We reluctantly left our comfortable campsite at Skukuza and headed for Pretoriuskop where we planned to spend one night before leaving the park. It had started raining at about 11pm and was still drizzling. It was cold and miserable and we were not expecting to see much.
It turned out to be an eventful drive!
We stopped at a stationery car at the side of the road and asked what they were seeing (usual procedure..) A very indignant lady said: “that f#@$ hyena has stolen my tow-bar cover and he won’t give it back!!” And there was the hyena sitting a short distance into the bush, happily chewing on a piece of black rubber. Mmm, maybe it was not worth getting it back.
An African Giant Land Snail was crossing the road (slowly, enabling us to get a decent photo for a change). This is the largest snail in the world; it grows to an average size of 20 cm and the specimen we saw was about that size. These snails are scavengers, unlike the vegetarian Garden Snail, and are sought after by humans for use as escargot.
When we spotted Rhino middens alongside the road we realised that we were in rhino territory and were hoping to eventually get to see one. After all, we have been in the park almost 4 weeks and have only very briefly seen one near Satara. It was not long before we saw the first pair of White Rhino. They were systematically rubbing their humps against an overhead branch, then going to another rubbing post and rubbing their butts. After observing them for a long time we moved on and did not go far before we spotted another two! They were also at a rubbing post and taking turns to rub their horns and butts. Both sightings were close to the road and allowed us time to fully enjoy the moment!
On arrival at Pretoriuskop we saw a camper belonging to a couple from France. We met them at Satara and have met and chatted to them at different campsites since then. Alain came over to invite us for coffee and we ended up spending a wonderful afternoon together with him and his wife Babeth. They have travelled extensively with their vehicle on various continents and had interesting stories to tell with wonderful photos. After a disappointing game drive together (all four of us squeezed into Suzi) with Dwarf Mongoose being the only special sighting, we parted our ways with promises to keep in touch.
This morning, our last in the park, we went for a last, hopeful, early drive. We still had no decent leopard or wild dog sightings. We spotted approximately 7 birds in the road. We did not know this species and unfortunately the photos are not very clear but we were able to identify them as Eurasian Hobbies.
We were hungry and in need of breakfast so decided to turn back to camp when it all happened! There were some cars up ahead and we heard from another motorist that there were Wild Dogs. Excitement! Next thing a leopard ambles across the road in front of us. Now we have to choose: wild dogs or leopard? Both are our favourite sightings. It must have been interesting to observe us: snap a few leopard photos, rush to the dogs, snap a few photos, turn around and snap the leopard again. After 4 weeks in the park these two sightings had to happen at the same moment!
Sadly we now have to leave the park. There is urgent business to be attended to in Johannesburg and there is the rest of South Africa waiting…
is dit al 4 weke? lees baie lekker aan julle avontuur. gee my ‘n tienkel as julle hier is as jy kan
xx
We laughed so loud at the tow bar story….. Could just imagine the lady’s face…haha.