Africa Day 3: Zulu Nyala, Nompondo Village

We planned for a full day on Day 3 and it ended up getting even more jam-packed. We took off on our morning game drive and again tried to find the cheetahs to see if they were on the hunt. We found the male cheetah, but after a while of watching him relax in the morning sun, despite a few poses that seemed to indicate he was on alert to hunt, we realized that he just wasn't ready yet. So as our final task before we headed back for breakfast, we tracked the elephants we had seen the night before.

To find the elephants, William tested the limits of our Land Cruiser and before long we were so far off road on a hillside, that not a one of us thought we would be able to get back on the path. Still no elephants though. It's amazing how something so big can hide so well. But William was not deterred and he stood up in the vehicle and told us to be quiet. "Did you hear that?" he asked. No one heard anything. But sure enough, a few more moments passed and all of us could hear the rustling of branches and before long the three elephants came into view. This time they approached the truck and seemed to display a bit of disdain that we had invaded their morning foraging territory. The largest of the three approached our vehicle and seemed to sniff the front grill. In the truck, we were assured by William, they posed no danger. It didn't make it any less exhilarating.

They then passed on by, however, continuing their path of destruction until for some reason they pulled an about face and headed back in our direction. The three were all females and they always seemed to move about in the same order with the smallest of the three in the middle. As they passed us for a second time, the smallest, who seemed to have the most attitude, turned her head toward us, raised her trunk in our direction, gave a short trumpet, and, in Lisa's words, "flipped us off".

After the game drive, William told us to be ready early for the afternoon game drive as the plan was to follow the cheetah, who would almost certainly be hunting. However, before that we had a short late morning trip planned to Nompondo, a local Zulu village. We had mixed feelings about the trip. On one hand, we were curious to see how the locals lived, but on the other, we felt uneasy about the hypocrisy of going into depressed areas. Some of our concerns were warranted as we first were escorted to a small local grocery amidst a moderately populated area with ramshackle structures made of a mixture of traditional building materials like sticks, thatch, and clay and more recent materials like bricks, tin roofs, etc. The grocery mainly was an opportunity to buy some local crafts, but it was tough to shake the feeling that we were a mixed blessing to the local folks. We won't get into my personal feelings too much about this excursion and two other similar visits we'd make to local communities (the shanty townships of Cape Town and the Mukuni Village in Zambia) and instead focus on the positives. The school visit in Nompondo was rewarding as it was great to see that even in an area where unemployment is 65%, they make a concerted effort to provide a strong education for the youth (perhaps the unemployment rate is a good incentive to prioritize education). The kids were amazing and sang a wonderful folk song to us, "Sho sho loza", which tells the tale of when people in the village used to ride on the train for days to go work in the coal mines and used to sing the song to encourage the train to get them home faster. Unfortunately the most meaningful song that our group could come up with to sing back to the students was "Old MacDonald". Moving on.

We got back to the lodge, had lunch and then met up with William. We spent a while driving around but William was unsuccessful in picking up any sign of the cheetahs and no word had come in from any of the lookout points, so we moved on. Probably the highlight of the afternoon's drive was a close encounter with two male kudu. There was not as much brush this time, so we had clear sight lines and one trotted ahead of us on our path. These are truly magnificent. A second highlight of the drive was a showdown between two male nyala. We had no idea why they were sparring, but the entertainment value for us was rather high. We also had the fortune of seeing a malachite kingfisher which is apparently somewhat rare and elusive. Dave snapped a few images from a distance and caught the bird in flight which excited William. Other afternoon sightings included a herd of wildebeest and our first time seeing a giraffe drink. Giraffe's necks are not flexible enough to reach the ground so they have to crouch down in a very uncomfortable looking position to reach the water. Making it all the more humorous is the process they go through to drink. Once they are in their crouch, they are prone to attack. This is the only time that a lion will attack a giraffe. So their head is on a swivel, looking right then left then right. Then they will start to crouch and something will spook them, so it's right back up again to begin the process. After several minutes of this, they finally get into their crouch and begin to drink. Upon finishing, they then whip their head back up and spit out any remaining water, apparently because their nasal passages are flat and they might choke on the water.

