South Africa
Sihangwane

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    • Day 5

      Tembe Elephant Park

      March 28, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      After another hot night, I was up at 6am closely followed by Ellie. I didn’t get a great nights sleep as it was roasting until about 4am until the temperature dropped because of the dew from the ground.
      At 6:30am when we both went up for coffees and breakfast Pieter said he had been freezing all night because the cat had left him and he couldn’t find the spare blankets. He said he thought it was about 10°c but I reckon it was closer to 17°c as I was still in a t shirt and shorts.
      Just as we were having breakfast Ellie suggested we go to Tembe Elephant park and Pieter said he’d be happy with that so he quickly threw some lunch things in a cool box, we all got properly dressed and had a quick breakfast and then we bundled into Karin and left with Pete driving, Simon riding shotgun and Ellie and me in the back.
      The drive took about 90 minutes and we got to Tembe elephant park just after 9am, even after stopping for fuel.
      It was an early start for us all and with our cameras ready we entered the park that had absolutely nobody else in it except for one safari vehicle from a nearby safari camp. Tembe is so close to the Kruger National Park and is so unknown by tourists that nobody goes there and we literally had thousands and thousands of national park all to ourselves. All we had to do now was find the wildlife.
      Straight away we spotted Imyala. The females look a little like roe deer but the males are much darker and hairier and look like a cross between an antelope and a yak. In most parks these are rare but in Tembe there are hundreds and we saw hundreds.
      Our first proper stop was a hide high up level with the treetops and as we entered the only other people in the park from the safari lodge were just leaving and said they hadn’t seen much. So that’s what made what happened next even more special.
      The hide overlooks one of two large fresh watering holes in the park and just as we entered the hide a giraffe came into view and started munching on a tree right in front of us. Then an elephant came out of the forest and started drinking from the watering hole, then another and then another and off to the left in the background just out of camera shot were hundreds of impala’s and Imyalas. It was an amazing experience and felt like something you would see on national geographic.
      We stayed there for a good 30 minutes before heading back out onto the game drive now the only people in the park.
      We spotted more elephants, Zebra, Impala’s, imyalas and hundreds of birds.
      At lunchtime we came to a second hide and Pete got the cool box out and we climbed up to the top overlooking the second watering hole.
      At first there was just a lone elephant with around 20 impala’s dotted around while the elephant drank from the watering hole, but as we started to eat more elephants came out from the jungle and started drinking and then wallowing in the mud holes throwing mud all over themselves and rubbing it into there ears to stop themselves getting burnt. It was like national geographic live while we all watched and ate our lunch.
      We stayed there for the best part of an hour before heading back into Karin and making our way back towards the entrance but 30 minutes in we found our route blocked by a huge bull elephant. He was standing right on the edge of the bend in the road and the closer we got the more he looked like he would charge us by stamping his feet and throwing dust everywhere. Our first plan was to wait but after 10 minutes he wasn’t backing down. Our second plan was to back the car out of sight and wait 10 minutes to see if he moved. He didn’t.
      So our last plan was to go back and see if the road across the marshes was reopened and when we got there we found it blocked by barbed wire.
      Now our only choice was to either wait a few hours or try and get past the elephant. We headed back to the bend in the road and the elephant was still there. Pieter slowed right down and dipped the clutch and revved the engine 4 or 5 times and the elephant stuck his ears right out making himself seem bigger and throwing his trunk and dust all over the place but he didn’t move forward so Pieter moved forward and then the elephant stepped back.
      I knew then what Pieter knew. The elephant had just backed down and as pieter carried on creeping forward the elephant took another step back and then we were so close to the bend that Pieter floored it and around we went. The elephant came forward as soon as we were clear of him, growling and flapping his ears and throwing dust everywhere, but we were clear and safe. Whatever we saw after that seemed pretty tame.
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    • Day 5

      Mozambique & Biltong

      March 28, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      20 minutes later we arrived at a huge lookout tower bordering on the edges of Mozambique where we could climb up and view the whole park with South Africa on one side, Mozambique on another and swaziland on another. It was an incredible viewpoint.
      From there we headed back for the entrance where we found warthogs sitting behind the caution warthogs sign, in which we all took great amusement.
      Back on the road we now needed supplies for dinner and Pieter had promised me Biltong so our next stop was Kosi Bay.
      It took a good 2 hours to get to Kosi Bay and we could have gone anywhere for food but not for Biltong so much to everyone’s disgust we sat in roadworks for 20 minutes getting into the town all for Biltong.
      Our first stop was the Biltong shop where we chose our meat that was hanging up, and then a lovely lady came and put it through a slicer and within 5 minutes I had a huge bag of Biltong. Then it was onto the spar shop and because of the roadworks that had the whole town down to one lane and a very busy market going on, on the street it was manic and we couldn’t get parked at the spar and Pieter and Simon if he’d stay in the car, watch it and bark at anyone that came close.
      Simon then said “ are you serious?”
      And Pete replied “ Well, you don’t really have to bark unless you want to but can you stay with the car?”.
      Ellie and I were pissing ourselves in the back at the thought of Simon having to bark at strangers coming near the car, and more so that he thought Pieter was serious.
      The shopping took about 20 minutes with enough pork, chicken and steak to do atleast 4 days worth of meals and to show my appreciation for Pieters cooking and driving and Simon waiting in the car I bought 6 beers, enough for 2 each. Then it was a long drive back through the roadworks and home.
      It was nearly 5:30pm by the time we got back to the lodge, it had been a very full and exciting day and we were all tired. The boys sat down with the beers and Ellie had tea while Pete let a chicken stew bubble away for a couple of hours and then we had a lovely dinner of chicken stew and rice. Then we drank the last of the beers and at 8:30pm it was time to head to bed.
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    • Day 14

