South African Safari Part 2 : Game Drive

In hopes of seeing the Big Five we went on an all day game drive.  The phrase Big Five was coined by white hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot.  The term is still used in most tourist and wildlife guides that discuss African safaris.  The collection consists of the lion, African elephant, Cape Buffalo, leopard and rhinoceros.  The Big Five were chosen for the difficulty in hunting and the degree of danger involved, rather than their size.

We arranged our Game Drive with Kololo.  They provided the vehicle and the guide.  The vehicle was a tri-level (each row was a different height) all-terrain vehicle which was not totally enclosed.  We were told that the animals are accustomed to the presence of the vehicle, but to keep our arms and hands inside; no standing up or leaning out lest we become lunch.  The property (game reserve) we actually went on is called Welgevonden and is huge.  We signed our release of liability; if a lion eats you, it's not their fault.  

We drove through the gates and Gregg immediately spotted a white rhino grazing.  He was a big bull and completely indifferent to us.  We saw evidence of elephants, lions, and cape buffalo, but no actual sightings.   


However, we did see many things we have never seen before out in nature including a serval cat, antelopes - reedbuck, red hartebeest, waterbuck, klipspringer, lots of zebras and many great birds including the kingfisher, hammerhead bird, brown snake eagle and the secretary bird.  

And since we didn't see all that we hoped to, we signed up for another game drive.  This time we saw some amazing new things:  a hippo in the water, a cape buffalo, and vervet monkeys.  The most amazing part of this day was getting to watch from 10 yards away a cheetah and her 3 cubs feasting on an impala she had just killed .  She dragged it under a tree in the shade to hide it from other predators.  The cubs were big enough to eat meat and to be the lookout while she ate.  They were totally indifferent to our presence.  

And, since we did not see ALL the Big Five...you guessed it, this means that we MUST go on another safari.  Next time we are thinking about the Serengeti or Kruger Park.