Why South Africa? A simple example! (page 8 of 12)

Cheetahs on the prowl, hyenas, a southern ground hornbill that was "arboreal" (I’ve never seen them anywhere but on the ground), a juvenile bateleur eagle... and now this leopard... what a fantastic stay in Kruger! 🙂

Southern ground hornbill I’m learning something new every day! Ground hornbill True, they’re usually more on the ground

We're leaving Kruger for...

A place like hardly any others exist. Only 3 that I know of.

A completely unfenced camp. Small in size. In a real private reserve bordering Kruger.

Basic comfort. No electricity. Very dim lighting. Small reinforced tent. Clean sheets, tiny adjoining shower room with hot water. Permanently on-site, there’s a cook who works miracles with next to nothing (we’ll eat well and African-style), a housekeeper, and a ranger who shows up for the drives.

Wild, wild. Basic comfort. But great drives. The price reflects this—easily half as much as a modest private reserve in Timbavati or Sabi Sand.

It’ll be cold. Yes, it’s cold in early June. Not under the covers, but... on drives, freezing.

It's community-run... so... with all the laid-back vibes that come with it.

But the kindness is incredible...

They speak Shangaan there... and since Shangaan and Zulu are pretty much the same...

Huge personal success.

The other guests... will all be young (for me, young is under 30).

All totally inexperienced when it comes to the bush, game drives, and South Africa... wondering where on earth they’ve ended up! We’ll play mom and dad for 48 hours.

How did they get there? For the price they found and a few details they picked up online...

But between the internet and reality, there’s... a difference.

I feel like we’ll be waiting a while before we find out the name 😉

We leave the camp



First grumpy elephant



A little family







And others





With their guests



Under watchful eyes



A bush story

An old elephant...dying of?

Starvation

They have a limited number of tooth regrowths

After the last regrowth, the teeth wear out and no new ones grow...so it will die of starvation

This one is old and in very bad shape (see the sunken temples) Plus, it has an injury to its leg...it doesn’t even put it down and walks with a limp...



Lions attack these elephants with leg injuries...are they the ones responsible?

In any case, lions are lurking around...we’ll look for them and keep looking...

Okay,

Didn’t see any lions in KTP, didn’t see any in Kruger this year either...

A curse?

A group of about half a dozen lionesses grooming each other





Night falls, they get up, stretch, and set off—hunting formation...







Seeing them head out on a hunt like that It totally kills any urge for a game walk!

The story of the bush

The cheetah, whose only strength is speed. All its weaknesses come down to fragility... That’s why it has to eat its prey immediately, often unable to defend it, getting it stolen by anything that passes by... Plus, it only hunts in open terrain where it can use its weapon... and on small animals... Only 1/3 of its hunts are successful. On the other hand, the leopard—opportunistic, versatile, able to stash its prey in a tree—is certainly stealthy, elusive as they say... but it’s common... not common to spot, though!

The prey



The predator

Didn’t see any lions in KTP, didn’t see any in Kruger this year either... A curse? A group of about half a dozen lionesses grooming each other

The lament of a lioness... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpIPr9_U9eg

Well, Michel, you had some great encounters in Kruger. 🙂

Hi Michel,

I’m following you step by step... silently so as not to disturb the animals! 😊 A huge thank you for this amazing travel journal that brightens up all my breakfasts (well, yeah, whatever—everyone’s got their own menu!), with all the magical moments, the stunning photos, the dynamic writing, and that touch of humor hidden in the savanna...

A real treat! Thanks again...

So, we left this very wild game reserve having seen quite a few things... We were cold, lived in the dim light as soon as the sun set, but ate well... Rejuvenated by spending time with the other guests!

Destination for a final day before heading back home...

Sabie Game Reserve. Adjacent to Kruger, one of the most beautiful and renowned reserves, with lodges that sometimes border on the indecent but also more affordable options.

For one night, I let myself be tempted by Umkhumbe... good reviews online...

And there, I got it all wrong. Everything.

In a reserve like Sabie, the "accommodation" is always a bit original, but it’s not the accommodation that matters most. Meals are always very good, served plated, almost always in the boma in the evening. Two game drives—one early morning, the other overlapping sunset. Drives with a tracker and ranger... lasting about 3 hours... but if you hit a good spot, the limit is easily exceeded. A midday walk.

Well, here... The room is fine, nothing more, but fine. We start off badly with the pre-drive "lunch," a meager buffet. It’s an honesty bar that also serves as the main bar. Oh well, moving on.

Drive starts right on time. Jeep packed to the max. Off we go.

