Day 6 - Timbavati/Sabi Sands Game Reserves, South Africa - "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"

Day 6 - Timbavati Game Reserve, South Africa

Overnight I woke up around 1am – I’m not sure what woke me, but when I went to turn on the outside light to get to the bathroom, I realized the electricity had gone out.  We brought flashlights, so it was no problem, but I figured somehow that is what woke me.  I laid in bed for a while imagining why the electricity was out.  Obviously it was a lion or elephant that had chewed up or walked on the cables and was likely stalking our room... eventually the generator kicked in and while I never did get an answer, it seems like it was not an uncommon occurrence.  Strangely, I find that I dream about animals almost every night since we've been here.

Today is our last day at Motswari in Timbavati before we head out this afternoon to our new lodge, Elephant Plains in the Sabi Sands private game reserve.  As it was our last drive with Richard, we asked him to make it a good one.  Morning started in the usual way – early wake up, pre-breakfast at 6am, departure at 6:30am.  Cold cold cold.

Bye Bye Motswari

Today, we were in search of leopards.  The goal during safari is to see "the big 5", which include elephants, water buffalo, leopard, lion and rhino - the phrase was coined in reference to the 5 animals that are the hardest to hunt on foot.  We are 4/5 right now.  We drove around for an hour or more looking but couldn’t find any signs of leopards in the area and eventually Richard took us to a spot where some other vehicles had seen “something interesting” earlier that morning, although he wouldn't tell us what it was.  

We went off road and went looking everywhere – Jacky got out and started following tracks again.  Ultimately we learned that a baby giraffe had been killed in the spot where we were and that a band of about 20 hyenas were eating it.  In the hour or two between us and the others who had seen it, the hyenas had eaten and/or dragged the giraffe until it was gone.  We followed the drag marks for quite some time but never did find it.  I think I’m okay with that – I presume that baby giraffes are cuter when they are whole.  

Side note:  this is nature - if something is being hunted, killed, eaten, etc., there is zero interference by humans with the only exception being if certain animals are hurt by something man-made, there might be interference - and that is only with certain animals.  I mentioned that there was a drought last year - there was a lot of debate as to whether it was appropriate to create man-made water holes so the animals could survive.  Ultimately, some pumping stations were added to keep water in some watering holes, but the people here really try not to mess with what naturally occurs.  If there is a drought and the buffaloes are all eaten by lions, there will be a surge in the lion population and a drop in buffaloes, but eventually the lions, who are territorial, will self-eliminate the "overage" in the lion population because there is not enough room for them, and the buffalo population will presumably re-adjust.  It is amazing to learn about the balance of nature and how everything self-corrects if left alone.  It is the humans/poachers who rock the balance.

Back on track... after the giraffe/hyena bust, I was once again getting the feeling that the day was going to be a lot of driving with no big sighting reward.  That is how it is out here - it is not a zoo - animals will not appear on cue.  We may drive for hours and only see impala (yawn), but if you just sit back and enjoy what comes, you never have any idea of what might be around the next corner.  As was the case again.  

I saw another vehicle parked in the distance – that is always a good sign because when you see another vehicle stopped, you know they are looking at something interesting.  We pulled up to a watering hole and immediately spotted the something interesting.  There were several elephants at the watering hole getting a drink.  While we have seen our share of elephants, most of the time they are in small groups and they are tucked in the bush eating trees.  Apparently elephants only drink once a day for a few minutes, so to catch them at a watering hole is pretty awesome.

Video: Enter the Elephants

We just sat there and watched as more and more and more elephants kept arriving – maybe 20-30 in all were either drinking or very close by - we are pretty sure it was the same herd we saw on our first game drive as the pregnant mama was there.  There were so many babies of all sizes that are so damn cute you can’t believe it.  They were drinking and splashing and a few of the younger bulls were locking tusks and having a shoving match.

Elephants are by far my favorite animal out here and I could watch them for hours.  We have more pictures and videos than are reasonable to post.  We stayed and watched for about 30 minutes before some of them started to wander away.  You can see that they have no problem walking right up to and around our vehicles.

