Adventures with Julia

December 11, 2018

Tswalu Game Reserve in South Africa.

Stayed in the Hotel Intercontinental in Johannesburg (Pretoria on this map) until our departure time of 11:45.  Was able to make progress on the post you just received.  We were picked up by a driver for the charter company that will fly us southwest to our next safari stop, a place called Tswalu, which means “new beginning” in the Tswana language (one of 11 languages spoken in SA).  He drove us to the general aviation side of the airport and we checked in at a private air transport firm called  Fireblade Aviation – Oppenheimer.  We were 2 of 9 passengers on the 1.5 hour KingAir flight to the Tswalu airstrip.  We sat next to a man who is in charge of marketing for Tswalu and learned a number of interesting bits of information.  It is a private game reserve, owned by the grandson of Ernst Oppenheimer, who founded the diamond company, Debeers.   Nicki, the grandson, acquired the 258,000 acre property in 1994 and continues to buy land to increase the size of the reserve.  It was declared a protected area in 2014.  No hunting is allowed and there are currently 80 species of mammals and 240 species of birds.  The Tswalu camp is composed of 9 suites and one large villa for families.  The total capacity is 28 guests and 175 staff.  Although we are here during the hot season, the best time to come to Tswalu is March through May, when there is no rain, the air is cooler and the ground is green.   As we fly over the landscape, he points out that the whole area is arid savannah and quite different from the savannah we have experienced in Tanzania.  Out the window I see low mountains, rolling hills and savannah full of rough grasses, bushes and short trees.  It is not appealing from the air.  The elevation is 4,700 feet.

Map of Tswalu Game Reserve. Near the middle of the map, a marking called Motse is where the lodge is located. The airstrip is to the right of that. We saw the lions and rhinos in the lower right area.  The Oppenheimer family hopes to acquire more land from farmers in the lower mid section and in the upper left corner and increase the size of the reserve.

At the airstrip we meet our new driver and guide, Sarah.  She introduces us to our tracker, Ben.  We load up and are off at 2pm on a short afternoon game drive to the Tswalu Lodge. In the dense vegetation it is hard to get a good look at animals, but we did see a few new creatures:

Kudu males in fine form

A male oryx, or gemsbok

springbok, which are similar to gazelles; yellow mongoose, which are solitary and slightly larger than a dwarf mongoose;

Close up of a sable.

white-browed sparrow weavers; red hartebeest, which are similar to the topi; southern giraffe, that look like other giraffe elsewhere; roan, another large antelope; and oryx or gemsbok.  We also saw familiar kudu and wildebeest.  Not bad for a short drive.

We were taken to our suite and were grateful to find it air conditioned, as well as spacious and very well appointed with an office area as well as a bedroom, large bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers, and outdoor living room facing the arid landscape.  We chill until the 5pm game drive.

Social Weaver Nest in a Camel Thorn acacia.

We join Sarah and Ben and head out to find cheetah and whatever else turns up.  It is quite warm but not so bad when the land rover is moving.  As long as I can stay clear of the sun, I am ok.  We stop to study a social weaver nest in a camel thorn acacia tree.  Sarah tells us about 100 or more live in these particular nests, but they can literally cover the tree and hold over 500 birds.  The nest is so large that it regulates temperature for the birds.  Not too hot and not too cold.  Helps the birds conserve energy.  Their biggest predator is the cobra, which slithers into the nest and eats all the babies and more.  Not a very happy image.

Smith’s Red Rock Rabbit on our night drive.

About dusk Ben spotted a Smith’s Red Rock Rabbit with a reddish tail before encountering a coalition of two brother cheetah spread out on the ground near a tree.  They were just beginning to wake up as the sky was becoming too dark for photographs.

We hung with them as they stretched and then started walking in the brush and then along the perimeter of the fenced reserve.  Eventually it grew too dark to see them and we drove back to the lodge.

We joined the other guests for a BBQ dinner, watched a small entertainment by the staff children and went to bed.

December 12, 2018

Wild Dogs running down the road toward us.

Up at 4:30 and on the road by 5am. ( I was not a happy camper at that hour.) The goal was to find wild dogs.  We drove in the direction of where they had last been located and ran into them on the road running in the other direction.  We got in line behind the other vehicles following them and ended up back at the camp watering hole, where they were headed.

THe dogs play after drinking. We were late getting to the water hole.

We watched along with the other guests who were just getting up and

The dogs literally climb all over each other.

looking at the dogs in their PJ’s.  It seems I did not have to get up so early after all.  After drinking, the dogs played and ran around the lodge area.  Eventually, it became clear they were not going hunting any time soon, so we got back in the car and drove through the fence and across a road to another part of the reserve.

A scene of the east side of the property. We preferred it.

Morning game drive on east side of property. Ben is tracking.

It was much prettier than the side the lodge was on, I thought.  The lodge side is very desert-like and not very appealing.  The other side is hilly and has more tall grasses and general vegetation and is a touch greener.

It was not long before Ben spotted two white rhinos downhill in tall grasses.  Sarah drove through and over the bushes to get close, but they were very shy.  When they crashed off further into the bushes, we gave up, and crashed our way back to the road, found a spot to stop and have a coffee and tea break.  The sky was a deep blue and the air warming up, but still pleasant.   The scenery quite lovely……

Along the way we saw a Bat-Eared Fox on the move and a light tan-colored roan.  We stopped at another water hole and watched for birds.

There were many we had not seen, but we identified the Violet-eared Waxbill and the lovely Bokmakierie, a bush shrike.

