Sat 24th Dec, To Greenfire Safari Lodge.
After a great flight to Hodespruit, we were picked up by Greenfire in the Safari vehicles and off we went.
Greenfire is a luxury lodge with seperate building for each room. Amazing.There is just the 11 of us from on the ship so its a private event, 2 vehicles and lots of room.
We were giving lunch then headed off on Safari #1.
AND wow – there it all was.
Zebra,
Giraffe,
Kudu,
Leopold Tortise – wow,
Squirrel,
Impala,
Dika ( the smallest antelope).
And after sundown
Lions,
Hyena,
Scrub Hares.
Then back for an amazing dinner.
The weather is putrid. High 30’s and no air conditioning so rooms are disgusting until you have a shower, turn the fans on high and lie under the damp towels. But by the middle of the night it was cool and you could pull the doona up. YAY.
Sun 25th Dec, Xmas Day. Greenfire.
The drums went off at 5 am. Yes drums. Everyone comes up for coffee and a biscuit and into the vehicles.
Great morning out.
Dung Beetles – giant bugs pushing huge elephant poo,
Woodland Kingfisher,
Harvester termites,
Red billed and Yellow billed Hornbills,
Banded Mongoose,
Rhino,
Hippo,
Kudu
Short tailed Eagles,
And of course more elephants and Giraffe.
A group of of about 30 elephants entertained us for a long time. They then went down to a puddle wallow and bathed themselves with mud.
Then back for a rest / swim / sleep (far too hot) and now Xmas lunch.
A lovely lunch was had, a few visitors went past. Squirrels, Monkeys, Baboons and a Bushbuck.
We then headed off on the PM drive.
The African Fish Eagle we had been watching for days had finally moved from his perch and was eating a fish.
A group of lions relaxing after Xmas dinner.
Rhino
Huge mob of Impala
Of course, elephants, Giraffe and more birds.
A cold change was coming through – hooray!, and huge winds picked up.
Fantastic day. Then dinner and bed.
All of our ‘cabins’ face onto the riverbed, which is dry and floodlit.
You can open the curtains up to 180 degrees and lie in bed and watch monkeys fight and look for bigger animals.
26th Dec, Boxing Day. Greenfire Safari Lodge.
Off went the drums at 5am, but of course you are normally awakE by then. The sun comes up at 4.30 and there are too many things to see to sleep.
We saw another Leopard Tortoise and then a termite mound who got the weather report and closed up the holes to the west where the weather was coming from.
And then we saw a CARACAL. A medium sized cat. One of the Secret Seven as it is early seen. So exciting!!!
An angry elephant in ‘musth’ had a bit of a challenge at us. The guide had to keep backing into his space so he didn’t learn that he could be boss of the cars. He trumpeted, stamped his not so small feet and thrashed his trunk around. Eventually he walked away. We won!
I finally got a photo of the lightning fast squirrels.
We saw Hippos, and many birds. Vultures, eagles hawk. Some amazing ones.
We saw a pair of Ground Hornbills. Gigantic birds (maybe turkey size). They are almost extinct and we saw a pair. They waddled along through the bus then took off. Massive. So big that not one of us saw the giraffe in the background until I looked at photos.
Then we saw some Steinbuck. Tiny little antelopes.
A herd of Zebra and Wildebeest had a baby wildebeest only a few days old.
Back for a nap on the lounge on the deck – to be woken by baboons fighting. Lunch then the PM drive.
I had a glorious sensation today. We came back from the morning drive I skipped breakfast. A quick nap was far more important than some photo sorting.
So as lunch time rolled around (2pm) I was actually hungry. Wonderful and hasn’t happened much in the past month.
4 pm and off we went on the afternoon drive.
More wonderful things
All the usuals.
Elephants
Giraffe
Impala – The Macdonald’s of the wilds as its fast food for all. Thus the “M” on their bums.
And so many wonderful birds. An African Hawk Eagle.
Vulture.
Leopard Tortoise
On the way back we saw two Brown Spotted Hyenas.
Dinner tonight was a Bria (BBQ) out in the Doma. A doma is a bbq area based on the traditional design of a circular pen enclosing the village and cattle. This one wasn’t made of acacia thorns but was still lovely.
And the Ox Tail was lovely.
Then off to bed after sorting photos. Had to be organised before 11 as that is when it scheduled “Load Sharing”. happens.
