Idube to Bateleur

On Saturday morning, we took our last game drive at Idube. (Turnover at the camps is built around late morning departures for departing guests, and early-mid afternoon arrivals for new guests.)  We rounded the bend out of the Lodge’s driveway to find the wild dog pack waiting on the road leading to the dam.  Other groups about 5km to the west were tracking the pack, so we followed to keep the pack in view. We frolicked through the bush for about 20 minutes while the other groups did a “Ferrari safari,” racing to the site before the dogs moved on.

FJ & Mike took another swing by the Impala carcass, whose belly was still strangely intact.

A hippo was actually out of the water at one of the smaller dams – although not for long. Hippos have very sensitive skin, so leave the water at night to eat, and take cover in the water by day.  This waterhole wasn’t quite deep enough for full submersion.

We stopped for coffee on a gorgeous granite outcropping. The weather was still very chilly, as you can see by our attire. Fortunately, we were able to supplement our wardrobes with cold weather gear from the gift shop.

Ken and I were below the coffee klatch, photographing geology, when we were joined by a very long snake.

FJ is not fond of snakes, and didn’t recognize this one. He and Mike quickly packed up the coffee gear so we could make our escape.  Back at camp, we learned that this beauty is a Cape File snake, a very successful, non-venomous hunter, who preys on other snakes and small vertebrates.  (I liked it a lot!)

We enjoyed the antics of a group of giraffes breakfasting on the new buds of Bushwillow trees. The big male had things other than breakfast on his mind.

And then we had one last look at Tsaya and her cubs. This time, the leopards were all perched in trees, taking refuge from an old male lion down below. This male was the father of the two orphaned female lionesses we had seen the day before. When the hostile males attacked his pride, this male had run away – and was now doomed to a slow decline and death with no one to help him hunt. He was hanging out here in hopes of stealing prey that Tsaya had stashed for her cubs.

One cub was above Tsaya in the same tree, while the other was hanging out in a tree with smaller branches a couple hundred yards away.  Tsaya seemed relatively unconcerned by the lion’s proximity, but the cubs looked pretty annoyed by the whole affair. 

We also got to say goodbye to the elephant matriarch and her little herd of mothers and calves.

After breakfast, we loaded our gear into a large van, said goodbye to the Idube crew, said hello to our driver, Tommy, and headed out to Bateleur, in the Timbavati Reserve, passing the wild dog puppies sound asleep by the side of the road on our way out.  Although Bateleur is more or less directly north of Idube, we had to take a long circular route since the land between is all private game reserves.

Exiting Sabi Sands, we passed many farms and small towns as we headed north.

We stopped for a potty break at the Thulamashe shopping center – a somewhat jarring re-entry into the world of suburban commerce – but the water wasn’t working, so no toilets were available. (The images below are from the shopping center’s website.)

The road surfaces varied from very rough dirt, to very rough asphalt, to a long stretch of good highway as we approached Timbavati and its sister reserve, Klaserie.

We passed ~ dozen private reserves, large and small, between Sabi Sands and Timbavati. All are fenced, and I was intrigued by the variety of fencing strategies.  Kapama (a single owner reserve) had small wire fences. Klaserie had thick wooden poles laid horizontally between heavy metal supports.  Several reserves had low-ish wire fences with concertina wire on top. The fences at Sabi Sands (below) are 10-12 feet high, fully electrified and topped with inward facing hot wires to deter poachers. Timbavati is similar. Sabi has added a special low fence next to the electrified one to keep Pangolins from electrocuting themselves.  Both reserves also have anti-poaching teams, with dogs trained to sniff bags and track poachers, on prominent display at the Timbavati entry gate. 

Like Sabi Sands, the Timbavati Reserve was created when a group of landowners decided to pool their individual farms to create a wilderness reserve. The Timbavati Association was created in 1956, has 50 members, 40 lodges and covers about 132,000 acres. Fences between Timbavati and Kruger were removed in 1993.   The terrain is similar to Sabi Sands, with Mopane trees added to the mix of Marula and Bushwillow varieties we saw in the south.

Bateleur covers about 32,000 acres within Timbavati, with sharing agreements similar to Sabi Sands.  Satellite and map views of Bateleur’s traversing areas are below.

Bateleur, which means “tight-rope walker” in French, is named after the Bateleur Eagle, whose short tail makes it balance like a “bateleur” in the air. 

After passing through the entry gate, the landscape on the left looked exceptionally battered for the first few kilometers.  We learned that this property had been held separately from the reserve by an owner who didn’t want to participate, kept elephants fenced in, and didn’t manage the land well. His heirs recently joined the property owner’s association and took down the fences, which should allow the land to recover.

Three bull elephants were hanging out on the road as we neared the turnoff to Bateleur, and Tommy was not happy. We sat for a while waiting to see if they would move – not. Tommy tired calling then lodge, but there was no cell service.  He backed up as the ellies approached the vehicle, then finally drove the van off road in a wide arc to avoid them – I can’t imagine what those bumps did to his suspension.

Bateleur is a small camp, serving up to 16 guests in seven thatched-roof tents.  This camp  has a very sustainable orientation, including minimal-impact buildings, on-site solar power, no plastic bottles and a cuisine featuring home-grown vegetables.  No trees were removed during construction, and several hundred trees were planted, so the buildings blend into the environmental seamlessly. The owner, a skilled field tracker, has been involved in conservation since the 1990s, and today trains rangers all over Africa in counter-poaching measures.  Rob told us that the trackers here are among the best in the business, which our experience confirmed.

On arrival, we were greeted by the manager, Bill, our fabulous guide, Temba, and our very entertaining tracker Simba (whose real name is also Themba, but two Tembas is too confusing so Themba the Younger was re-named). After checking in, we sat down to a “high tea” of chicken and beef sliders, quiche and chocolate torte, created by excellent Chef Everett.

After high tea, we set out on the afternoon game drive – a very cold and windy drive. Fortunately, there were blankets.

We immediately encountered elephants munching on thorn trees. This photo sequence will give you an idea of how those powerful  trunks take down branches.

Temba pointed out this lovely old Nyalaberry (because Nyala love its berries) a.k.a Mashatu tree (mashatu = python, because Rock Pythons love the trees’ twisty innards). I fell in love with these majestic giants. Temba showed us a picture he took some time back of a very large Rock Python hanging out in this very tree. Sadly, although I closely checked out every Mashatu tree we passed for the rest of the trip, we never got to see one in the wild. However, I visited with one at our local Denver zoo a few years back, so you can see my pix of this 15 foot+ charmer below. 

We came across a solitary male lion taking his ease among the shrubs. He is one of a coalition of five boys (brothers) who have been systematically taking over all of the lion prides in the area.

Shortly after, as dusk approached, we came across one of the lion prides feeding on a freshly killed buffalo. There were eleven lions present, including an adult male, 2 subadult males, 3 adult females and a number of juveniles. (These photos were taken by Matt and me with two different cameras, which explains the lighting differences.)

Returning to camp, we enjoyed a very delicious dinner and then took hot water bottles to bed.