From Mark and Mom on Hluhluwe Game Reserve

Hluhluwe Game Reserve

We are spending two nights at the HluHluwe Game Reserve - the Hill Top camp.  It has a very nice 1 bedroom chalet that is nicer than any Mom has stayed in in 9 months.  Kitchen (all the stuff), living room, bedroom, bathroom, deck, outdoor braai (charcol grill).  In short, a very nice set up.  We got up at 4:15 am for the dawn game drive.  We spend the next 3 hours tracking big game. Its was very cold to start - but we dressed in layers -- the landscape was stunnning as the sun came up.

Within a few minutes of the camp gate, we started tracking fresh elephant dung.  Mother, an expert tracker since her days as a fur trader in the old west, immediately sensed the elephant were near.  We pulled over. Quiet.  We roll forward with out the engine running.  Jacpot !  Elephant just off the road on the hill side, maybe 30 feet away.  It is dark so the flash photography couldnot capture an image.  It is two females and three juevenals.  They give us a long look.  Then they saunter behind the land rover across the road and head do the hill.  The big one stood guard on the road until everyone was across and out of signt.  Now the sun is up. It is the early dawn light, and we are off.

Shortly, a lone buffalo.  Ostricized for the society of water buffalo by the other males, he is without girlfriends and has no prospects, or Patrick, our driver speculates.  He looked handsome enough to me.  He has on the ground sleeping when hwe drove by.  Promply stood - about 10 feet from the vehicle - and sauntered off.

Ten minutes and we have bagged 2 of the Big 5. What next, oh great white hunter?

We drive on, a heard of buffalo covering a hilside, perhaps 100 individuals.  Five rhinos wallowing in a wet spot.  A field filled with a small heard of zebra and wildebeast grazing together.  The are all right by the road.  Ten feet away.  More giraffe.

In the afternoon, after a short nap, we go on a self-driving tour.  More rhino. Lots more buffalo - a herd of 200.  Interesting ground birds with colorful outfits.  Eagles and hawks soaring on the ridges. Three warthogs rooting around toward the end of the day.  Impalla in a small herd.  A juevenal decides to test his skills with the dominate male.  Horns lock, pushing and shoving, horns locked again.  The adult's horns are 3 times longer than the teenager.  He give us and starts grazing like nothing has occurred.

finally, the end of the day.  We get near the entrance to the camp.  A BIG elephant is blocking the way.  He turns to show us his enormous bulk.  Trunk up.  He walks up the road.  We follow in the car.  Shortly, he turns and gets very close.  His road, his rules, in his good time.  We wait.  More displays of enormous girth.  A huge dump.  He pees all over the road.  He marks his territory.  We are close enough to understand how bad this elephant smells. Very bad.  More pee !!  We move up the road.  Finally we pass.  He turns to show his enormous enormity again.  He moves down the road to block the next car.  The game begins again.  Elephants are very smart.  This one is posing for pictures and we are the papparzzi for Enormous Elephant Entertainment Tonight which makes him very famous and all the girl elephant swoon.

I realize the pictures below, because of the high quality, look like photos we bought in the gift shop, but in fact, we were about 10 to 30 feet away from these guys and gals and we took them.  The man with Mom is Aman, who is a sort of handy man at the clinic.