March 13, 2015
Evening ellies.
We first visited Madikwe back in May 2013- it was M's first time on safari. Since then, we knew we would be back at some point. It's an easy four-hour drive from Joburg, and a couple of days there feels like a real break from the rest of the world.
We booked last-minute through a safari website called Bush Breaks, and chose Impodimo Lodge this time. It is a gorgeous, smallish lodge camp on the north-west side of the park. We were pleasantly surprised to share our time at Impodimo with several South African couples. While South Africans do travel, it's not often that we see them visiting the "touristy" spots like private game reserves. Apparently, we were not the only ones looking for a quick escape from the city.
One of the unique features of Impodimo is that they have "trackers" on their vehicles- no, not electronic trackers- these are people who are trained animal trackers. They have a special seat in front of the hood (bonnet) on the safari truck so they can tell the ranger/driver when there's something up ahead. They also track on-foot when they spot animal tracks on the ground. We experienced this when our tracker, Holiday, and ranger, Roland, both left our vehicle to pick up the tracks of a leopard. While they felt they came pretty close to finding her, the heavens opened and the rain came down fast and furious. The rain was short lived, but it was enough to close the door on any chance of seeing the spotted beauty.
While Madikwe has a reputation for great lion/big cat sightings, one of the things they are best known for is their wild dog sightings. We did not have the opportunity to see them when we were first here in 2013, and I was hoping we would be able to see them this time around (following our recent trip to Kruger, we were keen to see them again). However, when we asked our ranger about them, he said Madikwe has very recently had a rabies outbreak, that wiped out all but seven of the dogs (there were previously three seperate packs of dogs, with over 40 dogs in total). The reserve is working hard to control the disease, and has a large pack of dogs ready to integrate into Madikwe as soon as they are comfortable it is under control. Whether we like it or not, these are the realities of modern "nature", where humans and animals need to co-exist and one cannot be exclusive of the other. I believe that Madikwe puts the animals first (this is their asset, after all), and I'm crossing my fingers and toes for a positive outcome.
As with every safari experience we've had so far, we saw a few things that we've never seen before. We watched as a baby elephant got stuck in a watering hole and had to be extracted by his mother's trunk. We witnessed two brown hyenas duke it out, while they were closely followed by a spotted-hyena and a black-backed jackal. And, we saw a full-grown lioness climb a tree. The bush never ceases to surprise.
Between game drives we lounged by the pool, watching the animals as they wandered through the unfenced camp. Our visitors included elephants, a variety of antelope, a giraffe and a mongoose. Given that the camp has no barrier between itself and wildlife, after dinner Roland walked us to our room with his rifle. Welcome to the bush.
Madikwe sunrise.
Waking up in the bush.
Good morning, Gorgeous.
Madikwe has a very strong anti-poaching team, and as a result they boast a very healthy black and white rhino population. We saw four white rhino together in the brush first thing in the morning.
Love the sight of these beasts.
Holiday (tracker), left and Roland (ranger), right.
I thought I would do this guy a favour and take his passport photo.
Watering hole at Impodimo.
Where we spent the majority of our Saturday.
M finding shade.
Sundowners on our evening game drive.
This guy looks a little worse for wear. Buffalo are not the most attractive creatures...
Ellie water-time.
This baby ellie was stuck in the watering hole and kept slipping back when he tried to get out...
He started panicking and made a warning cry to his mama that he was in serious trouble, who then put her head on his head to calm him down.
She used her trunk on his backside to help him out of his predicament, and eventually he was freed of the muddy slope.
Young bulls having a little tiff at the watering hole, while the youngsters chase each other in the mud. I think ellies are more human that we care to admit...
Getting a good bum-scratch.
Nesting.
These two brown hyena's were having it out...
The one on the left was beating up on the one on the right...he didn't finish him, but he gave him a good beating.
Good morning, round two.
Handing off: Tyrone and Sam, the ranger and tracker from Impodimo's other safari truck (on the left) show our tracker and guide (on the right) where the leopard tracks are, and off they go to see if they can find her...
No leopard today, but we did find these beauties as a consolation prize.
Are you sticking your tongue out at me?
Keeping each other clean.
Nature's scratching post...
...which incidentally also makes a good climbing post.
He wasn't growling or roaring, he was checking out the scent of the lionesses nearby...apparently this is how they determine if the females are ready to mate, how old they are, if they are pregnant, etc.
Mufasa.
Morning tea stop on the Madikwe airstrip.
Holiday and wildebeest.
Klipspringer advertising the lodge.
Ellies at the water hole in front of the lodge.
Impodimo life.