William returned us to the lodge (we had moved from the safari tents to the main lodge earlier in the day) and we took in a spectacular sunset and the amazing views of the savannah that the lodge had to offer. No sooner had we returned to our room when an exciting William was on the phone, telling us we had five minutes to get back out to the game vehicle...the cheetah had made a kill. We rushed out to meet him as the other few members of our group were beginning to congregate. Several of them had jumped out of the shower and headed directly over. Before long we were on the path as the sun completely disappeared, which made it particularly difficult to find the location of the kill. Luckily it wasn't too far off of our path and William circled around and brought the truck to a stop about 20-30 ft from the cheetah, going to work on his prize, a small female nyala. William then shocked us all as he told us we could get out of the truck for a better look. It was a bit unsettling despite William's assurances that the cheetah was not concerned with us. His only concerns were either a leopard or a pack of hyenas, either of which would successfully chase the cheetah from the meal. The fact that the cheetah ate with his back to us for a while was a sure sign that he saw us as no threat.

We watched for what seemed like forever, but probably was around 20 minutes or so, as the cheetah pulled the hide off the animal and ate, first from the hind quarters (the tender part) and then from the neck and breast area. We could hear bones snapping and our silence seemed to increase the sounds of the feast. Not for the faint of heart. Dave kept moving from one side of the truck around to the other to photograph it from different angles in William's spotlight. At one point, as Dave came around the vehicle, the cheetah took notice, stopped eating, cast an ominous glance in Dave's direction and hissed. Now Dave's been hissed at plenty by our cats, particularly Nigel, but none of those incidents had quite the bladder loosening effect of a large male cheetah hissing at him. After a while, the cat left the meal and just trotted off. William was surprised as this behavior was strange for cheetah's who will usually stay with the meal until finished. Despite the incredible experience, Lisa told William that it was great, but asked when we would see an actual hunt and kill. Dave later joked that, judging by the look on William's face at that point, they almost did.


One more stop before we got back to the lodge and we arrived at the base of a cliff wall. William shone the spotlight up on the wall and we could see baboons sleeping on the face of the cliff. Apparently it's a rather safe place to avoid being eaten by nocturnal predators. We put an exciting Day 3 in the books after a pre-dinner wine gathering with Jim and Jenny, and the three other couples in our group from Atlanta (Bill & Flo, Randy & Gloria, Al & Jane).

Africa Day 2: Zulu Nyala, Phinda

Our second day at Zulu Nyala brought with it the excitement that we might see lions in the afternoon as we had a trip planned in the afternoon to Phinda which is a much larger game reserve with about five or six prides of lions. But first, we headed out on our morning game drive. We started on a bit of a sad note as we came across the carcass of a large male rhino which had been the victim of poachers and, subsequently, animal scavengers. It was barely recognizable as a rhino it was almost all bones at this point, but one of the legs still had flesh and you could see the foot.

We then came upon the male cheetah that we had seen hunting the day before. William alerted us that he must have captured something small, but certainly not the large meal for which he had been hoping. We still had a chance to see the hunt and kill. How William can tell the size of the cheetah's last meal just by looking at him, I'll never know.

As William had said earlier, this drive was more about filling in with smaller game sightings. Probably the highlight of our fresh animal encounters was two large male kudu, which are large antelope. They are very skittish and each time we tried to drive closer, they would move further away. We would have a much closer encounter with these large, beautiful animals later in the week. A pack of baboons scurrying across the path in front of us, vervet monkeys, and impalas all helped to fill out our morning animal sightings. We also began to realize the amazing number and beauty of the birds in Africa. We had bought a book on Southern African mammals at the airport which was coming in quite handy and we made a game to check off as many as we could. Unfortunately we passed on a similar guide to birds in the area which we really could have used.

