01 Oct You never know what may come
After experiencing Plains Camp and walking safaris over a year and a half ago, my husband and I are overjoyed to be back. As we arrive at Rhino Post, a large bull elephant greets us in the parking lot. Bushbuck and impala cut grass in long swaths along either side of the raised walkway leading to our private bungalow along the dry riverbed. Before we’ve even opened our bags, a large, male kudu grazes along our back porch. We watch him from the window of our bathtub. A Woodland Kingfisher settles on a branch beside our outdoor shower.
Rhino Post is a special place. It’s difficult to describe the peace of sitting on the back deck of your private balcony, watching a herd of impala grazing just meters away.
Sitting on the deck, closing my eyes, I can hear the bark of impala, the chirp of a grasshopper, and the trickle of the outdoor shower set beneath a canopy of leaves. The long, slanting afternoon light casts long shadows and glints on the kudu’s spiral horns. The only sounds are the hoof-steps of impala, the plodding of the kudu parting the bush, and in the distance, the whrl-whrl of a Cape turtle-dove.
Once we unpack, in-between visits from the male kudu, the same bull elephant greets us on the deck of the dining hall. It’s a breathless moment, watching the bull elephant just meters in front of us. Being here, you feel like the luckiest person alive.
We haven’t even been on a game drive yet, and already we’ve seen an abundance of wildlife!
Setting out on our evening game drive, it’s not long before we spot four out of five of the “Big 5”. With James, our guide from our last visit, a breeding herd of elephants crosses in front of our game vehicle. Young, adorably hairy baby elephants stumble across the road, nudged along by encouraging trunks. As we head towards Skukuza Rest Camp, another guide says to James a Shangaan word we recognise, “Ngala,” “lions!”
That’s when we see them. Three female lions nuzzle each other in the tall grass, almost in between a herd of impala. In the distance, buffalo spread out amongst bright green reeds and the dry riverbed, but it’s the next sighting that’s the most precious.
A male white rhino grazes along the roadside just outside of Skukuza. James explains he’s one of the rhinos given to the park by conservationist John Hughes. Just meters from our game vehicle, he’s surprisingly relaxed, as he walks along the roadside idly grazing and tail-flicking. Despite years of visiting Kruger National Park, this is only the third rhino we’ve seen. Every previous sighting has been fleeting; we’d see the rhino in the distance, running back into the bush.
This time is different. Even in the dim evening light, we’ve never been this close to a South African rhino before. With hundreds of rhinos poached every year, especially in South Africa, every sighting of one is hopeful. It’s a special moment we won’t soon forget.
One game drive, and we’ve already seen four out of five of the “Big 5,” owing to the beauty of this area of Kruger, the skill of our guide James, and the wonder of the bush.
No one comes here and doesn’t want to return. It’s a special place, tucked in the heart of Kruger.
The next morning, whispers of “cheetah” take us along the northeast side of Kruger, where mountains separate us from Mozambique. Finally, we see it.
In the tree-shade beside the Kumanadam watering hole, a cheetah lies with its head raised as herds of zebra, wildebeest, and waterbuck cast cautious looks in its direction. With around 6,500 cheetahs left anywhere in the world, seeing one in the wild is rare.
As we watch the cheetah for long minutes, suddenly, without warning, she’s up! The waterbuck dash around, as the cheetah chases them (only running at about half its full speed of 120 kph). Within seconds, it’s over. She decides to leave the waterbuck and lie in the shadow of a bush somewhere. The waterbuck turn from sudden alarm to careful ease.
Though quick, too quick for me to get a shot in with my cumbersome telephoto lens, it’s a lasting moment.