      Back To Tembe

      April 6, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      This morning we were all up super early at 5am throwing teas and coffee down and packing Karin with a small amount of food and all my camera gear.
      At 5:45am we left home and our first stop was the fuel station in MBazwana and when we got there at 6am the queues for the atm machines were already over 100 meters long in both directions, it was crazy and you could see that just getting money out of a hole in the wall has become the new social thing for the young as they were all dressed up looking like they were ready for a night on the town.
      After fueling up it was an hours drive back to Tembe elephant park and all the way there, there we passed hundreds of hitchhikers trying to get to work.
      At 7am we entered the park, it was an overcast day and actually quite cold and our main reason for leaving so early was to try and see if the lions would be at the watering hole and if not we would wait.
      On the way to the hide we passed lots of imyala but not a lot else and at the hide there were just hundreds of Impalas. It was a little disappointing but a sighting is a sighting and any animal out here is always worth seeing, even if we’ve seen it hundred times already.
      We gave up with the hide after 45 minutes when Pete suggested we move on to the next hide and both Ellie and I were grateful as we were freezing. Something I never thought I’d say in Africa.
      Pete definitely took the scenic route to the second hide as the roads that had been closed previously were now open and we drove and drove looking for anything other than impala’s and Imyala which we were all getting sick of seeing. Then rounding a corner we found fresh elephant poo and round the next corner we found the elephant. He was huge, with massive tusks and he was really calm pulling at the trees and stripping the leaves and we sat with the engine off right next to him for a good 5 minutes until he just disappeared off into the undergrowth. We still can’t believe how quickly and quietly an elephant can disappear and appear from nowhere.
      Next we came to a bridge where there were hundreds of Zebra and Impalas and again Pete turned the engine off and we just sat amongst the herd observing there behaviour, it was quite incredible.
      Leaving the bridge we rounded a corner and there was a huge male giraffe walking down the road right infront of the car and then he turned in towards the trees and pushed his way through and just like that he had disappeared. The animals camouflage out here really is incredible and you can see it work right before your eyes.
      After 3 hours of game driving we finally came to the second hide, the sun was desperately trying to push through the broken cloud so it was slightly warmer and we sat there for about an hour just watching a male impala trying to keep his ladies in line and as soon as a couple weren’t where they should be he would starting mewing really loudly and chasing them around in circles.
      Back in the car it was now 1pm and Pete said did we want to carry on with the game drive or go home and both Ellie and I said we were done. We were both having trouble staying awake and heading back home nobody said much in the car as we were all really tired.
      Ellie reminded Pete that tomorrow is good Friday which now meant we had to do food shopping in the Mbazwani Spar for food to last us for 5 days and when we got to Mbazwani the place was absolutely heaving. The market was on as it is everyday but today it was just 10 times busier, to get to the store we had to push through the hundreds of people queuing for the ATM’s and the spar was literally standing room only and people were queued from the tills to the end of every aisle at every till. I decided to just stand in one place with the trolley and let Pete and Ellie run around and get the food, then we joined a queue and it took us 45 mins to get to the till and another 10 to get back to the car, it was very stressful.
      We got back to the house just after 3:30pm where a day got considerably more stressful when we found out that Pete had left his phone there all day and Hilape’ had answered it and the guest that Pieter had booked into his self catering tent from tomorrow until Monday was now coming today, at 5pm and she wanted feeding. Pieter was not impressed and for the next hour we could see him get more and more anxious until Ellie and I went and hid in our room for 30 minutes while the guest showed up and Pete could do his host thing.
      At 5:15pm I decided to venture out and back to the house and there I met Anneka. A big very brash woman of around early 50’s who does seem nice enough and likes whiskey and soda water by the bucket but we do like Pete to ourselves.
      From the word go, there was no shutting Anneka up, we tried moving to the roof terrace for sunset as this is where we all like to sit, chill and enjoy the last of the day but still she wouldn’t shut up talking about the view, the cows, what bugs are here, what spiders are here, it was endless.
      I went back to our room for 10 minutes to change batteries in things and Ellie came with me and we both said she’s a force.
      Then the full moon rose infront of the house and she was calling us back to ask if we could see it and then she was taking pictures of it and showing everyone and sending the pictures to her friends and family. I’d like to think it was because she is excited but the real thing is she just can’t switch off, unplug, relax and enjoy the moment.
      Pete cooked us all a lovely beef stew with rice and we listened to Anneka babble all the way through dinner about how to cook steaks properly. I don’t think Pete needs lessons.
      Then we all sat in the lounge area and I was desperate for Pete to finish his joint and whiskey so I could just go to bed and finally at 8:50pm I gave up and said I was going to bed.
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    • Day 13

      Fahrt zur Royal Thonga Lodge

      November 21, 2018 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      Waren mit Grenzübergang, Lavumisa, ca. 4,30 Std. unterwegs. Sehr schöne Lodge mitten im Busch.
      Leider haben wir auf unserer Tour keine Elefanten gesehen, aber Impalas, Zebras, Nyalas, Büffel, Warzenschweine und GreifvögelRead more

    • Day 32

      Übernachten im Busch

      March 11, 2018 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

      Im Tembe Elephant-Park schlafen wir inmitten der Tiere und lassen uns im privaten Spa verwöhnen.

    • Day 33

      Nachtrag zu Tembe

      March 12, 2018 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      Wir haben sie gesehen!!!

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