had 4 game drives during my all too brief visit. I had stayed at other AndBeyond Africa properties before and found this lodge to be terrific as well with good food and friendly, efficient staff. The cottages are very nice and most importantly there was good general game viewing. As an aside - there are about 20 cottages so there can be larger groups visiting which may not lend itself to a quiet bush experience as with smaller lodges/camps (but priced less than smaller camps so you can stay longer!). One other down side is that the reserve didnt feel as remote as other NPs/reserves I have visited - you could see power lines and on one occasion I could hear the traffic on a paved road adjacent to the reserves border. However, my overall experience was quite good and I would happily visit Ngala again.

 

I was hoping to see rhinos, as these are my favorite but it was not meant to be in the short two days that I had. Although general game levels werent quite as plentiful as some other locations, (i.e. the Mara or Serengeti), they were generally comparable to what I experienced in Tarangire or in Laikipia. Best of all, I was incredibly lucky and thrilled to see wild dogs.

 

 

 

Below is a list of some of the animals that I saw.

 

Bushbuck

Greater Kudu (male and female)

Steenbok

Wildebeest

Warthog

Baboon

Hare (cape or scrub?)

Wild Dog

Lions

Elephants

Impala

Zebra

Leopard

Spotted hyena

Giraffe

Reedbuck

Waterbuck

Black back jackal

Tree squirrel

Dwarf mongoose

Buffalo

 

 

The bushvled reminded me somewhat of Ol Pejeta except the bush was a lot denser in some places. The scenery was quite beautiful although the game viewing was made a bit more difficult on the first drive because it had rained that morning and the animals seemed to be disbursed. We had a couple of random sightings of female greater kudu and impala but nothing too exciting until a bit before dusk until…a report came over the radio about wild dog sightings in another area of the park. The ranger told us to hold on as we needed to race to the scene before they left. I and the couple that I shared the land rover with had about 10 minutes of Ferrari safari as we sped along the dirt roads. As I was in the last row of seats I enjoyed a free roller coaster ride (rear-end levitated off the seat!). We got to the area and after a brief search, there they were in a clearing, a beautiful pack of about 15 dogs. The pack was on the move and we trailed them for a bit and then sped ahead of them to where the ranger though they were heading.

 

 

We sat in the land rover and they came up all around us as if we were just another rock or tree to be bypassed. This was AWSOME a few passed within feet of the car. Soon they spotted a heard of wildebeest and decided to try for one of the calves. There were about 20 or so beest. We found a vantage point out of their way to watch. This was quite interesting as the dogs stealthily encircled the small heard. A couple of the dogs were crouching low and slinking forward while others loosely surrounded the wildebeest. A few of the dogs took turns charging forward toward the calves which by this time were in the center of the heard, surrounded by the adults. When one or more adult wildebeest would charge out to fend off the attacking dog another dog would run in and try to infiltrate the heard in the spot vacated by the pursuing wildebeest. Eventually a dog got hold of a calf but the adult wildies fended the dog off and the calf returned to the center of the heard. As it was just about dark, the dogs gave up and moved on. We did a bit of a night drive but didnt see much and headed back to camp for dinner and I must say, some very fine Namibian beer (Windhoek).

 

 

The next morning it was just the ranger and myself. We set off in search of leopard and spent about an hour and a half scouring an area where a leopard had been seen earlier that morning. We found its kill which was on the lower branches of a tree and enjoyed watching as it was stolen by a couple of hyenas.

 

 

Unfortunately, the leopard had left the area and was not to be found. On the way back to camp I rode in the trackers seat at the front of the land rover in a dry riverbed. The riverbed was quite sandy and was surrounded by dense forest on either side. I was having a great time as we zipped along holding on for dear life and told the ranger that this was just like driving in snow! As we came around a bend in the river there were two large male buffalos lounging in the shade at the edge of the riverbed. At this point I chickened out and moved back into the rover and we passed the buffalo without incident. We returned to the camp for lunch and a nap.

 

 

For the afternoon game drive I was joined by a a very nice Swiss couple and their teen-aged son. He told me that it was his idea to go on safari as he is a wildlife/animal enthusiast. I thought this was great and warned his parents that visiting Africa and going on safari is addictive! We had a great time and had very good general game viewing (a medium sized herd of elephants, buffalo, wildebeest, male (brief view) and female greater kudu, impala, zebra, etc).

 

 

Then we then went down to a (different) section of the dry Timbavati River and watched a huge pride of lions lounging in the soft sand of the riverbed. The riverbed at this point was completely in the shade and the lions were quite content to just lounge about. I counted 26 lions (two big males, a couple of younger males, several adult females and about a dozen cubs.

