Olaf and I were just in South Africa, where we went on safari at the Madikwe Game Reserve and visited the seaside city of Cape Town. (http://www.madikwe-game-reserve.co.za/). We took an overnight flight from London to Johannesburg, arriving at 6am. Of course neither of us slept, because we were so excited.
Upon arrival we were met by a representative from &Beyond, our local travel coordinator in South Africa. He transferred us to the private Federal Air terminal, which operates small flights to game reserves in southern Africa.
Our flight got canceled because the heavy rain had washed out Madikwe's dirt runway. Luckily, the company organized a driver to take us five hours north to the reserve, hopefully getting us there in time to go out on an evening game drive.
Above is Olaf waiting in the lounge for the driver. In the photo below I am playing with my camera and reading the instructions so I can be prepared to capture some good photos of the animals.
Madikwe Game Reserve is located in northern South Africa, and juts up against Botswana. It's a huge huge area (300 sq. miles) and takes hours to drive across. Upon arrival we were met by our ranger Brett, who would be taking us on all our game drives. This evening we were lucky to go out with just the three of us.
Now here is the first exciting thing we saw, a magnificent dung beetle, rolling around the female on her little ball of fertility. Not so much.
It rained non-stop for our first three game drives, including this one. The evening drive lasts from 4:30 to 8:30/9, depending on how easy it is to navigate the roads. One night a massive herd of elephants blocked our road for an hour and a half.
The giraffe's were surprisingly gorgeous. From the lodge you can see their long necks and little heads swimming through the trees. All the animals seemed like dinosaurs to me, because they were so big once you got close.
The animals, for the most part, were not bothered by us so long as we stayed in the car. Brett says that they have become comfortable with the vehicles, but that the moment you step outside, you freak them out. No matter how comfortable they were with us, it was still very difficult to find some of the animals, like the rhino and African buffalo.
Before we arrived, a black rhino died (of old age). The carcass was around for a couple of days, attracting lots of hungry lions. We got a special opportunity to watch them feeding and playing :)
Below is our approach to the rhino, slightly blocked by a possessive lion. She wasn't too bothered by us, and even put on a little show with her sister. Usually lions sleep all day (like Hazel and Luca), so it was special to see them being active.
On our third drive we were joined by another couple, Luigi and Carol. The managers did a great job of matching guests together for the drives, as we got along really well. Luigi and Carol are from Panama and were in the middle a month-long honeymoon. We ended up going on the remainder of our drives together, and enjoyed a couple dinners with them and our ranger, Brett.
The little jackal below was very sweet and one of my favorite animals that we saw. She walked on her toes, like Hazel.
When our ranger asked what animals we were most interested in seeing, I said 'big cats.' While we saw a few lions, that was about it. However, one night this little African wildcat ran across the road while hunting at dusk.
