SOUTH AFRICA
Amanda and Timothy Clark traveled to South Africa with Audley
A
safari holiday is full of excitement, fresh air, excellent food and good company. We stayed in three lodges in the north of South Africa: Marataba Safari Lodge, Marataba Mountain Lodge (which offers both walking safaris and game drives) and Madikwe Safari Lodge. We took our game drives in a Land Cruiser, which allowed everyone an excellent view. As is common, the first animals we spotted were small herds of impala, followed by the brindled gnu (or wildebeest), with stately kudu and zebra not far away. We learned from our guide that different species of herbivore stick together as protection against predators. Each evening we stopped for sundowners. In Africa the sun descends quickly, plunging the landscape into blackness. The temperature drops dramatically, so we put on extra layers ahead of our night drives.
On one, we sat for several minutes listening to the sounds of the bush, hoping to hear the roar of a lion. Instead, we were mocked by the throaty chuckle of a hippo. Our guide drove just a few feet before his spotlight picked out a white rhino, its flank reflecting the light back at us. Then, after the vertical take-off of a night jar made us jump, our guide picked up the fresh tracks of a lioness in the sand. We followed them slowly. Eventually, our vehicle caught up with her – we spent at least 20 minutes watching her amble about. She was completely at ease with us following her, pausing to scent mark, and shaking her paws disdainfully as she stepped in puddles of water.
LED TO THE LEOPARD
Evening drives tended to be exciting as the carnivores were on patrol. We saw
both male and female lion, brown and spotted hyena and two sightings of leopard. Twice we escorted lions on their evening search for prey; during daylight hours we only witnessed sleepy lionesses, digesting their latest meal. Leopard were much more difficult to see, and required great patience from our guides. We followed tracks that would suddenly disappear, only to be spotted going in a different direction. The determination of our guides paid off, however. Our first fleeting sighting of a leopard was after an exhilarating drive through thornbush thickets: a large male who was most definitely on a mission. Our second sighting was of a female that we’d unsuccessfully tracked the previous day. We found her the next morning, sitting under a tree that used
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