 

We observed for about 45 minutes as the cubs became more and more restless and pestered the adults who slowly stirred. As it was getting on toward dusk the lions slowly got up and started to move along. We headed off for a night game drive and then back to camp for dinner.

 

 

During the night drive we were lucky and saw a leopard - a not fully grown male. We observed him for a couple of minutes and subsequently moved along with him through the bush for a few more minutes before leaving him in peace to go about his business. This was a great sighting as he didnt seem fazed at all by the presence of the vehicle and we were able to get within 10/15 feet of him.

 

 

The next morning I had one last game drive and we dedicated it to trying to spot rhino. We had ok general game viewing but no cats, dogs or rhino. Upon returning to the lodge I did a guided walk around the area immediately outside the camp. This was interesting and focused on tracking techniques, animal behavior, and plants/trees. We then headed off to the airstrip. There was a large herd of elephants feeding on either side of the airstrip at the far end (where planes coming in for a landing would touch down). We drove down to that area and hung out with them for about 20 minutes while I waited for my plane. This was a great send off! The pilot did a fly by and landed in the opposite direction (going toward the elephants at the far end of the runway instead of trying to go over them while landing). The sight of the plane heading down the runway encouraged the elephants to move off into the brush. As I was the only one leaving the plane was a small six seater and it was just me and the pilot. We had great views of the herd as we started to climb. I was very happy with the Ngala Safari Lodge and the game that I was lucky enough to see in such a short time span especially in what is not supposed to be the best time of year for game viewing. This was my first trip to SA and I hope that I get the chance to return!

Edited January 16, 2012 by PT123

[Atravelynn]

Not bad for first trip, short as it was. Was the business trip tracker training?

[PT123]

Thanks Lynn, I would totally love to go back to SA and feel like I was lucky to see so much in such a short visit. Needless to say the wild dogs and leopard sighting were the highlight.

 

Cheers,

 

PT123

[Bugs]

Wow - you had some good sightings despite the time of year, and the short stay.

[Jochen]

Thanks for this!

 

I have always wondered about that road. If you look at the location of the plots where Ngala vehicles are driving (map HERE) then you can see that the road goes all around the eastern and southern borders of their plots. This is the road to Orpen gate.

 

With this in mind, I think the Timbavati camps in the center of the reserve, or at the northern border, are better. There's an asphalt road at the northern border as well, but this one is hardly used, as it's just a private roadgoing to Umbabat reserve.

[Sangeeta]

What a great way to perk up that old business trip! You had a power-packed weekend of sightings. Super luck with the dogs. I am fast coming to the conclusion that I'm the only STer never to have seen dogs

[Sangeeta]

Dikdik, ahem...how is that LL report coming on?

[wilddog]

I am fast coming to the conclusion that I'm the only STer never to have seen dogs

 

 

you will, you will!

Edited January 19, 2012 by wilddog

[PT123]

What a great way to perk up that old business trip! You had a power-packed weekend of sightings. Super luck with the dogs. I am fast coming to the conclusion that I'm the only STer never to have seen dogs

 

 

You totally will Sangeeta, keep on trying!!! I was so very lucky and had zero expectation of seeing dogs. I have to admit that I was in a bit of a state of shock while watching them. After I took a couple of snaps with my little point and shoot camera I just sat back and enjoyed.

[PT123]

Thanks for this!

 

I have always wondered about that road. If you look at the location of the plots where Ngala vehicles are driving (map HERE) then you can see that the road goes all around the eastern and southern borders of their plots. This is the road to Orpen gate.

 

With this in mind, I think the Timbavati camps in the center of the reserve, or at the northern border, are better. There's an asphalt road at the northern border as well, but this one is hardly used, as it's just a private roadgoing to Umbabat reserve.

 

 

Excellent, thank you for this Jochen. The map is very handy. Being a South Africa novice I didn't know enough about the reserve in question before booking. I usually do a great deal of research about parks/reserves and camps before I book because researching and planning the trip is half the fun for me. As this was a business trip on somewhat short notice and it was a holiday weekend I hopped on one of the first openings that I saw. I'd stayed at this company's lodges/camps in the past in East Africa and had always had a good experience and would utilize them again. (Also they gave me a bit of a discount as I was a repeat customer.) I can't complain about the wildlife sightings and the staff was great. One thisng that I did notice is that higher end lodges SA seems to be a bit more expensive than Kenya - do any others have thoughts on this?

 

PS

 

I bookmarked the map for future reference!

Edited February 8, 2012 by PT123

[twaffle]

Missed this PT123, what an excellent way to spend a couple of days and you had some really nice sightings.