31.10.2010 | Kruger Mpumalanga Airport - Chitwa chitwa Lodge
After receiving the rental car, I leave the airport, follow the signs "Exit", hit the R538 / White River, turn right and follow the road for about 12 KM - at the "Platon" intersection, I turn left and right again right off. I reach the town of White River, drive to the first traffic light, turn right onto the R40 / Hazyview and follow the road for about 45 KM until I reach a T-junction. Here I turn left onto the R40 and drive through Hazyview, via Bushbuckridge to Acornhoek. I drive through the village to the sign "Manyeleti / Thulamahashe", turn right and follow the road for about 33 KM, always following the signs to Sabi Sands. Past the gas station, follow the tar road for another 7 KM to the second Sabi / Elephant Plains / Nkhoro Bush Lodge signpost, turn right onto D4418 / Seville A / Sabi Sands and follow the dirt road for about 6 km to the intersection. I turn left and reach the Gowrie Gate. Here I get directions to the Chitwa Chitwa Lodge. I can not get out of the vehicle!
A twitch of a short ray of light announcing the approaching storm. Dense dark clouds, interrupted by individual sunbeams and lightning falling from the sky. Between the bushes a zebra looks at me.
01. - 03.11.2010 | Chitwa Chitwa Game Lodge
The first game drive I wake up at 04:45 clock. The deep snorting of the hippopotamus on the way to the water hole can be heard clearly and I look out the window and watch the animals at dawn. The team climbs the car a short time later. After the first few kilometers, a grey beast stands in front of us in the clearing. The strong body supported by too short legs, each foot has three toes ending in wide hooves. The horn proudly stretched out, grown on a very large, elongated skull, its ears pointed slightly vibrating in the air. A rhino! Calm and serene, this loner endures the disturbance. A leopard is very close. After some searching, we find the animal. Beautiful and calm he looks at us. Past giraffes we continue to a water hole. Here are a lot of African buffaloes - a whole herd of about 70 animals. On the way back we meet a seriously injured hippopotamus hiding in the bushes looking for shelter. It has deep bites and high blood loss. Back at the lodge there is breakfast.
In the afternoon we meet a large herd of elephants, giraffes and again traces of a leopard. It is a young male animal that we are allowed to observe for a long time. At dusk we see a bush baby in the trees. The sun is setting deep red above the level. We eat by the open fire. In the distance we hear the roar of a lion.
The next morning again the wake up call at 04:45. Johan, my guide, is calling good morning. An old elephant bull appears before us deep in the bush. Rodney the track reader gets nervous - the bull is upset and comes towards us with his ears wide open. We quickly drive away. Rodney finds lion tracks on the way. He reports that a few weeks ago four handsome lion brothers entered the Chitwa area and attacked the local pride. Almost all male lions from Chitwa were killed ... We find lions at a water hole. They look very emaciated and are not in a good condition. We continue and Johan tells us the story of the hippos: “One day the hippopotamus went into a water hole and it no longer wanted to get out of the water. God then forbade the hippopotamus to ever go back into the water - it would eat up everything in the water and soon there would only be hippos in the water. The hippopotamus only promised to feed on plants and it would come ashore and empty at night and distribute everything so that God could test it.” In fact, the hippopotamus spreads its dung over a large area on the ground.
The last day will be exciting. The sun rises early and it is very warm even for this early time. Rodney leads us straight to a leopard male. We watch it for a long time and can see how it is hunting. It kills an impala antelope and drags the animal to a nearby tree. Here the leopard can eat undisturbed and safely.
On the way back, there is a loud whine and chirping nearby - a pack of wild dogs! And again an Impala has to die. After a wild hunt, the dogs manage to hit the Impala - a loud screeching begins and out of sheer happiness, the dogs start to fight for the prey. They gulp down chunks of food as they eat - they have to be quick. Hyenas and lions can contest their prey.
