Unexcused Absences

This post may set a new record for tardiness, but hopefully the photos are worth the wait. A company called Legend Lodges runs a series of resorts and game parks in South Africa, and we had the privilege of staying at the Wildside Safari Camp at the Entabeni Conservancy with Heather’s family.

Elephant herd under the escarpment

Before traveling to South Africa I was a bit dubious of these “managed” game parks, which I figured (in my ignorance) were just one step better than a zoo. But the reality was night-and-day better than what I expected. There is very little truly “wild” Africa remaining (due to poaching, development, mining, etc.), so these private game parks recreate a natural food chain of native animals in a contained (but enormous) area. Entabeni is definitely no zoo; the park’s five ecosystems support ruminants with thousands of acres of grassland to graze; the lions kill ruminants and other park animals for food; and scavengers and vultures live off the remains.

The camp is an all-inclusive arrangement. Three tasty buffet meals a day, snacks, a communal fire pit (it gets cold in Africa once the sun goes down), gorgeous tent “rooms”, and multiple safari options round out the experience. Couple all that with a first-class staff, including highly-trained rangers, and I cannot recommend a visit highly enough. It was not cheap (~$500 for the two of us for a 24 hour stay), but then again you can easily pay that much for a day at a resort where the most cherished activity is sitting in a chaise lounge by  a pool while a waiter brings you tropical drinks at $18 a pop, meals not included.

Our stay included a multi-hour afternoon safari drive (with happy hour drinks and snacks included), and another multi-hour safari drive early the next morning before breakfast. We were in Africa in their late spring/early summer, so we had the benefit of timing our visit with the appearance of many baby animals; another good time to visit is during their winter, when the thinning vegetation allows visitors to see animals from farther away.

Elephant herd in Entabeni Park

So thank you, Dave and Cynthia, for setting up this wonderful visit to your temporary home.

Evening Safari Pics

Starting our afternoon drive

Aubrey in charge

Fish eagle

Vervet monkey

Waking up for the evening's rounds

Photo op

Rhino siblings

Lady rhino in her favorite spa bath

Happy hour in the bush

Sunset

Night drive

Fire pit back at the camp

Morning Safari Pics

Our very nice hut/tent accommodation

Dung beetles with their prize

Gorgeous scenery

About 5:30am

Blouwildebeeste (Afrikaans for "Blue Wildebeest")

Zebra

Giraffe out on a morning stroll

Our safari guide, Aubrey

Lake Panic

The untold story of birds at Kruger (posted a bit late …)

When two of us luck into Jessica Van Putten as a guide to Kruger National Park, we are delighted to learn of her passion for the birds of Kruger. Although we normally think of large beasts when we think of Africa, the assortment of birds we observe on our trip amazes us. We spot six different types of eagles and actually capture three of them in photos!

Bateleur

Tawny Eagle-2

Tawny Eagle

African Fish Eagle

Kent and Jessica at Lake Panic

We stop at the bird blind at Lake Panic on our first afternoon in the park. This placid lake teems with birds along with the resident hippos and crocodiles. A whole colony of weaver birds gatheres grass and weaves their hanging nests in a large tree next to the water. Photographers sit quietly, waiting to capture their elusive subjects. It’s so good, we return shortly after dawn the following morning, making it the only place we visit twice in Kruger National Park. It has to be one of the most beautiful, peaceful spots in the entire world.

Over the next three days, Jessica points out and identifies a wide variety of birds. We even see one she had not seen before — it wasn’t even in any of the bird books Jessica brought with her! Here is a slide show with some of our better bird photos. Apologies in advance for any mis-identification of the birds. Please let us know if you know something we don’t!