We met William in the afternoon for our trip to Phinda. It was about a 20-30 minute drive to the reserve and although William and another ranger, Dumi, drove with us, we were assigned different guides at Phinda. Lucky would be our driver and Josi would be our spotter. Josi's job as spotter was to park his butt on a seat that was attached to the very front of the truck so he would be the first eaten if we encountered any lions. With the bumpy ride that we experienced in the back, I'm amazed that Josi was able to remain seated in his tenuous position. We drove around for a bit, seeing some of the same animals that we had seen over the previous game drives, but then we came upon a lone buffalo at the side of the road. He was quite old and not really up for moving too much, but we now had seen four of the "Big Five" and so we took off on trail of one of the lion prides to complete our set. We did several laps around an area where the lions had been seen, looking for signs: fresh kills, dung, footprints. However, it took some time before Josie and Lucky hopped off of the truck and began tracking on foot. It was a bit disconcerting that both of our guides left us unattended, and, oh yeah, they took the rifle and machete with them. Another truck pulled up and that guide and spotter also got out and started the search.

After about 10 or 15 minutes, the guides returned with good news and bad news. They had found a large pride, but it was going to be difficult to get to them for viewing. Fortunately, we were equipped with our Land Cruisers. They circled around and got to what seemed to be a random point on a very narrow path and took a hard left directly into the brush. We navigated--or rather ran over--brambles, small brush plants, and more than a few small trees, but finally a young female lion came into few after about 50 yards of travel through the brush. We sat and watched her for a bit and then a large male came into view. Apparently this guy was the king of this reserve as he was the leader of three separate prides. After he settled down, we were able to move a bit more and get a better view of the whole pride, roughly seven or eight lions including the large male, two fully grown females, and several younger males and females. When the males reach a certain age, they are seen as threats and the pride leader will kick them out to either be loners or find a pride of their own to commandeer. I'm not sure how long we watched the lions, but they were mesmerizing.

After we finally left the lions, we thought we were heading back, but we stopped in a clearing near a fairly large watering hole and when we asked why we were stopping, Josi said it was a "gin and tonic" break. We chuckled, but quickly realized he wasn't kidding as he broke out a trunk with several bottles of liquor, mixers, and some snacks including venison biltong, which is kind of like beef jerky. While we were enjoying our cocktails, we gazed across the water and saw two rhino slowly making their way to wherever rhinos go to on a Sunday evening.

After a few drinks, we headed back. It was dark, so Josi broke out the spotlight to see if we could see any nocturnal animals. We didn't see too much, save for an owl off in the distance and some jackals which we could only barely make out in the dark. However, after we got back in our vans to head back to Zulu Nyala, we came across a young male and two females right at the side of the road in the dark. Phinda just kept giving. Another amazing day.

Africa Day 1 (cont): Zulu Nyala - Afternoon Game Drive

Yes, there is wireless in Africa and no, it is not good. We were able to get a connection at Zulu Nyala, but the signal stretched for about 15 feet and sometimes there was only one chair outside of the reception area from which you could get any connection. We really only wanted the internet so that Lisa could post to Facebook so folks back home could follow our exploits.

Sitting outside reception after our first game drive, breakfast, and lunch, a man came and sat down next to Lisa. She recognized him as an actor and we found out he was Jack McGee, a character actor who most notably played the chief on Rescue Me but is recognizable from many small TV and film parts. We learned that we used to be neighbors in Hoboken when he was working on Rescue Me, but he lives in LA now. We had a ball with Jack, sharing stories of his time at the reserve (he had to leave the next day) and joking around.

We then met William at 3pm for our afternoon game drive, but not before checking out the crocodile pond on our property. The staff were feeding the crocs some form of venison, but they didn't seem too interested and chose sunning themselves instead. There were tiny baby crocs that were apparently only a few days old. The few that were there were the lucky ones as most get eaten by the larger crocs. Luckily for the babies, they can crawl through the fence enclosing the pond. Not so lucky for the guests that have rooms nearby as these baby crocs show up in their bathrooms.

Our afternoon game drive had a major goal...elephants. We first returned to the hippos' pond since they get more active in the afternoon. They were starting to move a bit and we saw some major yawns, but they were not yet ready to leave the water to start their nightly foraging. This was when we learned that hippos are the most deadly of the African mammals, killing more humans than any other animal, mostly because people are unaware that hippos are in the water nearby or they unknowingly get between the hippos and their spot in the water which is when bad things happen. We also saw the mother and young male cheetah again. William noted that they had empty bellies, so an afternoon hunt was possible. I believe it was at this point where Lisa's blood lust began. She was all about seeing a kill in the wild on our trip.

