Lots of Shit but no Animals

21^st May Hluhluwe-Imfolosi NP

There are no camping areas at this national park. The night before we slept at a camp nearby and was at the gate at 7am to do some viewing. Unfortunately the first three hours produced plenty of shit but few animals. White rhinos defecate in middens and seem to like the side of the road where they must spend their nights. There were heaps everywhere but nary a rhino in sight. Giraffes were another thing though and to get up close and personal to a giraffe family who don’t want to get off the road and you’ve been following for 10 minutes then think it’s time to squeeze past is quite an experience. The belly of the male was level with level with us sitting n the bakkie but to look up and see their head gazing royally down 3 metres above makes one feel quite small. They are such a beautiful animal with such a calmness about them.

Things improved later in the morning when we went to the Imfolozi part of the park. It was more open and the white rhino, impala and wildebeest were seen in large numbers. We saw a few niyala, an animal we hadn’t seen before. They are a long haired antelope.

The highlight though would be coming across a spotted hyena ripping in to an impala. A few seconds earlier we had seen two cheetah cubs running into the undergrowth and found out by another watcher that the cub’s mother had killed the impala only to have the hyena grab it, take it over the road, and take over the job. We know it is nature but to see the animal tearing out the entrails of the impala while it’s still alive takes getting used to. Later on we took a wrong turn and ended back at the kill, the hyena was still there but he had an audience of 50-60 vultures watching every movement and ready to duck in if the hyena gets distracted. Lappet faced, cape and white backed vultures were the species we could identify.

Last night we decided to splurge at a chalet inside the park for the night. Not as expensive as many of the resorts it still wasn’t cheap, and a little disappointing especially when there are no cooking facilities and a 5 course meal is all there is on offer, the last thing we felt like after 10 hours driving on rough roads concentrating on animal sightings. I tell you, this game viewing is hard work!

Well the local elections are over and the votes are still being counted I think. Most parties seem to be happy with the results though I think the ANC may have lost a few votes. I don’t read many papers and the radio can be a bit biased. I did read one incident where ANC voters in a local district didn’t like the person the ANC powerbrokers had picked to be their representative. The dug a trench around the polling booth, filled it with tyres, and set them alight. They said that only 6 voted were cast at that particular booth.

At the last election it appears one of the parties had promised outside toilets for constituents in certain areas. They connected the toilet and cistern (the cistern on two poles stuck into the ground) but didn’t put any walls around it! They weren’t promised. If you wanted to use it all the neighbours would have a great or not so great view. This time they are promising the walls, maybe the doors next time.

Some of the followers to this blog have mentioned difficulty on leaving comments. I think the easiest way to get over this is to open a gmail email address, it’s free and quite handy, and use that to sign in with. I appreciate the emails and comments (sorry Gil, I tried to get back to you)

Gary