Weaver Bird

Weaver Bird-2

African Green-backed Heron (photo courtesy Jessica)

African Jacana (photo courtesy Jessica)

Burchell's Coucal (photo courtesy Jessica)

Cape Glossy Starling (photo courtesy Jessica)

Egret

Egyptian Goose

Goliath Heron

Green Doves

Guinea Fowl

Plover

African Jacana (photo courtesy Jessica)

Plover

Water Thicknee

Woodland Kingfisher (photo courtesy Jessica)

Yellow-billed Stork

Southern Ground Hornbill (photo courtesy Jessica)

Red-backed Shrike

Ostrich

Cape Glossy Starling (photo courtesy Jessica)

Guinea Fowl

Malachite Kingfisher (photo courtesy Jessica)

A ‘mega-herd’ of Cape Buffalo approaches

If you are lucky enough to visit South Africa, you will be even luckier if you meet the Van Putten family. Fortunately, we have a history of good luck over smarts, planning or skill!

Over lunch with the Van Puttens, we mention we could not find a Kruger safari package priced under $500/person per day, sadly out of our budget. Matriarch Sonja informs us that those prices are for tourists and that she will arrange a trip. We immediately begin planning an impromptu trip with Sonja’s oldest daughter, Jessica, who offers to act as our tour guide.  She’s either brave or foolish; she’s only known us a few hours! Sonja immediately calls the park reservation office and greets the staff by name. She learns that the park is fully booked because of a national holiday. No problem. Within 12 hours, Sonja secures us reservations for the following three nights. Our total costs will run less than $100/person per day. We love the locals’ discount!

We all pile into our rented car and head to Kruger

The next morning, we get up early, pack hurriedly and rent a car. When we arrive at the Van Putten house, we discover Jessica has neatly packed an amazing assortment of food. VanPutten family tradition dictates that a Kruger breakfast must consist of twice-baked South African bread pieces called rusks dipped in Milo or tea followed by biltong, a flavorful South African dried beef, and dried peaches. In camp at night, we’ll braai (South African for bbq, a true art form and national obsession), eating our meat and baked potatoes along with a big, green salad outside under the African sky.

Now, there’s something different and special about Kruger and I although I’ve been told the rules, I don’t really process it until we arrive. YOU CAN’T GET OUT OF YOUR CAR – EVER!!! In Kruger, people are in cages while animals roam freely. Disembarking from a car is permitted only in camps protected by barbed wire, electric fences and electric cattle grates. Otherwise, visitors might fall victim to an angry hippo or elephant, baboon mischief, or fall prey to lions, leopards or wild dogs. Rangers strictly enforce these rules. I don’t see a single person disobey. Of course, I also see a giant crocodile less than two feet from our car!

No zoom needed … why you don’t leave your car!

Kruger’s camps close PROMPTLY at dusk when the predators wake up. All visitors must report to camp before closing time. But during the day, visitors can travel freely.  Each day, we drive with all the windows open in order to better hear the animals, seeing an enormous assortment of animals right from the roadway.

Back up now!

Thanks to Jessica’s good eyes and years of experience in the park along with Sonja’s advice via mobile phone, we spot elephants, zebra, giraffe, rhinos, hippos, crocs, many antelope and deer along with a staggering assortment of birds, an unexpected and wonderful highlight. We see six different species of eagles along with a stunning array of other birds including storks, weaver birds and herons. Jessica also prompts us to back away/wait/drive on when encountering elephants, buffalo or rhinos on the roadways — important information for us North Americans!

Elephant watching quickly becomes a favorite hobby. Their interaction with the environment clearly demonstrates their intelligence. I learn elephants need years of practice to use their trunks dexterously. We witness a very young elephant grab a clump of grass with her trunk, accidentally pulling up a large clod of dirt with it. She struggles to remove the dirt by shaking the clump and clumsily using her front foot to scrape at the clod of earth. Next, she actually pounds the clump against her forehead (!) with no success. Giving up, she puts the grass, along with the dirt, into her mouth. Several seconds later, she spits the dirt back out!

Favorite Animal Photos from Kruger

Warthogs are so ugly they're cute!

Elephants negotiating a steep river bank (photo courtesy of Jessica)

Vervet monkey (photo courtesy Jessica)

Croc (photo courtesy of Jessica)

Zebra (photo courtesy of Jessica)

Baby elephant

Baby warthogs

Hippo at Lake Panic

Hippo

Black-backed jackel

Blue wildebeest are actually a lovely silver grey up close

Such beautiful eyes!

