Darren Abroad – Darkest Africa

I write this from the spartan comfort of a ronduval (a round hut) in Talavarti Bush Camp, Kruger National Park. Outside of my window, in the blackness, I have heard lions roar, elephants trumpet and hippos grunt. The sky at night here is extraordinary–the Milky Way is clearly visible and there are more stars than I’ve ever seen. I know next to nothing about astronomy, but I assume this has to do with being so far south. The sun, by comparison, seems hotter and closer down here.

We arose at 4:00 AM this morning and drove into the sunrise for hours. In South Africa, the orange sun seems to rise and fall as if on a window blind. Dawn and dusk are extraordinary times, with the landscape lit with an amber glow I’d previously only seen in theatrical lighting gels.

Kruger National Park is an extraordinary place. Founded in 1926, it is one of the oldest camps of its kind in Africa. It streches from the south-east coast to the northern border with Zimbabwe, and is equal in size to Wales. The park has a couple well-maintained, paved roads that run north-south, and a web of decent dirt roads that lead to camps, lodges and watering holes. Traffic is incredibly sparse…we might go half an hour without seeing another car.

Crucially, you’re not permitted to get out of your car. In fact, our hosts encourage us to keep our windows up unless we’re shooting a photo. You never know what might reach in and grab you.

When you see another car, and it’s stopped, you stop too, because there’s likely big game around. According to the locals along on the trip, we had a remarkable first day of wildlife spotting. We saw a herd of at least 20 elephants, including several darling new-borne babies. We saw more elephants elsewhere, several graceful giraffes, curious but savage baboons, tiny velvet monkeys, many paranoid impala, and some skittish water bucks.

We spotted a mother, bull and young elephant near the side of the road. There were a couple of cars in front of us, and the bull elephant charged at one of the cars. Ears flapping, trunk and tusks raised, it was a menacing site. Fortunately for the car and its occupants, it was a false charge.

All agreed that the most impressive and rare site of the day was a herd of maybe 200 cape buffalo (think yak and you’re pretty close) crossing the road in front of us. They were glistening from a trip to the water hole, fighting, mating and generally carrying on. Apparently they’re rarely seen in such large numbers, so we’re very fortunate. On top of the animals, we saw an amazing array of birds I’d never seen before, and probably more flowering plants and trees than all of Canada has to offer.

2nd Day and 3rd Day:

Giraffes, including a family
Elephants — a massive herd of about 50 across a river
All sorts of antelopes, including kudu, waterbucks, springboks, duikkers, klineskopper (or some such thing), eland
Crocodiles
Hippos
Meercats
Many, many birds

On the third night, a ride on a Land Rover through the veld, with a gawky, gregarious guide named Andre:

Bush babies
Jackals
Chameleon
A hare