We also saw a giraffe start to bend down to drink, until Lisa's binoculars banged against the side of the truck and spooked the animal. We also had a spotting of a short-tailed eagle, and saw a red duiker, which is a very small, very shy antelope. But our afternoon was just about to get exciting. As we were headed back to the lodge, Our guide stopped the truck and told us to be quiet. We were stopped on the road with trees and brush to our right, then a mostly dry riverbed and a hill on the far side. William told us to listen and sure enough, we heard a strange barking sound. A male nyala was up on the hillside, issuing a warning for all to hear that their was a predator in the area. William knew immediately without seeing it...leopard.

There were no lions on our reserve--no leopards either, but they, as well as hyenas and wild dogs found ways over and under the fence around the several thousand acres that make up Zulu Nyala. A leopard was the only predator that would track a large male nyala. We all fixed our gazes on far river bank and lower on the hill and I finally spotted the leopard, on the prowl. Unfortunately with all of the brush and trees next to our vehicle, only Lisa was quick enough to catch the cat in two somewhat burry images, but regardless, we had our leopard sighting. We lost sight of the leopard quickly as it gave up on its quarry and despite William's best tracking efforts, we never saw the leopard again that day.

William kept telling us how lucky we were to have seen a leopard, but it didn't sink in until we were at the airport later in the week and a woman told us that she had been going on safari for 10 years before she saw a leopard. Two of the "Big Five" down (leopard, rhino down...elephant, lion, buffalo remaining). It wouldn't take us long to get up to three.

Since we had overstayed our afternoon game drive, it was now dark after we had spent time trying to track the leopard. So we headed back to the lodge via a shortcut, a very sparsely travelled, kidney jostling path. About half way back up the hill to the lodge, we came into a clearing and were amazed to find two rhino there in the dark just grazing. We watched them for a while and tried to get some pictures in the dark, but then as they started to move, William again hushed us. What happened next was right out of the Jurassic Park movie. We heard the rustle first and branches breaking, then a bit of silence before a loud trumpet and three elephants bursting into the clearing. They took a quick look at us, but were more interested in devouring whatever tree life was in their way. Three down, two to go. We all marveled at the fact that we had only been on the property for one day.

Africa Day 1: Zulu Nyala - Morning Game Drive

We'll quickly bypass the 25 hours of flight time and one night at the Safari Club hotel near the airport in Johannesburg and tag our first full day after arriving at Zulu Nyala Game Reserve as the official Day 1 of the vacation. We did meet up with Jim and Jennie for dinner on Day 0 and learned about their adventures in Cape Town as we prepared for the start of our safari activities the next day.

At 6:15am on Day 1, we met up with our guide, the half-white, half-Zulu, all-amazing William. Little did we know at the time how important it was that we got William as our guide. Not only was he personable and kept the mood entertaining, he was also incredibly knowledgeable and also the head ranger which as you'll learn has its perks. At the end of our stay at Zulu Nyala when we compared our experiences with other guests at the game reserve, we realized just how much our experience was impacted by having William as our guide for the week.

Our first game drive began with us first praising our decision to bring layers, knit caps, and gloves as the mornings were quite chilly in our open game vehicle. William told us that we would start big and go smaller later in the week, meaning that we would chase down the bigger, cooler animals first to try to ensure sightings and then our drives would become more leisurely. Zulu Nyala is small, by comparison, to some other game reserves and tiny compared to the national parks like Kruger and Hluhluwe, but although that means fewer animals, it also makes them a bit easier to find. Our first encounter was with a male cheetah, barely before the sun rose into view. William told us that the cat looked hungry, so we kept our distance and followed patiently. Then a small nyala wandered into the cat's view. As William tried to get us ahead of the hunt, we saw the cheetah take off after the antelope up the hillside. By the time we found the cheetah again, we realized his chase had been fruitless as he found a spot in the rising sun and waited for another clueless morsel. William positioned us for some great photos.