A dung beetle and his precious ... dung

Kudu, the symbol of Kruger

White rhinos

Graceful giraffe

Giraffe and zebra often hang out together

Baboons are scary -- like rats with thumbs and brains

Such beautiful skin and amazing intelligence

Baby impala

Waterbuck

Steenbuck are only about 20" high

We had too many adventures for a single blog post. I’ve dreamed of a trip like this since I was young and experienced overwhelming emotions at the natural beauty of the African savannah. Seeing majestic animals moving freely through their natural habitat felt rare and precious. In the deepest sense of the word, it was awesome.

We really want to thank the Van Putten family, particularly Jessica!  We couldn’t have had a better guide. We were so fortunate to visit Kruger National Park with a local who knows it so well.

Thanks for helping me cross that one off my bucket list, Jess!

Lion-size yawn

It’s not the brightest thing we’ve ever done. Far from it. Forgetting common sense at home, we tourists often participate in thrilling activities that can result in serious injury or death. Walking with lions at Ukutula is simultaneously remarkable and remarkably foolish.

Having been awarded a Fullbright Scholarship, my father and his wife, Cynthia are spending a year at the University of Pretoria in Pretoria, South Africa. Kent and I jump at the chance to visit as locals rather than tourists, and head to South Africa immediately after the conclusion of the Birds of Prey ski races in Beaver Creek, Colorado. After an unfortunate two-day delay on South African Airways, we are anxious to see the sights and cram as much as we can into our shortened trip. On our first full day in South Africa, we head to Ukutula.

A white lioness sees the toddler

Ukutula, a game reserve and lion sanctuary, is located several hours away from Pretoria. First, we approach and photograph several prides of adult lions in their spacious enclosures. The great cats laze around during the day, napping, stretching and yawning. They utterly ignore us; we are inconsequential in their world. The cats remain absolutely relaxed until a group arrives with a toddler. Instantly, the cats’ eyes focus on the child – food! We adults are of no importance, but a child is meat. His place in the lion’s world is clear – prey.

“Little Devils”

Next, we visit the 3-month-old cubs living in their own enclosure. Known as the “Little Devils” they’re about the size of a Jack Russell terrier, and have soft, wooly fur with paws nearly as large as my hand. They lounge around in the grass, content as we cautiously stroke and scratch them on the head. One playfully grabs my pant leg in his mouth. After Cynthia helps me extract my clothing, I’m a tiny bit disappointed to observe I’m not sporting ‘lion damaged’ pants. We also visit the younger cubs, still fed by bottle, and even hold these warm, furry babies. They play with string and chase a rag mop around just like kittens!

We choose to ignore common sense and heed the call of the wild by participating in a 3 km bush walk with lions. I feel apprehensive when I see the size of the 18-month-old cats (larger and heavier than a Great Dane) that will be walking through the African scrub with us. However, Aneti the lion guide retains absolute control of the animals. After reviewing some basic precautions with game ranger Theresa (stay in a group, don’t touch them, stay tall), Aneti releases three of the lions from their enclosure. With a roar, the juvenile lions bound toward us, sounding like horses galloping over sandy soil. My heart contracts painfully at the sight of lions running toward me. They run within feet of me, directly down the path.

Chicken!

Aneti tosses them bits of freshly-killed chicken, and they scramble through bushes or up trees to retrieve these bits, crunching down meat, bone and feathers. We stand right next to these huge beasts as they play in the bush or perform acrobatic feats to snag chicken bits from the air. Bianca, the youngest lion, constantly stalks and pounces on her older siblings. We can easily walk within feet of the lions, unaware of their location as they crouch in the grass. It’s unsettling. The lions behave as if we gangly bipeds are invisible.