Well, let’s just say the ranger had a bit of a rough-around-the-edges style—more trucker than ranger, but okay. She’d been a ranger in Kruger for several years and had only recently arrived.

And?... Nothing... or almost nothing... a few antelopes and that’s it... She searches, but... half-heartedly... the ranger is counting rabbits. Phew, a hyena eyeing an impala—will that save this drive going downhill? Apparently, yes... only the "ranger" cuts it off and chases it away. We find it again... but... but it’s time to head back... And yes, at 7 PM sharp, we’re back in the lodge parking lot.

During the break, I’d taken an interest in the tracker... I’d formed my opinion about the "ranger"... I thought the flashlight handling was a bit random, and her participation purely symbolic. Shangaan? No, from Zimbabwe!

Well, we disembark... not exactly thrilled by this game drive and those smooth-talking comments.

Next up... dinner... A mediocre self-service buffet... Then a quick stop around the fire... but it’s made clear pretty quickly that it’s bedtime... it’s already 8 PM.

The "trackers" are also waiters, cleaners, and probably dishwashers—or rather, the waiters and dishwashers double as "trackers."

The "rangers" run the bar... and they run it well—and loudly.

The next morning... same story. Except it’s me who sees the only elephant, and my neighbor who spots the rhino... The tracker/waiter or waiter/tracker is missing (making beds?). Same comments... We search for lions whose tracks we’d seen, in vain... Maybe just bad luck... But when you don’t see the elephant, seeing the lion? And then, hurry up, we’ve got to get back!

My review... left at reception (with a young girl) won’t be kind. My tip (they’d explained what the envelopes were for) was zero.

At the exit of Sabie, we’re asked how our stay went... We tell them... Response: "They let us down!" They know they have a problem, a big one. A total loss of quality!

Yet on Tripadvisor and other sites, you see good reviews. Why?

Well, we realized that 90% of the guests were complete bush novices. So, for them—as for a Brazilian couple with a guide who was "dragging them around"—a jeep, a driver, three antelopes, and with luck, a lion is a miracle.

In short... Be careful, some game reserves are turning into what I call a tourist trap. The low-cost game reserve! But it’s not just the cost that’s low.

This brings back memories of another private reserve, but on the Timbavati side... Exactly the same experience 😠

For Shindzela, I wonder if you were just unlucky... or if things have changed since then...

The last people who went there came back thrilled... loads of animals with a decent ranger... For the meals, I won’t say much. Still, I’ll keep your concerns about this in the back of my mind.

THE difference is still a different price and a different claim... Unfortunately, the most important part—the game drives—weren’t up to par, and that’s inexcusable.

Sorry.

The difference is still a different price and a different claim... Unfortunately, the most important thing, the game drives weren't up to par, and that remains inexcusable.

Yeah, the price is one thing, but if the game drives are lousy, it’s expensive. When it’s the clients who find the animals in the middle of the road, that says it all.

I can accept a lot from a private reserve as long as the game drives are good

Wow, you're really a dark horse on a guided safari 🤪. Didn’t the same thing happen to you at Elephant Plains? Muriel

If a ranger who didn’t find much, who stopped for 15 minutes on an impala, and who missed an elephant. And the ranger is still there, but I’ve done 3 other really great ones too

Hi Régis,

Personally, we went to Shindzela last year for 2 nights after 5 nights in Kruger, and we loved it. The ranger and his tracker were really motivated when it came to searching for animals and gave great explanations. We saw quite a few animals up close, including a pack of wild dogs with their pups and some lions. We were so enchanted (by this game reserve and by South Africa in general) that we went back this year (a travel journal will follow soon...) with the same feeling about the quality of the drives—and we even saw a bunch more lions this time. The camp has also been renovated, and the rooms have been enlarged. They’re still just as comfortable. The service is still lovely, but if we *really* want to nitpick, the meals might be a little less impressive than the rest... We love the fact that all the participants eat together and that the rangers join us for meals too. It’s a great way to get more info about the animals we saw on the drives and to learn a bit more about the rangers themselves.

Hi Michel,

Thanks for sharing all this information. The great tips—and sometimes the not-so-great ones too ;) Personally, I was inspired by your stories (and others) to plan our first trip to South Africa in 2017, and we went back again this year. That’s how much we loved it! This time, I took notes during the trip, so I should be able to start a travel journal soon. In the meantime, I’ll keep following your adventures. See you soon

Hi there

Thanks for the compliments (they *were* compliments, right?)

I think Régis just had bad luck... tough break, but he’s still right to complain and speak up. It’s helpful so everyone can make their own choice.

So, we’re waiting for the travel journal! !