We then got word of a rhino sighting so we headed off. Before we covered too much ground, we came across a herd of skittish zebras that took off running upon our arrival. When we found them in a clearing, we noticed that a female (with colt) had a severely broken leg. Several of the zebras came to the front of the group, almost seeming to be protecting the injured female.

After a bit of driving around, we came upon the rhino and a small calf. The young one almost seemed to show off for us, bounding toward our vehicle and then retreating in the same carefree manner. Here's where our morning got interesting. Although we were able to see the rhinos from the path on which we drove, they made a turn and heading further into the bush. Not one to be deterred by some rugged terrain, William pointed the Land Cruiser off our somewhat well-worn path and into the high grass and brush. As he caught up to the rhino pair and tried to position us close for some good views, our whole vehicle lurched forward and then violently down, throwing us around and providing some bumps and bruises to knees, heads, and necks. We had found a warthog hole. As we regained our composure, we heard William ask if everyone was alright and then not wait for an answer as he shushed us. Apparently the mother rhino had not appreciated the ruckus and now stood about 20-30 ft from us, snorting angrily. Luckily, she quickly lost interest and let her baby lead her away (quick educational note: White rhinos will follow their young as they walk, whereas black rhinos lead their children).

After a few more sightings of other animals, including our first of many giraffe and hippo encounters and a sighting of the female and young male cheetah, we made it back to the lodge and finally got our breakfast. Oddly, they schedule the morning game drives before breakfast, so we found ourselves hoarding muffins as a pre-drive snack in the mornings.

Season Wrap Up

Well, the joke goes that the Seattle winter officially ends just in time for July 4th. But this winter has not been a typical one here. The primary reason is that we got snow and lots of it. It all started back in December, right before Christmas when Seattle received about 15" of snow over two or three days. We were lucky that our flight to LA got out on Christmas eve. We were delayed by two hours, primarily because they had to evacuate the plane at the gate next to ours because the de-icing chemicals had gotten into the ventilation system and made several people sick. We did not know this at the time, but later learned that it was on the national news so we put two and two together and realized why all of those emergency vehicles were blocking us from departing from our gate.

Anyway, getting back to the weather, it is worth noting that Seattle rarely gets more than a dusting of snow that typically turns to rain and melts withing a few hours. The city shuts down for just a few inches of snow, so you can imagine the panic that set in as the snow began to accumulate. For us it was like a typical snowstorm back east, but for Seattlites, it had been about 10-12 years since they had seen this much snow. So it was time to close offices, leave the car in the garage, and break out the cross-country skis to get around. Unfortunately, getting so little accumulated snow on a regular basis alleviates the need for snow removal equipment and things like, say, rock salt and snow shovels. As a result, sidewalks were terribly icy and after a day or so, driving on anything other than highways was like maneuvering on the lunar surface (I would imagine). We were thankful to escape to the warmth of LA.

We have also had a couple of more days in February and early March where we've had an accumulation of snow, but nowhere near the December dump. But, the interesting thing is that in my perception we've also had more sunny, clear days this winter than usual. Since I have a sample size of two winters, I'm clearly not the best judge, but I just don't feel like we've had the extended stretches of gray that are typical of Seattle winters...but, we still have all of April, May, and June.

Unfortunately, all of the snow did not translate into a great snowboard season. In part it was because the mountains just didn't get a steady dose of snow and in part because we did not make it up there as much as we hoped. However, we had one phenomenal day at Stevens Pass. It had snowed 16" the previous day and we got another 10" to 12" while we were up there (no snow in Seattle, though, thankfully). It made the trip home a bit tough since after we dug our car out, we sat, inching our way out of the parking lot for 45 minutes only to be told that the road was now closed. We now had to wait out avalanche control along Route 2 for two hours, but we made the best of it by parking the car and finagling two seats at the bar. We did make another trip up the next weekend, only to have Dave catch an edge and tweak his bad ankle on the first run of the day. Oh, well, we'll just have to wait until next season for more of this...