The largest of the juvenile lions, Fatty, constantly looks up to Aneti, often walking close by his side. The lion’s body language is identical to a large dog walking next to its master, seeking both attention and approval. Aneti frequently rests his hand on Fatty’s shoulders or back. Still, I’m nervous the entire time, viscerally aware of these wild animals. Aneti carries deep scars on his head and neck, reminders that these animals are not pets. Fear, admiration and astonishment fuel my adrenaline, making me feel deeply alive. Chunks of dead chicken stand between me and death.

Aneti and the juvenile lions

As I walk with Aneti, he explains he raised all these cubs from birth. As juveniles, they continue to treat him as their pride’s leader. But as these lions reach adulthood, they will start to challenge his authority. They will then retire from lion walks, determine their new social structure without Aneti and thus create a new lion pride. During the last half kilometer of our walk, the lions collapse on the ground, reluctant to move after their exertions. Even pieces of dead chicken fail to motivate them to advance more than a few tens of meters at a time.

And then, Fatty smells a zebra. Fatty has never eaten a zebra, in fact he’s been fed on cow and chicken carcasses his whole life. He’s probably never killed anything larger than a fly. Yet, instinct takes over and he crouches in the bushes, silently stalking toward the zebra. Aneti dives into the bush after him, “Fatty, no!” and Fatty reluctantly obeys. I sense Fatty’s eminent retirement from the bush walks.

Predator’s eye

We arrive back at the lions’ enclosure, and Aneti herds them back inside their pen. He tosses the leftover chicken pieces to the juvenile lions who did not go on the walk. Chaos erupts as the lions fight for the chicken, growling, snarling, and roaring. It’s terrifying. Fierce faces, all snarls and teeth, snap at each other. It’s pure nature, red in fang, tooth and claw. It sounds like they will tear Aneti limb from limb. But while they fight fiercely with one another over the dead chicken pieces, they don’t even think about grabbing the chicken bucket at Aneti’s side. Aneti is still the lion king for now!

Lions used to be raised here for game hunts, although the new owner immediately stopped the practice. I don’t know how much of a real hunt captive lions provide, but I guess some folks just like to kill animals. Now at Ukutula, the University of Pretoria and the School of Veterinary Medicine study the lions while working toward cures for both feline AIDS and TB. Now not only these lions, but hopefully lions all over Africa will find a new lease on life.

Ukutula provides an amazing experience. The rangers and lion guide bring us to the edge of something very dangerous, but with absolute professionalism. Still, that knife’s edge between human control over a wild animal and the chaos of instinct brushes close to my skin. I’ve never been nearer to absolute wildness.

Aneti and Heather

Relaxing in the shade

Lioness relaxing

Three-month-old cub's paw

Three-month-old cub's paw

Young cub playing with string

"Little Devil"

It was perfect on paper; a direct flight, stopping only to refuel in Dakar, Senegal, and run by the national carrier of our final destination.  We believed we had found the perfect flight to South Africa.

Oh, were we wrong.  Very wrong. 

The first indication something is amiss occurs when South African Airways phones the morning of our departure, informing us that they have rescheduled our flight from 5:40 pm to 11:45 pm.  At the airport, they inform us our flight is cancelled, rescheduled for the next morning.  To avoid hauling our bags to a hotel (including 100 lbs of books for a library in the Soweto township), we decide to check our baggage.  And suddenly it gets worse, much worse.

“You need at least one blank page in your passport to visit South Africa,” the agent informs me.

“Yes,” I reply.  “There are three blank pages in the back.”

“Those aren’t the appropriate blank pages.”

“?”

Visa Page Simulation

At 7:45 am the next morning we arrive at the National Passport Center and stand in line for emergency passport page additions.  Efficient, the NPS modifies our passports and we each have 48 new pages in our passports by 11:00 am.  We immediately head back to Dulles in order to catch the 5:40 pm South African Airways flight, 24 hours later than our original departure.

While waiting for our passport pages, internet research indicates South African Airways schedules exactly one plane for the route between Johannesburg and Washington, DC.  A look at the flight arrivals and departures during the past few days shows a rolling series of delays and cancelled flights.  It’s not a good sign.

