Eight Days of Safari Game Drives in the Bushveld

We are nearing the end of our safari leg of the South African journey. We have developed friendships, experienced first-hand life in the bush… well kind of and have seen animals that we have watched countless hours of on Discovery and Animal Planet.  Our bush life in no way compares to the Europeans and North Americans of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries as I’m quite sure they didn’t stay in Five Star Private Game Reserve lodges. Nonetheless, we are here, getting dirty everyday scavenging the remotest bush areas of these enormous game reserves called Ka’ingo and Tshukudu. We are talking reserves measured in hectares versus acres, which Tschukudu is 3800 hectares and Ka’ingo over four times as much. In other words, you can drive for days and never see anything other than the tracks you’re leaving. These are managed reserves for most animals, however they’re a few that can come and go as they wish. With poaching such a huge problem, these private reserves are necessary to preserving habitat that allows for them to live in a natural setting. The staff doesn’t interfere with animals’ health by providing veterinarian care, instead, life and death play out as God intended. And when you are in their midst, you are as much fair game as an Impala. Thank goodness for the open safari jeeps as they do provide a measure of protection, but an angry rhino or elephant can flip one as fast as you can say peanut butter. When you are thirty feet away from a lion that roars at full roar, the vehicle shakes, and if that doesn’t make you sit up and take notice, not much will.

The two locations are vastly different, although the vegetation is mostly the same, the density of it is not. Ka’ingo has mountains surrounding you that adds to the excitement at least from a 4×4 standpoint. After you have had sunset cocktails on top you use a spotlight looking for cats on the way down at a slow pace. Jen and I rode in the last row of seating, also the highest row, which was not an advantage if attacked in our minds, but we might have had a viewing edge over our game drive mates, which ultimately meant we might have also had a little bigger beat in our hearts, but probably not. Ka’ingo has more of the savannah openness that we see on TV. They stick to the roads and trails and at times your viewing may be a couple hundred yards plus. In Tshukudu, the bush is dense, and the game rangers take you off road to within feet of the animal so that you aren’t trying to view through obstructions. They aren’t really comparable and the experience you come away with is equal in satisfaction.

The game rangers were vastly different too. Zandile was at Royal Marubisi and her sense of humor was fantastic. She knew every inch of the reserve and she put us on animals within minutes of leaving the lodge. She took us all three nights to sunset locations that were beautiful and a couple of them gave you the storybook distance sunsets that South Africa is known for. She ate her meals with us, and we got to know her very well. For Jen and me, we invited her to the states as it is a dream of hers. If she can get the money together for the flight, I wouldn’t be surprised to be hearing from her. Tyler was our game ranger at Tshukudu, and wow! one of the best stalkers and has superhuman eyes. I was always amazed at how fast he’d pick up on something. The greatest example was the day we went Kruger National Park, and we are driving down some backroad, bouncing along mind you on washboard, when he stops and says there are hyenas. He’s pointing and telling us where they are and even with my good eyesight, I couldn’t see them. He was spotting them at over a thousand yards off. He turned us around and raced over to where they were. It still took us all a minute or so before any of us saw them because the only part of the body showing was the shoulder and head. The other thing we grew to love about him was the rhythm of how he talked with his smooth South African English accent, but also the fact that he speaks all eleven South African dialects. He would spot an animal and point it out to us, then he’d repeat the name in a confirmation tone seemingly almost to his self. This would be followed by all the information he knew about the animal and then after a bit of time letting us take photos, he’d say, “Everyone good?”, to which we’d all reply yep and he’d start the diesel up on the jeep and say in affirmation of the animal, “beautiful <animal name>, beautiful”. We saw hundreds of animals and the pattern was the same each and every time. I loved it!!

Then there was the tour guide, Thabo. He could talk my sisters ears off and it seemed he knew everyone from Johannesburg to Hoedspruit and beyond. He even went with us shopping to make sure we got discounts. An absolute joy, and we made sure we hooked up on social media before going our separate ways. I could see us coming back certainly for the experience, but even more so for the people and staff we met. You never wanted for anything. When the staff had the deer-in-the-headlight look about gluten-free, Thebo ensured they learned seemingly overnight and every coffee break and meal from then on would have a separate gluten free plate. They even learned about different coating on chicken, etc. We have never experienced this level of service from anywhere. Often, I’m reluctant to endorse a place or tour to anyone, but in the case of Touchdown and Go Touchdown, they are over the top top-notch from the first representative assigned to you to the last person you see as you depart. If someone every thought the accommodations were maybe only 3 to 4 stars, the service would elevate it to 4 or 5 stars.

The animals… three weeks ago while sitting in my recliner contemplating Africa, in my wildest dreams could never have imagined the feeling inside seeing a lion for the first time only feet from you and they had just killed a giraffe. You are prey out here and they will let you know in short order that you are. One of the game rangers, on the last day, jumped out of his vehicle to follow the lioness that had just killed a warthog in front of him and the guests onboard. He didn’t even take ten steps and the lioness charged him from under a tree where he couldn’t even see her. The game rangers all got a good chuckle at his expense, but the seriousness of making sure he was back in his vehicle as Tyler was locating the new position of the lion with her kill was not glazed over. How about coming back from dinner only to have three elephants walk up to the fence staring directly at you, you just couldn’t picture these scenarios. At our first location, there were Vervet Monkeys and we thought how cool until we were having coffee and pastries before the early morn game drive, and in a flash the monkey was on our table and gone with two pastries. Then he had the audacity to sit ten feet away licking the jelly out and eating the bread. They would also sit on the outside of your room window scoping out whatever they could steal from your room if you messed up and left a window unlocked.

I will be in utter disbelief for a while that we just took this amazing adventure! I will be thinking about morning game drives, afternoon naps, and evening cocktails at sunset in the bush for a good time to come. I miss it already! We have one more stop on this adventure and we leave from Johannesburg for Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. The falls shot in so many movie scenes it is hard to count and is one of the seven wonders of the world. More about that when I get home, but for now I must close and say if ever you get the opportunity, don’t hesitate. You won’t regret the decision nor the adventure. Now I have to sign-off and dream about this dream location in my sleep.