August 16 2007
We drive to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport where we meet up with our next bush pilot, this one from Chilli Pepper Charter if you can believe it. We go through the nearly none-existent security check and walk to our plane, a tiny single engine Cessna. Josée and the kids are worried but I reassure them the Cessna is a very reliable craft; I slept at a Holiday Inn last night. The flight is uneventful except for a few bumps. We land in Kruger Park where we are met by Eddy, the guy who will be our tracker for the next 4 days.
Eddy drives us to the lodge in a brand new Land Rover and we all agree that the ride is much smoother that the Land Cruiser we rode around in at Kwandwe; you have to understand that the roads are about as rough as you can imagine and that these vehicles are in 4-wheel-drive at all times.
Ivory Lodge on the Sabie River is the most beautiful place we have ever seen. Our accommodation consists of 2 separate glass-walled rooms: living room and bedroom/ensuite. There is a central balcony with a splash-pool and this overlooks the Sabie River where predators and prey are seen daily. There is also an outdoor shower. We are advised not to use either the outdoor shower or the splash-pool after dark. We also are warned against leaving any shiny objects around, as the monkeys will steal them. The photos don’t quite do it justice but they’re probably better than a lengthy description.
August 17 2007
The routine here is similar to Kwandwe except that the wake-up call is at 5:30AM. At 5:45, our butler Johannes rattles the hollow calabash just outside our entrance indicating that he has placed our coffee and biscottis in the dumb-waiter that opens into our living room. We scarf this down and are sitting in the Land Rover ready to go at 6AM. The drives here are 3 hours each for a total of 6 hours a day. We like this much better than the 8 hour a day at Kwandwe.
The guides and the trackers here converse in the Shangaan dialect called Tsonga and they seem to enjoy keeping us in the dark until we get to the sighting. However, we quickly pick-up some key words (spelling may not be correct): mafazi – female, madata – male, ndlopfu – elephant, nghala– lion, ingwe – leopard, quazi – area or road.
The animal sightings here are fantastic and we see the big five on the very first day. By the way, do you know what the big five are and why they are so designated? The big five are: elephant, buffalo, leopard, lion and rhino. These are called the big five because they were the most dangerous to hunt. The most elusive animal of all, the leopard, seems to be everywhere. Not only do we see this cat but we get front row seats, and I mean like less that 2 meters away, while a big male is mating with not one but 2 females! (One after the other of course.) Mating for the leopard is a violent act. The male repeatedly emits a deep growl that scares the poop out of us. These animals are not bothered at all by the vehicle or its occupants and they seem to ignore us altogether even during the serious business of mating.
August 18 – 19
Our last 2 days at Ivory Lodge. Animals are everywhere. We see hippo, zebra, several types of antelopes and huge herds of elephants.
One day, we’re driving along when we meet a large herd of elephant crossing the path. There were large females and males as well as quite a number of young ones. All of a sudden, a very large male in must turns suddenly and charges us. You can spot a male in must because they secrete from the temporal glands just in back of the eyes and also pee nearly constantly accumulating a crystalloid crusty deposit near the end of the penis (not very pretty). Here is a photo of a male in must. 
Fortunately, the guides have a deep understanding of animal behavior and most often anticipate aggressive behavior and start taking appropriate evasive action sooner rather than later. So it was that we had just started to turn the vehicle around when the charge began. Away we went down the path at 30 – 40 kph. The elephant chased us for at least 2 minutes: I’m glad we were not on foot because we could not have outrun it. Here's that elephant running after us.
Another exciting activity we experienced is the walking safari. You get out of the vehicle with the guide and explore…sticking very close to the guide. Very scary. The guide has his rifle with him at all times and he told me it’s not to scare the animals away; it’s to kill them if they make any threatening advance.
Most of the animals react very passively to the vehicles headlights at night. They do not seem to mind the lights and so every evening on the way back to the lodge, the tracker shines a spotlight left and right and spots various animals including lions and other predators. The only animal that does not appreciate lights at night is the elephant. One night on the way home, we were surrounded by a herd of elephants. Our guide tried to proceed but soon realized that the elephants were not happy. So, he cuts the engine and switches off the lights and we wait. I have to tell you we were scared to death. Some of the males mock-charged us and came as close as 2 meters. The herd numbered 30 - 40 and they make a hell of a racket as they plow their way through the vegetation knocking down trees and trumpeting. Elephants also communicate with each other with a very low frequency rumble that you can feel in your chest. We were in that situation for about 15 minutes and we wanted to cry. Most of us held out breaths for most of that time. Finally, our guide felt it was safe to get moving and so we drove to the lodge and headed straight to the bar.
I'll end with some photos.
Joseph Froncioni
Fabulous Journal!. And one heck of a holiday / birthday present.
Great to hear and see all of your events. Travel writing in your future retirement plans?
Posted by: Pandora Beads | June 13, 2011 at 11:29 PM
Joe and Josee
Fabulous Journal!. And one heck of a holiday / birthday present.
Great to hear and see all of your events. Travel writing in your future retirement plans?
We loved all the recounting of events and can envision your reactions. thanks for sharing.
Looking forward to catching up soon
Don & Shelby
Posted by: Don & Shelby & girls | August 26, 2007 at 08:20 PM
Epoustouflantes images d'Afrique, ça coupe le souffle, merci de les partager. Les Africains ont tant de plaies à panser et un si beau pays à reconquérir. Tant de splendeur qui côtoie tant de misère ... ça dépasse l'entendement.
Posted by: Lucie | August 21, 2007 at 02:34 PM