At the airport, we ask the agent at check-in if our flight is still scheduled for a 5:40 pm departure.  Believing there to be a single airplane on this route, we proactively plan to request that we be put on another airline.  “We have a second airplane on the ground right now.  The flight will depart on time today,” she replies.  “They’re just finishing up some last minute maintenance on this second plane.”

At our departure gate, 5:40 pm passes with no airplane.  The gate agents pass out $10 vouchers for dinner and tell us to return at 7:00 pm for our flight, indicating some last-minute maintenance issues.  Burgers at the restaurant across from the gate cost $13 each, plus tax and tip.

Lack of Organization at South African Airways

At 7:00 pm, several hundred frustrated people gather at the gate, including an angry group from Senegal now into their third day of delay.  Things go from bad to worse when they discover that South African Airways failed to inform them about an alternative flight they could have flown.  The gate agents call security, and several Fairfax County cops arrive to help keep the peace.

At around 9:00 pm, the agents cancel the flight citing maintenance issues, informing us that it will now leave the following morning.

Passengers line up to receive their hotel vouchers.  Kent and I, remembering the sage advice of world traveler Chris Guillebeau, opt to keep moving forward.  We refuse (politely) the hotel voucher and ask to be booked on another airline.  We receive vouchers (a coupon indicating South African Airways will pay for our tickets) for a British AIrways flight departing at 11:30 pm, 30 hours after our original departure time.  The agents inform us our luggage will not be re-routed, but will go to South Africa on their plane and will be waiting for us when we arrive.  [Note that our British Airways flight is scheduled to arrive on Johannesburg after the re-scheduled South African Airways flight now departing the next morning.]

Having burned though our emergency change of clothes, we visit a tacky airport gift shop and purchase some Washington DC souvenir tee shirts.  Sadly, no shop offers souvenir socks or underwear.

The British Airways flight to London is uneventful.  During our 11-hour layover in London, we book a hotel, got some sleep and shower, still hopefully peering in airport shops looking for souvenir socks and underwear.  That evening, the British Airways plane to Johannesburg flies as scheduled.

We finally arrive in South Africa on Saturday, mid-morning, over 40 hours later than our originally scheduled arrival of early Thursday evening.

Now, what about the South African Airways flight our luggage took without us, which supposedly left the morning following our British Airways flight?   We look up at the arrivals board and note the ominous phrase “Indefinitely Delayed.”

We file a lost baggage claim, and head to the mall where stores offer clean clothes along with (YES!) socks and underwear!

We begin our vacation, now two days (15%) shorter than originally planned.  At this point, we are not impressed with South Africa or their national airline, South African Airways.

Now, here’s the thing that really makes us furious — we think it sure looks like South African Airways lied to us.  Things clearly went terribly amiss with the South African Airways schedule, but did they tell the truth to us?  Was there really a second airplane?  If South African Airways did not have a second plane, they could have immediately booked us (and other passengers) on alternative flights at check-in.  Why did they wait until most of the evening’s international flights had departed before canceling the flight?   And why did they repeat this behavior day after day?  If a company operates identically from one day to the next, is it repeated poor judgement or is it instead their policy?   Would South African Airways deliberately lie to passengers, causing them delays measured in days, rather than pay their way on an alternative airline causing them mere hours of delay?  We suspect a hotel room voucher costs less than an airline flight voucher …

And, why bother telling us to make sure we had at least one blank page on our passports when the South African government wants a blank page at least four pages before the end of the passport?  South African Airways turns people away every day.  Ask folks at the National Passport Center!   Wouldn’t it be better to have clear instructions for passengers?  After all, they are the national carrier for South Africa and are best equipped to understand local regulations, right?

How it all ended:
After arriving over 40 hours late and having spent an additional $875 on transportation, hotels, meals and clothing, we finally receive our baggage the following afternoon.  In South Africa, South African Airways informs me that they never reimburses passengers for expenses incurred during delays or for lost luggage, but that we may be eligible for a free ticket.  Unfortunately, our free transportation and lodging in Pretoria, South Africa is a one-time occurrence, so a free return ticket is of limited value.  We’ll see what they say here in North America and update this post when we get some answers.