Pilansberg Game Preserve

To Pilanesburg National Park March 26

We continued along N4 again today through an area that began like Kansas and ended like Wyoming. The last 80 kilometers were through extensive mining areas. We could see the mine tailings in the distance and passed numerous small communities of what appeared to be the homes of the miners.

After lunch in the Park campground we did another self-drive safari. We saw 3 of Africa's Big 5 during the afternoon. At the start we encountered elephant and rhino. Arriving at a "Hide" alongside a large lake we found a large number and variety of animals. Wildebeest, Zebra, and Impala were abundant. We also saw the top 5% of a half dozen Hippos plus one new sighting: a Hippo out of the water grazing. It looked like a younger one, but it is the only one we have had a chance to photograph to date. Lots of birds - African darter (like a cormorant), Guinea fowl, Kingfisher - , fish, and turtles were also enjoying the lake.

Continuing our safari we spotted more elephant, rhino, Hartebeest, and eagles. We met a car on one of the dirt roads and the driver said they hadn't seen anything. At the time I was looking at a Rhino and a eagle. Part of the difference is the angle you view from, and the height of your seat, but a big part is that some just don't have experience at spotting animals. We took a rough side trip to a lookout labeled "Fish Eagle". Sounded like a promising place but a pickup was turning around just as we arrived. The driver told us it was just a picnic area and nothing was there. He then told us he had spotted 3 lions about 6 kilometers away. Off we went.

We moved quickly, and hit a couple of bumps harder than desired, but the route took us off our planned return, and would leave us just enough time to get to the exit gate before closing. At the designated spot we encountered a traffic jam on the narrow dirt road, with deep and wet ditches alongside. We finally worked our way to a view of two Lions sleeping in the grass. We didn't recognize them at first as all we could see was a blob of grey. They were sleeping on their backs and didn't look like Lions at first. We only got a partial view due to the deep grass, but they were sleeping restlessly and would roll over, and occasionally partially stand up so we got a few evidence photos. When we were able to get past the remaining vehicles we hustled back toward the gate, stopping briefly for a photo-op f some Hippos in a small pond and got a great series of shots of one yawning and doing a 360 degree spin at the same time.

We got to the exit gate just before the 6:30 pm closing time. As we approached the gate the guard waved us away from the thatch roofed exit and to a metal gate along side. We noticed that the roof had been hit and caved toward the center. Later found it was one of our Maui's (driver not named to protect the guilty!). Sneaky gate! It is 3.2 meters high on the entry side, but only 2.8 meters high on the exit side. The Maui is about 3.1 meters high. Oops!

We finished a great day with supper in the excellent Park restaurant.

Mar 26, 2008

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