The second instalment of Eva’s explorations of the Dark Continent took her out on her first safari. Savage, wild, exciting and frightening, it was all she expected. She shot all the wild game she could, with her camera!
Take the trek through Eva’s impressions of the safari…
The savagery of Africa captivates everyone
Kapama Private Game Reserve, wild, savage and captivating. Cape Town filed now as ‘awesome memory,’ our next stop, the renown Kapama Private Game Reserve. Wild, savage, captivating, all as it was reputed to be. We were in store for another adventure as our visit to the Dark Continent continued.
Squashed together like human sardines in a shrunken tin of a plane, we flew to Kapama Private Game Reserve, located on the northwest corner of South Africa. Hoedspruit airport has only two runways, a tiny airport, once an air force base. Today it services tourists only managing them via a terminal building that is a small step beyond being a phone booth. Welcome to Kapama!
Kapama is one of the three game reserves that are part of the 220 million hectors of the completely “wild” territory of Kruger National Park. Each reserve within Kruger is surrounded by an electrified fence, its purpose to keep the animals in the area for the safari guests. During times of drought, the number of watering holes are drastically reduced. So to relieve the thirsty animals, the electric gates are opened, freeing the animals to roam as they please in search of water.
We stayed in Kapama Game Reserve (15,000 Hectors). They had been enduring a drought and so the gates were open. The animals wandered about freely. Kapama has several large bodies of water. We were lucky. We were able to track the “Big 5:” lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and water buffalo. There are no cheetahs in South Africa. They are found mostly in Kenya and Tanzania where they prefer the climate and physical environment.
Scheduled for our first day: a three-hour safari. Total excitement was tempered by fear of the unknown, the unexplored, the African jungle. This was really happening!!!
We were assigned six to a jeep. John, our park ranger, was in charge, a man of experience and knowledge, generating confidence in his safari novices. Fenny was our tracker, an excellent man for the role as his vision and hearing far surpassed that of any average person. He and the driver were in total communication about the location of the animals. Fenny’s discerning hearing tracked animals accurately just by listening to their mating calls, or their lonely calls. Yes, we learned animals do get lonely! Even the wild ones!!!!
Rules of safari riding: no one is allowed to leave the jeep at any time; no one is permitted to stand up to take photos as a sudden height change may be perceived as a threat by the animals; communication among the passengers is strictly limited, and to be done by hand signals or angelically soft whispers.
The first animal we saw was a giraffe, a magnificently majestic giant grazing from treetops. We stopped so everyone could take photos. Some did. Others just sat still dumbfounded and awestruck by the sounds of the jungle’s silence.’ We heard wild animals calling in the distance, an eerie feeling for each of us.
Each site was restricted to two jeeps only out of regard to the animals, their need for distance and respect for their environment. Many times, I just sat back and marvelled at the grace, the beauty and the actual ferocity of the animals. A beautiful sight!
We were awed by the spectacular animals but hopes of encountering the Big-5 grew!
More to come…
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