Day 7 - Pilanesberg National Park

July 4, 2019

The alarm clock goes off at 6:45 AM.

Yawn.

We drag ourselves out of bed, it's still pitch dark outside.

Bundled up, we walk to the restaurant building. It's cold!

Looking at the phone, it's not just cold, it's below freezing!

We have a hearty breakfast - there are so many delicious things to eat. We put on extra warm clothes, hood up, scarf around our neck and face, my husband even has gloves (jealous!) and we also take the rain jackets as wind protection. Shortly after, we sit in the game drive vehicle, bundled up, with the fleece blankets pulled up to our necks. I don't know how I'm going to operate the camera now.

At exactly 8 AM, we start. Even in the first few meters, the icy wind whips our faces so that we can hardly see. Oh dear, this could be something.

Today we have a different driver. Right after entering the park, he leaves the paved "main road" and takes the gravel and mud tracks up the mountain to another part of the park. All other game drive vehicles stay on the paved road. Our driver turns out to be a lion "hunter". He really wants to find lions, he listens to the two-way radio and stops multiple times to proudly show us lion tracks on the dusty ground. Okay, where are the lions!? We drive for almost 45 minutes - the warming sun slowly appears in the sky - without seeing anything. The landscape is very beautiful - unfortunately, no animals in sight.

In the distance, we see zebras and giraffes, some antelopes cross our path, but our driver ignores them and continues to drive deeper into the park in search of lions. Even when a passenger asks to stop for the giraffes, he only replies:

"We are looking for 'big cats'! Giraffes are boring..."

Well, we've had enough giraffes yesterday, so it doesn't bother us now.

After an hour, we finally see two young rhinos right next to the road. Cool, we haven't seen them yet.

After an extensive photo session, the two young bulls get restless and trot past us across the road and disappear into the thicket.

Next stop: an enclosed area where we take a short break. There is a second breakfast with coffee, tea, soft drinks, and snacks and muffins. There is an observation platform at the small lake. Unfortunately, we don't see anything except small birds flying around their hanging nests. Too bad.

After the break, we continue.

The way back to the lodge doesn't offer many animal sightings for this morning.

Off the road, we see a herd of wildebeests, giraffes in the distance, a few antelopes, and at the dried-up lake shore, we see a well-fed jackal. It seems to have had a feast, with a bloody snout, it lies fully satiated in the sun and sleeps.

A small plane buzzes in the sky. Our guide explains that they are researchers counting the rhino population.

By 11 AM, we are back at the lodge.

We did not see any lions or other "big cats." But it's already pleasant again with a temperature of around 20 degrees.

After lunch, we want to drive through the park in our car and try our luck ourselves. Maybe we'll see something interesting without the big game drive vehicles and their radios.

Before that, we book our game drive for tomorrow (however, the 3 PM one again, not the morning drive), get in our jeep, armed with a map, and set off.

It's so exciting!!!

As on our first game drive, we first drive on the paved main road towards Mankwe Dam. Zebras are already standing by the roadside and willingly pose for photos.

A little further, there are two elephants standing next to the road. After taking several photos, we continue to the next herd of zebras.

After taking some photos, we turn onto Thswene Road, above Mankwe Dam, and immediately turn right into the Hippo Loop, where we saw the cheetah yesterday.

Today, there is no cheetah in sight, but we see a giraffe making strange contortions with its neck and head. At first, we think it may have swallowed something and is trying to get it out by moving its head upwards, but when we get closer, we see that it has something in its mouth.

Thanks to my mega zoom lens, we can also see that it's an antelope horn. Yuck, I always thought giraffes were vegetarians!?

Later, we learn from our game drive guide that giraffes do this more often when they need to compensate for a lack of amino acids.

After the Hippo Loop, we go back on Thswene Road.

However, we don't get very far because after a curve, we encounter a special obstacle on the road:

A huge elephant is strolling along the middle of the road, not at all impressed by the cars behind and in front of it. Like the car in front of us, we drive far to the left side of the road to let the elephant pass. As he completely ignores the car in front of us, he suddenly turns in our direction, looks through the windshield and driver's window as he walks past us. We dare not breathe, we are very quiet and hope the elephant moves on. After what feels like endless seconds, he continues on his way, trotting along the road.

Phew... the kids are speechless and totally excited!

Wow, we've never been so close to a wild elephant before (and actually don't want to be anymore).

We turn around and drive back to Tlou Dam. Actually, we want to go further, but it's already 5 PM and we can't estimate how long it will take us to get there as the gate closes at 6 PM.

Therefore, we drive past Makorwane Dam and decide to take the "main road" back to the lodge.

When we arrive about 2 km before the gate, two young elephant bulls suddenly rush out of the bushes onto the road. We have to brake sharply and move to the side. The cars behind us also stop. The two young bulls tear branches from the trees and seem to threaten each other with them. The whole thing intensifies when a female elephant with her herd joins in. We are very uneasy about the whole situation. The elephants are very excited, trumpeting loudly and gesturing aggressively towards each other. From behind, we see a vehicle with a trailer approaching. There are 5 park workers in the car and gardening tools on the trailer. They wait next to us for a while and observe the elephants. When they briefly clear the road somewhat, the driver hits the gas.

We hold our breath because it seems like a very foolish idea. And indeed, it is. The car doesn't get far, the female elephant immediately attacks it!

Trumpeting loudly with flapping ears and a raised tail, she charges toward the car. The occupants are terrified. They shift into reverse and drive around the curve so fast that they almost end up in the ditch with the trailer. The female elephant kicks the radiator twice with her front leg, then turns around and looks at us.

My husband doesn't hesitate, puts the car in reverse, and we quickly leave our "pole position" and queue up about 10 cars further back.

The whole spectacle lasts almost 30 minutes, it's already past 6 PM - official park closing time. We hear the large game drive transporters coming from behind. A vehicle stops next to us and asks what's going on. We briefly explain the situation, then the driver radios something. Shortly after, a convoy of game drive vehicles drives to the agitated elephants. We hear the occupants yelling loudly and apparently pounding on the car to drive the elephants off the road. That actually seems to work. At 6:30 PM, traffic starts moving again, and we quickly drive out of the park, it's almost dark by now.

However, the elephants are by no means gone! They are standing in a row next to the road in the thickets, "rumbling," we see their pairs of eyes in the dark. Wow, that's creepy.

Fortunately, this didn't happen to us yesterday.

If we had had an elephant blocking the road this morning, we would have fled immediately.