DAYS 85-87 Sunday, April 9 to Tuesday, April 11.
Safari to Kruger National Park
After a day at sea we landed in Durban, Union of South Africa. Mary and I (and about 39 others) ate an early breakfast and immediately boarded a bus to the local airport for a chartered flight to South Africa’s Kruger National Park. There we hopped into vans to take us to various lodges in the park. Mary and I stayed at Jock Safari Lodge, named after the founder’s dog.
The experience for me was overwhelming. I’m still processing it, and will need to fill a book, literally, to try to come to grips with it all. But for now let me post at least one sketch, of a baby rhino and his mom. An aside: Her horns have been trimmed to prevent her being killed by poachers.
Read on, if you like, but stay tuned for more pictures, as I plan to post that book here as well, as a PDF.
THE LODGE
Jock Safari Lodge was more than comfortable, it was luxurious. We were lodged in beautifully built cabins along the hight banks of a shallow river. The interiors were nothing short of grand, and comfortably air conditioned. The bathroom had a large pair of sinks and was matched by a glass-enclosed double shower. But if you didn’t want that you could step just outside to a private claw-foot tub or to a discreet outdoor shower. Or you could cool off in a plunge pool on the patio. We weren’t there long enough to try all those amenities, but I did take a nap on the patio’s screen-enclosed chaise. The entire grounds were enclosed in electrified fencing, for safety’s sake.
The food was great. We all wished the ship’s food was that good. The first night we were treated to a braai (barbecue) on the river bank. An armed guard was stationed nearby, as we were outside that electrified fence.
TOURING THE VELDT
“Veldt,” I was made to understand, is like the Australian word “bush.” There are different kinds of veldt, savannah, jungle, and so on. This was a mixed terrain of rocky hills and outcroppings, thick scrub—actually trees, stunted because of the infertile ground—scattered large trees, and some open grassland.
Once we arrived at the lodge we were provided a good lunch and got settled. At 4:00 pm we set out the first of four drives we would have during out stay. We divided into groups of five and six and chose a truck, a specially fitted Toyota. Our team included our friends Jerri and Billy, and “Big Mike” and his wife Laurean. The trucks had three rows of seats for passenger each. It was a good thing there were just two seated in each row, because the ride became so rough we would have constantly banged heads.
The first things we saw in Kruger were impalas, which we all named Chevy (I’ll bet our driver never heard that one before!) We were excited, but after the fourth or fifth herd, the excitement seemed to wear off.
“Crazy Jacob” then drove us down to, and around, and through, the river. There we saw a lone cape buffalo. From a distance. Once we got within about 200 meters of him he was lining up his sights. Then came a number of other animals: mongoose, impala, wart hog, elephant, wildebeest, impalas, a pair of male lions—did I mention impalas?—and an owl, and more lions, sprawled all over the road.
The next morning, Monday, we were awakened at 4:45 to be “on the road” (I use that word reservedly) by 5:15 for another outing of almost four hours. In the afternoon, again at around 4:00 pm, we toured around until dark. We started out even earlier on Tuesday for our final tour. All in all we saw baboons, various birds, small, large, and larger (ostriches), a cape buffalo, elephants, giraffes, hyenas, more impalas, kudus, a leopard (!), mongooses, a kind of goat or antelope Jacob called a “rock hopper,” some impressive termite mounds, and zebras.
THE RETURN
We left the lodge at about 9:00 am in similar vans to those that brought us from the airport, but now were to drive all the way to Maputo, Mozambique, to meet the ship. The distance was not very far, perhaps two hours on a normal route. However, we had to enter Mozambique. That required being checked for COVID vaccination and to purchase a $50 (U.S. currency please) visa for each of us. That process took us an additional 2 hours 15 minutes. Of standing in a hot, crowded, un-air-conditioned building. One woman totally lost it. Sitting on the floor near where the officials went in and out with our papers, her legs sticking straight out, she bawled “They took my passport!” “They took my money and told me I didn’t pay!” “They took my receipt!” “It’s so hot here! Oh, I’m going to pass out!”
The trip to Maputo was miserable. The only bright spot was still in South Africa, where we found Extra Hot Peri-Peri sauce and two bottles of Monkey Gland sauce. And Billy bought us (totally authentic!) Kentucky Fried Chicken.