Once at the lodge, we put on our suits and went to the pool.  We were free from 10:30am to 5pm.  Very nice to have a pleasant rest and a very cool pool, in which to swim.   We enjoyed a late lunch/early dinner poolside.

At 5pm we were off again.  This time to find meerkats, a member of the mongoose family.   The “mob of meerkats” we were looking for have been habituated to people and we were allowed to hang out with them and take photographs….if we could.  Here is a collection of our efforts.

After cavorting with meerkats, we drove to a high point on a slightly vegetated sand dune and had our sundowner.  We were in the western part of the property, which is full of sandy soil, some dunes and flat bunch grass and low shrubs to the  horizon.

View from a sand dune. The whole scene is within the Tswalu Game Reserve.

The endless vistas continue.

The property is so vast, it is hard to get our bearings.  Sarah told us the dunes were estimated to be 30,000 years old.  At the top of the dune we had a 360 degree view of the property.  Our old ranch was tiny in comparison.  It was nearly dark when we finished our sundowner, so we finished the day with a night drive to the lodge.  All was quiet in the western front.  We managed to see a springhare and a bat-eared fox along the way in the dark.

Back at the lodge, we went directly to bed.  These 4:30am wake up calls are not my thing.   By going to sleep at 9pm, it was a bit easier to get up at 4:30.

December 13, 2018

This morning we headed back to the eastern side of the Tswalu Game Reserve looking for lion.  The pretty scenery sort of makes up for the few animals we see along the way.

Driving through the landscape.

This time we see a few kudu and a male ostrich.  Eventually, Ben does track down the lions using the “follow the footprints” method.  We first come upon 3 lions lying under a tree, as usual.  One is a very large 10 year old male with 2 subadults about 3 years of age.  Ben is sure there are more lions nearby so we continue looking and soon find 5 more animals–another large male, who is the brother of the other male, two females and two cubs, 6-7 months old.  This is the North Pride.  The South Pride has about the same number of animals.  They were all into sleeping and we were so done with lions that neither of us took any photos. We soon tired and drove up another sandy hill for a breakfast break.  It is very nice to be on such a huge reserve with no other vehicles or people watching anything we are watching.  The staff make sure the guests on each vehicle have their own private experience.

A southern giraffe. This one has toes that curl up from walking on sand rather than hard surfaces.

As we drive slowly back to the lodge, we finally see zebra for the first time on the Tswalu Game Reserve and another tower, or kaleidoscope, of giraffe.  Then, back to the lodge for the heat of the day.

How giraffes differ in patterns and colors. The lower left is the Southern Giraffe in Tswalu. THe THe lower three on the right ate found in Tanzania.

Spent most of the day sitting on the pool deck looking at animals at the watering hole, writing and swimming.  It was very hot and dry.  I was glad not to be out driving around.  Anyway, there was plenty to watch at the hole–roan, oryx, wildebeest, red hartebeest, and the whole dog pack.  There are 20 in the pack, 9 adults and 11 puppies of different ages.  They stayed around the previous night and this whole day.  We had decided to go to what the staff called the “dune BBQ” a couple miles away from the lodge.  So we planned to head out about 6:30.  While we waited to go, we noticed the dogs starting to get excited and move around.  Ben told us they would be going out to hunt soon, so we got in the vehicle and stationed ourselves so we could see the action.  It turned out to be much adieu about not much.  We chased the dogs about a mile.  They would stop every so often with the alpha female and other adults resting, while the pups played.  At one point the pups harassed an oryx, but that animal is too big for them. They need to find a smaller animal, like a springbok or a warthog.  The pups had fun and so did we watching.  The oryx was not pleased.  All too soon, the light was gone and we couldn’t see anything.

Because we had taken so long with the dogs, we were the last people to arrive at the BBQ.  Twenty-five other people were seated at kerosene lit tables, complete with table cloths and cloth napkins.  It was a very nice buffet spread.  We had a delicious piece of oryx meat.  I found it more tasty and tender than beef.  Sarah ate with us and we got to know a bit about her.  She is single, from Cape Town, is leaving Tswalu in a week and plans to spend the next six months in Canada, while Tswalu  Lodge is closed for a major remodel.

On our last night drive we took a longer route and had some successful sightings: a genet, several springhare, a scrubhare, a very unusual sighting of a polecat, a sand grouse, yellow mongoose, and a porcupine.  Too dark for photos.  We had hoped to find an aardvark, or a pangolin, but satisfied ourselves with the sightings Ben found with his spotlight, especially the polecat and the genet.  We arrived back at the lodge after 10:30 and went directly to bed.

December 14, 2018

I liked this desert tree in the lodge garden, but don’t know what it is. If one of you does, please let me know too.

Slept in until 5:30.  Very nice.  Had a leisurely breakfast and took a few more photos. Then we were off to the airstrip.

The Tswalu airstrip waiting area hosts a huge social weaver nest in its rafters.

Fireblade Aviation is known for its mural paintings.  Here is one on our wing as we lift off Tswalu.

A parting view of the Tswalu landscape

Flew back to Jo’burg in a Pilatus PC 12 and arrived back at Fireblade Aviation on the far side of the International field.   Said good bye to the staff at Fireblade and were back at the Intercontinental Hotel before 11am.  we spent the day at the hotel getting caught up on packing and writing.  Mark had a massage and I had a pedicure and a massage.  Felt great.

In the dining room we saw our first Christmas tree this season.  It has not seemed like Christmas time where we have been.  Happy Christmas to you all.

Next stop is Azura Quilalea, on an island near Pembe, Mozambique.