Scribbles Abroad

Just a few hundred kilometer out of Durban and we were now in prime wildlife viewing area.  The CRV was a smooth ride and it was luxurious compared to what we were driving.  We first stopped at St. Lucia (Loosha) to check out the Hippos and scored the bonus of Crocodiles! 

We stayed at what looked like a nice hotel but little did we know that 2 family’s of Afrikanns with drunk karaoke singing parents and whining kids were right next door.  Sleeping was tough and the managment was terrible.  Don’t stay at the Boma Hotel in St. Lucia, it sucks.  It was comical looking back on it but quite hellish experiencing.

While in St. Lucia we did a nice hike without a guide.  Its amazing how they just let you rome when there are creatures out there that will eat you.  On the hike we saw the infamous Dung Beetle.  Its also known as the bush helicopter because it can fly and sounds like a helicopter.  It flys in search of shit and once found begins molding its own private golf ball size to roll off to somewhere private.  Once rolled away it lays an egg or hundred, not sure, and the babies are born in poop.  Being born in poop must not be so bad because you don’t know any better.  The keikis eat up all the poop and then the cycle continues.

We also saw our first Zebras on the trip.  We learned that they are striped and hang out in groups so that lions have a hard time distinguishing a single zebra therefore making their chances of survival greater.  When they are all together it kinda looks like one animal, thats if you are a vision impaired lion.

While hiking the only map we had was this picture of a map, we were so lost, none of us knew where we were going and this map didn’t help shit.  We didn’t want to get stuck out there in the dark and luckily found our way to the coast.  From there it was easy getting back to town.

Todds cute sock tan, or does he shave his ankles?

After St. Lucia and two nights of crap sleep we decided to pamper ourselves and go to a real Big 5 Game Reserve.  The Big 5 are Lion, Elephant, Leopard, Water Buffalo, and Rhinocerous.  A Game Reserve is a area of land, huge areas of land, some the size of Oahu, where the animals are protected and roam undisturbed living out true wild lives.  We chose the Tembe Game Reserve on the Mozambiquen Border because it was on the way but later found out we made an extremely good choice.  Tembe is home to the largest Elephants in Africa and therefore the world.  Another cool thing is that it is one of the only, if not the only, game reserve where the Elephants were not introduced.  The Elephants have been there long before us and with the concentrated effort of the Tembe people, the Elephants should have a home for the far future.

All the animals you need to be aware of while touring in Tembe.  Of all the animals in Africa, ironically every year the Hippo is the one that kills the most humans not counting the mosquito (insect).

As soon as we checked in our stay at Tembe was a non-stop action packed Safari.  The following was our itinerary for our 3 days at Tembe in which I hope to show you the intensity and excitement of our stay.  The food was all top-notch, the service was perfect, and the beer always cold.

Day 1: Check in arrive at 3:00pm

3:15 PM Off on first private safari drive.  See kudu, red duiker, warthogs, zebra, giraffes, elephants, etc.

5:30 PM Spot Elephants as sun is going down, watch sunset and the elephants from the roof of the truck with a beer.

6:30 PM Bonfire and drinks

7:00 PM Amazing Dinner

8:30 A small bit of free time before passing out

Day 2: Awoken at 5:45 AM

6:00 AM Quick breakfast

6:30 AM 3 hour Private Safari Drive spotting all kinds of funky looking animals.

The monkey says “Damn, those berries go right through me!  But they smell just as delicious coming out as going in.”  His friend says, “Can I smell it too?”

9:30 AM Huge Lunch, local Tembe food and South African fare

11:00 AM  Safari Drive to the Hide (A Hide is a shelter where humans hide in order to get a better view of the wildlife.)  Stay for about two hours, cold drinks served.  COLD BEER!

This is the Hide, from inside you look down on the watering holes.

3:00 PM After coming back from the Hide we had about 30 minutes to ourselves and then it was time for another 3 hour Safari Drive.  On this drive we came across a herd of Elephants headed back from the watering hole.  They came so close to our car you could almost touch them.  I got out of the car and our guide was like, “What the hell are you doing!  Get back in here!”  Oops is all I could say.  I just wanted to get a picture with it.  Still got the shot, but from inside the truck.

We end up staying out late trying to find the Lions.  We got a reading on the beacons but we didn’t get a visual.

Kim with the spotlight, you could spot animals really easily as the eyes of the animals would reflect the light.  Then we’d play the guessing game of what we thought it was.

6:30 PM Bonfire and drinks

I got a black label with its label upside down!  I thought I was so special.

7:00 PM Dinner & then Desert

9:00 PM passout

This is our luxury tent.  Nicer than our room at our house.

Day 3: 5:30 Tom offered to take us earlier and he felt that if we did, we’d have a better chance of finding the lions.  So we did wake up earlier and Lion hunting is what we did.

5:45 AM Quick Breakfast

6:00 AM 3 Hour Safari Drive on the hunt for Lions, and LIONS WE FOUND!!!!!!

The picture above is Tom tracking the Lions.  A few of the Lions had tracking collars on them.  Another guy working at the park was tracking them as well.  With both trackers and another spotter, we were able to triangulate their position.  Easier said than done, considering the past two drives we used the tracker and never found them.

But this time Tom positioned us perfectly and the Lions came right out of the marsh and crossed right in front of us.  They were curious and stayed around for a while until the leader came back and roared at them to follow.  Tom told us not to make any sudden movements because the Lions percieve the truck as one entity.  If they figure out that it is a group of seperate entities, they are liable to attack.  Here’s Todd tempting fate and in the background are the Lions (actually cubs) sizing him up.

Lion tracks, you could tell if they were fresh because the trucks drive over them and leave a clean slate.  Therefore the guides can tell, if they had driven in the area recently, that the lions or other animal had walked by recently.

The anti-poaching unit in Tembe.  Check out Louise…….fricken classic.

9:30 AM Huge Brunch

12:00 PM Sad departure from Tembe with the staff singing a beautiful goodbye song as we leave.  It sounded like a song straight out of Lion King.

As you can see we had very little free time and it was a non-stop action packed Game Reserve.  3 days was perfect.  We had such a great time in Tembe and I highly recommend it to anyone.  We also have gone through Kruger park which you will read about later and I found Tembe to be more user friendly, but in the end it was mostly because of the staff.  Tom and his people were such great hosts.  Our stay cost us around $130 US per night and it included everything except your drinks.  That is extremely affordable if you ask me.

From Tembe it was only 45 minutes to the Mozambiquen border.