Ryan: Once again, Brendan and I got woken up at five thirty by a telephone wake-up call issued to everyone that the morning safaris would start in one hour’s time. I jumped over Brendan, grabbed the phone and said thank you. I quickly fought Brendan out of his doze and got ready. We were out of the door in less than twenty minutes after that. We walked with mom and dad down the boardwalk to the building where breakfast and lunch is served. We all had some juice as well as some apricot danishes. Before we knew it we were once again, in the middle of the park in our Toyota Land Cruiser. Everybody was out before us anxious to see the BIG FIVE. We had previously seen four white rhinos, two herds of buffalo(forty each), a pride of lions (eight) and a pack of elephants (twenty-two). We had also seen six hippos, lots of impala, kudu, and enjala, hyenas, jackal and many warthogs. Our two biggest discoveries were two bush babies (two) and a chameleon in a tree that Rogers(our tracker) spotted. Our mission this morning was to find some leopards (last of the big five) or a kill. One minute after we went out, we found some leopard tracks heading north. And after forty minutes we were still looking at prints heading all different directions.
Brett (our guide) saw very recent tracks and decided they just go into the bush to find them. In the end, it was Rogers who went in. He didn’t come out for another twenty minutes but when he did he told us the following: “There was one leopard in front of him and it was chasing down a warthog. It caught it right in front of my (Rogers) eyes. The leopard carried it up the tree and began tearing into the flesh. It then saw me (Rogers) and began to run north.” Brett went in to the bush with the car for five-ten minutes and we found the dead carcass of the warthog slung over a branch high in the tree. We tried and tried but didn’t see the leopard - but we did make up our minds that we would try again at night.
We had smoothies, eggs, muffins and fresh fruit for breakfast along with some coffee and tea.
Deb: The part that Ryan left out was that when Rogers went into the bush he was gone for a good fifteen minutes. Brett, our guide, had a special whistle to communicate with him. Brett kept whistling again and again and there was no response from Rogers. After about twenty minutes we, the adults, began to give each other worried glances. We had told Brett and Rogers that we wanted to see a leopard and a kill when asked before we left. I whispered to Brenda and Di that I hoped that we weren’t going to see both under these circumstances. After several more minutes of intense worry and driving up and down the road looking for Rogers, he responded to one of Brett’s whistles. We were all greatly relieved! He was so excited when he came out of the bush and hurriedly pointed Brett to the direction of the kill. Rogers had seen the leopard dragging the warthog carcass up into the tree but it bounded away quickly when it realized there was company. We then started to go straight through the bush in the land-rover. Our illustrious guide and skilled tracker were so very determined that we get to see the last of our big five! I can’t tell you how excited we all were when we came up to the kill sight. It was, however, extremely gruesome. The warthog carcass was sprawled on a branch up in a tree with its innards dangling from a rope of a foot and a half long piece of intestine. Although we waited we were told that there was little chance that we would see the leopard even though it would in all likelihood return to the site of the kill soon after we were gone. We spent an additional half and hour scanning the area for a sighting of the elusive creature but to no avail. We all agreed, however, that although we didn’t actually see it that tracking the leopard was tremendous excitement in and of itself! In addition, we saw a leopard tortoise and a huge stork. What an incredible way to spend a morning!
We’ve decided that we would relax between safaris today so we’re spending the time reading, writing on our blog, and getting down to some math (Brendan). It feels good to relax!
Joe: While we were waiting, we did spot a hyena who was checking us out – probably en route to locate the source of the fresh-smelling kill.
Brett (our guide) saw very recent tracks and decided they just go into the bush to find them. In the end, it was Rogers who went in. He didn’t come out for another twenty minutes but when he did he told us the following: “There was one leopard in front of him and it was chasing down a warthog. It caught it right in front of my (Rogers) eyes. The leopard carried it up the tree and began tearing into the flesh. It then saw me (Rogers) and began to run north.” Brett went in to the bush with the car for five-ten minutes and we found the dead carcass of the warthog slung over a branch high in the tree. We tried and tried but didn’t see the leopard - but we did make up our minds that we would try again at night.
We had smoothies, eggs, muffins and fresh fruit for breakfast along with some coffee and tea.
Deb: The part that Ryan left out was that when Rogers went into the bush he was gone for a good fifteen minutes. Brett, our guide, had a special whistle to communicate with him. Brett kept whistling again and again and there was no response from Rogers. After about twenty minutes we, the adults, began to give each other worried glances. We had told Brett and Rogers that we wanted to see a leopard and a kill when asked before we left. I whispered to Brenda and Di that I hoped that we weren’t going to see both under these circumstances. After several more minutes of intense worry and driving up and down the road looking for Rogers, he responded to one of Brett’s whistles. We were all greatly relieved! He was so excited when he came out of the bush and hurriedly pointed Brett to the direction of the kill. Rogers had seen the leopard dragging the warthog carcass up into the tree but it bounded away quickly when it realized there was company. We then started to go straight through the bush in the land-rover. Our illustrious guide and skilled tracker were so very determined that we get to see the last of our big five! I can’t tell you how excited we all were when we came up to the kill sight. It was, however, extremely gruesome. The warthog carcass was sprawled on a branch up in a tree with its innards dangling from a rope of a foot and a half long piece of intestine. Although we waited we were told that there was little chance that we would see the leopard even though it would in all likelihood return to the site of the kill soon after we were gone. We spent an additional half and hour scanning the area for a sighting of the elusive creature but to no avail. We all agreed, however, that although we didn’t actually see it that tracking the leopard was tremendous excitement in and of itself! In addition, we saw a leopard tortoise and a huge stork. What an incredible way to spend a morning!
We’ve decided that we would relax between safaris today so we’re spending the time reading, writing on our blog, and getting down to some math (Brendan). It feels good to relax!
Joe: While we were waiting, we did spot a hyena who was checking us out – probably en route to locate the source of the fresh-smelling kill.
We chilled the afternoon away. Joe did some blogging (although the internet limitations out here did restrict the number of photos – just 4 of the 200 were uploaded). The kids made themselves useful by writing in their journals and getting on with schoolwork – mostly math. Deb continued her voracious pace of reading: completing another book and writing the blogs of the last few safaris.
Our evening drive was to follow-up on the chase of the elusive leopard (of course stopping at each giraffe and elephant sighting). By 6:30 pm (one-hour after sunset), we were back along the river bank deep off-road searching for the leopard. His tracks were fresh, his kill had been moved from the tree (all except the warthog’s head and tusks which were still gruesomely on display high in the tree). Brett had other trackers and trucks join us in the search. But to no avail. We’ll continue the search on our last safari at 6 am in the morning.
Then the 8-hour drive to Johannesburg – the world’s least safe city. Four nights at Bob’s bunkhouse doing our last-minute preparations before flying out to India and then on to Southeastern Asia.
Our evening drive was to follow-up on the chase of the elusive leopard (of course stopping at each giraffe and elephant sighting). By 6:30 pm (one-hour after sunset), we were back along the river bank deep off-road searching for the leopard. His tracks were fresh, his kill had been moved from the tree (all except the warthog’s head and tusks which were still gruesomely on display high in the tree). Brett had other trackers and trucks join us in the search. But to no avail. We’ll continue the search on our last safari at 6 am in the morning.
Then the 8-hour drive to Johannesburg – the world’s least safe city. Four nights at Bob’s bunkhouse doing our last-minute preparations before flying out to India and then on to Southeastern Asia.
No comments:
Post a Comment