After the elephants, we stopped for a quick coffee/tea break and then headed back for our big breakfast.  Again, you never have any idea of what you are going to see – I think that is why all of the guides we’ve talked to love this job so much – even after 10 years of 2 game drives a day 7 days a week, they never seem to get bored.  Well, maybe with impalas…

Safari group: Richard, Astrid, Sven, me, Damon, Camila (Martin taking picture)

The Plane

Damon and I bid farewell to our safari group and guides – we had a quick breakfast, packed up and headed for the Motswari “airport”, aka the dirt strip, to catch our flight to the Elephant Plains lodge.  Jacky drove us there and, as is customary, we drove up and down the dirt strip making sure no impalas would be on the runway when our plane landed.  Our plane was a Cessna 206.  It fit 2 pilots (both about 15 years old, okay maybe 20 but damn did they look young) and the two of us facing backwards, with our luggage crammed in the back.  This was called a “lodge hop” and we took about a 20 minute flight to our next dirt strip.  

The Passengers

The flight was rather uneventful – I had asked the pilot to fly as low as possible so we could look for animals and that made it a bit bumpier as we were only about 1000 feet above ground.  I spotted 2 giraffes and about 6 billion termite mounds.

The Extra Leg Room!

Greater Kruger from above (this was hippo/croc pond)

Video: Take-off and view of Greater Kruger















Day 6 - Elephant Plains Lodge, Sabi Sands Game Reserve, South Africa

Our new guide (Morné) and our new safari vehicle (this time a Toyota Land Cruiser) were waiting for us on the dirt strip, and after driving around chasing away two uncooperative impala so the plane could take off, we headed to our new digs – the Elephant Plains Lodge.  Holy luxury!  We knew things would be different when we entered a poured concrete driveway and were greeted with fresh guava juice and warm washcloths.  Where the Motswari Lodge was more natural rugged wilderness, Elephant Plains is a bit more manicured and fancy,  Our room wasn’t ready yet, so we went on a short tour of the property – the dining area, the Boma for dinner, the infinity pool overlooking a dry river bed and a huge grassy plains area, and the common room/sitting area/library with huge leather couches (where of course we promptly fell asleep).

Not lying about the whistle

When our room was ready, we were escorted through the perfectly manicured property on a concrete and stone walkway to the “Lion” room.  We were warned to lock the doors because baboons in the area have figured out how to open room doors and are well aware that food is stored in the rooms.  Oh, and we once again have a whistle in case of emergencies.

We entered our room and the wow factor hit pretty quickly.  We had the same 4-poster bed with draped mosquito netting.  I understand it serves a purpose, but it makes the bed look so pretty! 

Napping at every opportunity

We have a full living room with a fireplace, and the strangest bathroom.  The main bathroom has two sinks and just outside of it is random claw tub.  Keep going and there is a big outdoor tiled shower on the deck.

Inside, there is another room with just the toilet, and a safe.  And then in between the bedroom and living room, basically standing on its own, is a tiled shower that has a floor to ceiling glass wall that looks outside across the river.  Who knew we could have a shower with a view!  And then we walked the deck – a massive private deck with lounge chairs (and the shower) that overlooks the river.  It is pretty spectacular.

We hung out on our huge deck for an hour or so before lunch with our trusty binoculars looking for wildlife – in just that hour, from our deck, we were able to spot across the river:  7 monkeys, a bunch of impala, a nyala, a family of warthogs, a water buffalo, and a wildebeest.

View from our deck - sandy area is river
with "plains" across the river

Not bad for deck viewing!  We were also told (warned) that we might see elephants &/or predators walking in the river bed below our deck as they are known to frequent the area – especially leopards.  Apparently this area is known for leopards.  But don’t worry because that fence down there will protect you (the fence is basically 2 wires that run parallel to the ground about 2’ high right below our deck.  I’m thinking a leopard could probably clear a 2’ hurdle.  Spoiler alert:  in fact, a leopard has cleared the 2' hurdle and has been on our deck.

Zoom of wart hog family

We had a delicious lunch and got ready for the afternoon game drive with Morné and our new tracker (Life).  Our Argentinian friends, Martin and Camila had arrived but decided to skip the afternoon game drive.  Side note:  one thing that I have been dying to see is Zebras.  On every drive I've brought it up, but we haven't seen any yet.  Martin and Camila had rented a car and drove from Motswari to Elephant Plains whereas we flew.  Of course, when we asked about their drive, they looked at each other weirdly and then Camila said, "well, I'm not supposed to show you this, but..." and she whips out her phone and shows me a video of a herd of zebras running in front of their car. This was the second time they had seen zebra while driving.  Grrr.

We were joined by a family of three from New Mexico - Darren, Aimee and their 12-year old daughter, Emma.  Morné started our safari by asking “what do we want to see today”.  I still wanted to see a zebra, so of course piped in with that, and a little voice (Emma) from the back said “pangolin”.  If you don’t know what a pangolin is, it is a small armored armadillo/anteater like animal – incredibly rare in Kruger.  Emma had seen a Discovery Channel show on it and saw that it was on the list of animals that inhabit Kruger.  Honestly, I had never heard of one before but Emma decided to throw down the gauntlet early.  Morné sort of laughed and told Emma that a pangolin was probably not on the table because of how rare they are, but we would look for zebra.  Not that they have much control over what we actually see.