South Africa doesn’t have enough power for every area has its regular periods without power.
No ceiling fan will be fun. I can manage without lights but fans. And sadly the river bed will not be lit up to let me see creatures.
Last night a monkey was eaten just near my room. Screeching – then a strangled sound and silence. And there is was. At exactly 11pm there was a clunk and all the power went off .
Dark. Dark. Dark.
27th Dec.
Yep, Drums again. This time I didn’t wake up before them. Off we went.
Huge python.
We saw some elephants and started to pull up. As she heard the engine slow down she came rushing out shouting at us. Then her small baby ran up to her. So Sweet. She let us watch but kept having a bit of a tantrum.
She stamped her feet. Dug holes and picked up dirt and sticks and threw them at us. She got down on her knees and looked menacing.
The baby was watching and imitating her. But it could only pick up and throw about teaspoon of dirt. Very funny.
Another Rhino.
Hippo
And a few more elephants.
We leant that Impalas have what looks like wooly ankle warmers. There are glands in them and when running away they throw out a smell to put the cat off. It also helps them to find each other after the panic.
BUT THEN WE SAW A LEOPARD! Big 5 done and dusted.
She was glorious. Lying up in a high tree looking for prey. Amazing and the classic African photo.
The middle of the day period has some antics. Elephants walked past our rooms.
Monkeys played on the decks, trying to push chairs off. Monkeys and babies ran around on roofs.
One monkey came into the deck of the main lodge. After carefully summing up the situation it dashed inside to the coffee station , grabbed. A Handful of what it thought was sugar and took off. It ended up with a handful of tea bags.
The afternoon drive was amazing as well. 20 meters from the lodge were a pair of Steinbucks.
We followed an elephant that looked like it was heading to a water hole AKA mud puddle. He spent 15 minutes giving himself a mud bath. Sucking it up and spurring it all over himself.
We saw some amazing birds.
African Harrier Hawk.
Giant plated lizard.
Short Tailed Eagle, which was pretty strange looking when if flew without a graceful tail.
Batelur Eagle.
Tawny Eagle.
More Scrub Hares.
Marshall Eagle.
We went and watched the hippo in the afternoon. He was getting himself ready to go grazing. Pooing and spinning his tail to disperse it. Farting and groaning. Yawning. Damn that’s a big mouth.
He then started rolling. In water about one meter deep. His huge body going totally under and upside down with a few legs sticking up. Funny.
After sundowners we headed off. We found an Eagle Owl. Huge guy and the classic looking owl. Giant eyes and a big beak.
Great drive. Great day.
Had to be ready for dark before 11pm as it was out turn for “Load sharing”.
28th Dec – Greenfire to Malputo, Mozambique.
Get off my reserve day.
Drums at 5 am and off and running for a busy day. We had to make sure we had packed everything and stacked and off we went.
While standing on the deck with a cup of tea looking at elephants we spotted a Black Rhino. Very rare and recently off the extinct list. Wow. How wonderful.
We then headed off on search of more of the Rhino pack. Barely stopping to look at giraffe, elephants, kudu. And wow. We found two more. A mum and her 2 year old calf. Fantastic. They had a wonderful wallow in the mud then then we followed them for a while and watched them graze.
They are so different to white rhinos – who are called white rhino after a miss pronunciation of “wide mouthed rhino”. Their mouth stretches across the whole of the bottom of their head. These guys had much smaller heads with out the neck hump. Huge eyes by rhino standards and small mouths.
We saw more Eagles, Zebra and Wildebeest. The young calf we saw is still alive. The lions haven’t got it yet.
Hornbills have a strange life. If the female believes the male has proven himself to be s good provider, she sets up with him. They find a hollow tree with a few opening. After mating she goes inside and builds a nest…by plucking herself bald. He closes up the entrance with mud and brings her food. For three months until the chicks are ready to go.
I caught a photo of a male feeding her a dragon fly.
We looked at a giraffe and said goodbye, and saw another leopard!!! A young female. A different one. So exciting.
We had to be back at the lodge by 8.30 as it was last our day. After breakfast and checking all out gear had been brought up from the rooms (how glorious to not have to cart our gear up those steps) we hopped into the vehicles and headed off. How sad. Greenfire will be mssed.
Time for a new page. Click below to go there
4 Countries Tour