Morné likes to chat - the first story we heard, was about how a guest had whistled for help when they saw a leopard kill an impala from their deck – the kill was supposedly just below their deck in the thicket.  Morné investigated and confirmed that there was a bit of blood and an apparent struggle, but didn’t quite believe them.  He couldn’t find anything concrete so he left.  They called him back a few minutes later to tell him that they saw the leopard dragging its kill across the river right below their room.  Again, Morné was in a bit of disbelief, but looked around, followed the drag marks, and eventually spotted the leopard dragging the impala up the other bank of the river.  He said the rest of the guests were so excited and they wanted to hang out on the viewing deck.  Of course I asked which room and it should come as no shock that it was our room – this was about 4 weeks before us.  Maybe we won’t be taking that outdoor shower.

Our first sighting in Elephant Plains was, ironically, a giant bull elephant.  He was a bit shy and hiding behind a tree, but we drove right up to him to say hello. 

As this was Darren, Aimee & Emma's first safari (ever) and first animal sighting, we spent some time watching the elephant.  We then drove on a bit to a grassy flat area where we found 3 lady and 2 male lions dead asleep on the side of the road.  Wow - who knew finding lady lions could be so easy!!!  Not us, that's for sure.  When I say the lions were dead asleep, I mean that these guys did not move.  It must be nice to be king because they were out in the open, laying on the side of the road totally exposed where anyone could see them and didn’t even acknowledge our presence. 

Very full lion

Lady lions by side of road

Doesn't give a F...

Good viewing but not great pictures since they didn’t want to open their eyes.  Looked like they had recently had a good meal and were sleeping it off.  Morné said we should come back later when they might be moving a bit more. 

Our next sighting was pretty awesome – we heard there was something cool, although once again, we had no idea what since they switched languages.  We ended up going off road again and joined up with another vehicle watching a lady leopard chomping on a kill in a tuft of grass at the base of a tree.  We could see a little bit of the leopard and a lot of the kill, but no good pictures since she was in tall grass. 

Leopard with bloody kill in tall grass

Morné was watching all of the signs and said that she was definitely going to go up the tree and we should have our cameras ready.  She came out of the grass to sniff the wind for a few minutes and then went back to her kill. 

Video: Leopard running up a tree




Eventually we all got the money shot when she shot up the tree and onto a branch where she laid down and posed for some fantastic pictures before taking a nap.

So sleepy... 

Eating and sleeping is exhausting!

Big 5.  Check!

We drove around a while longer and spotted one of the most spectacular birds I’ve ever seen - a lilac breasted roller.  The pictures don’t do it justice – it is small with a bright purple belly and a combination of turquoise and royal blue on its back.  It was facing us and spread its wings into the most colorful blues and whites.  It took off and even the back of the wings were gorgeous.  An amazing and colorful bird.  Hopefully we will see more. 

We came across another new little animal – the dwarf mongoose.  These are all over and they run in packs – we found a bunch of them hanging around a brick sign/road marker – there were about 10 of them all running in and out of a few holes in the brick.  They were pretty cute and a much more lively group than the lazy lions.

When it got dark, we drove back to the lions to see if there might be any action.  The males were still completely conked out although one had moved about four feet.  And we got a brief look.

Video: The lion sleeps tonight

Two of the lady lions came together and started a very intense grooming procedure – they basically licked each other from top to bottom while also biting ticks, fleas and other parasites off each other’s backs.  It was an impressive display

and went on for a long time.  Eventually the 3^rd lady lion joined them and they all got up and walked off.

Video: Lady lions grooming

After this, we headed back to the lodge – it was only about 6:30, but the temperature had dropped like crazy so it was good to get back and warm up again in a hot shower.  We had a delicious dinner in the Boma – basically everyone (about 25 people) sat at small individual tables set in a circle around a giant fire pit and we were served a plated meal we had selected earlier.  The food here is equally delicious and abundant.  We sat with Martin and Camila at dinner and tried not to make them feel bad about missing the leopard and lions (well, maybe a little payback for the zebras!).  Dinner over at 9:30 and we went immediately to sleep.  Doors locked, no baboons, no lurking leopards.

Some cool birds plus a cropped view of lilac breasted roller.