Sabi Sand -- Leaping Leopards, Playful Elephants, and Lions on the Move

Sabi Sand was our second stop on a January road trip to South Africa. I wanted to visit Sabi Sand because it’s renowned for leopards, the only one of the “Big Five” that we had not yet seen in the wild. Guides elsewhere would say, “Oh, we saw a leopard the other day,” though all acknowledged that leopards are very elusive and seeing them is largely a matter of luck. But a woman I met last year had told me, "Sabi Sand has leopards on tap.” It definitely lived up to its billing. 

The leopards are all well known to the guides and trackers, who refer to them by name. Most of the pictures here, including this one, are of Tlangisa, which means the playful one, and her two daughters, who were about 10- or 11-months old when we were there.

Leaping leopards! The sisters play a bit of leap frog.Too bad I wasn't shooting video!

We stayed at the very lovely Inyati Private Game Reserve, one of about twenty lodges in the 65,000 Sabi Sand Game Reserve (http://www.sabisand.co.za/about-ssw.html), adjacent to Kruger National Park. The boundary between Sabi and Kruger is unfenced, making one very large area in which animals can range freely. 

View of the Sand River from Inyati. We frequently spotted animals by the river.

But why are leopards relatively easier to find in the Sabi Sand area than elsewhere? Our Inyati guide, Matt, explained that Sabi Sand was the first private reserve in South Africa dedicated to wildlife conservation and tourism. Animals have not been hunted there since its founding in 1934 and thus they don’t see humans as dangerous. The leopards, and the lions as well, basically just ignore you, as long as you stay seated in the game vehicle. 

Tracker Nelson and guide Matt, just about sundown. 

Inyati also differed from other places we have visited in that we had a tracker, Nelson, as well as a guide, on each of the game drives. Nelson sat at the front of the game vehicle to spot tracks and other evidence of the animal's locations. From time to time he would jump down and walk through the bush, and by so doing he and Matt found leopards and rhinos, which also can be very shy. 

Nelson performs impromptu trail maintenance from his seat at the front of the game vehicle. The tree was most likely knocked down by elephants. 

We saw the other big five animals, elephants, cape buffalo, and lions too. The elephant sightings were particularly good, and even though we have seen elephants frequently on our other trips, they remain a treat as their behavior is always fun to watch. Check out the youngsters at play in this video (Sorry friends with an Ipad or some tablets, but this won't display properly. Try viewing it at http://youtu.be/ec5JR429JqU ). 

This cape buffalo's frequent companion is an oxpecker,
which forages insects like ticks that live on the buffalo's hide. 

Most times when you spot lions, in the heat of the day, they are just lying around, sleeping off a previous meal. When the game vehicle drives up, they will lift their heads, just to check things out and make sure the vehicle isn't a threat, before returning to sleep. 

The male lion at the forefront of this pride keeps changing positions.
It seems he just can't get comfortable in the day's heat. 

Here's another photo of a lion, sleeping it off with his leg in the air.
Check out the closeup of his leg muscles at right.

A male lion on the move, just after dusk. 

But on one afternoon game drive, just as it was getting dark, the call came over the game vehicle radio that nearby, a group of male lions were on the move. We raced over to check it out, and after driving through some pretty thick bush, we got great views of the males.  

Birdwatching

I’ve never been much into birdwatching, but my time here is changing that, thanks to the many beautiful birds that Rishi and I have seen during our travels in Botswana and South Africa, as well as right here in Gaborone. When I return home, birdwatching may come along as a new hobby.

To understand the richness of birdlife here, consider that the Southern African region (area south of the Zambezi and Kunene rivers and encompassing South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and part of Mozambique, plus offshore waters within 200 nautical miles) has a species list greater than 900 species. By way of comparison, the American Birding Association species list for the 49 continental US states and Canada contains 987 species, but in an area about five times larger.   

Without further ado, the photos below highlight some of the birds we’ve seen.  

Lilac Breasted Roller -- the national bird of Botswana, but commonly seen throughout the region. Madikwe Game Reserve,  South Africa, August 2014.

I took the video and the next four photos below at Motswiri Private Safari Lodge in Madikwe Game Reserve. The day was blazingly hot, so in between our morning and evening game drives, I spent the midday hours alternately dipping in the pool, reading in the shade under the poolside umbrellas, and watching birds. Several Southern Masked Weavers, so called because of the nests they literally weave from bits of grasses and twigs, were nesting in the tree next to the pool. These beautiful yellow and black birds are an everyday sight in Gaborone, but at Motswiri I was able to get very close to them. The video quality isn't great, but shows what the nests look like (sorry friends, this requires flash, so it won't display on an Ipad or some tablets). 

Southern Masked Weaver video, Motswiri Private Safari Lodge,
Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa, February 2015. 

Southern Masked Weaver. Motswiri Private Safari Lodge, Madikwe Game Reserve, 
South Africa, February, 2015.

Blue Waxbill, just like me, using the pool to cool themselves on such a hot day. Motswiri Private Safari Lodge, Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa, February 2015.

Cape Glossy Starling. Poolside at Motswiri Private Safari Lodge,
Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa, February 2015. 

Grey Lourie, popularly know as the Grey Go Away because of its ka-waaaay call. Motswiri Private Safari Lodge, Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa, February 2015.

European Bee-eater. Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa, February 2015. 

Red-billed Oxpecker, foraging for parasites on a Cape Buffalo.
Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa, January 2015.

Egyptian Geese. Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden,
 Cape Town, South Africa, September 2014.

Helmeted Guineafowl (top) and Cape Francolin (bottom)  -- two studies in feather patterns.
Both are frequently seen in the bush, but these photos are from Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town, South Africa, September 2014.

Yellow Hornbill. Entabeni Nature Conservancy, South Africa, January 2015. 

Giant Kingfisher, perched underneath Kingfisher Lodge (where else?), 
Entabeni Safari Conservancy, South Africa, January 2015.

Ostrich. Entabeni Safari Conservancy, Limpopo, South Africa, January 2015.

Saddlebilled Stork, standing in the Sand River. Sabi Sand Reserve, South Africa, January 2015. 

Jackass Penguin and chick.
Betty’s Bay,Western Cape, South Africa, September 2014. 

Jackass Penguins. Betty’s Bay, 
Western Cape, South Africa, September 2014. 

Sources: 

American Birding Association, http://listing.aba.org/aba-checklist/

Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_area

Sinclair, Hockey, and Tarboton, Sasol Birds of Southern Africa, second Edition, Struick Publishers, Cape Town, 1998.

Driving in Botswana, on the other side of the road

In Botswana and South Africa, as in most places Commonwealth countries, cars keep to the left-hand side of the road. Many of my friends have asked whether I found it difficult to drive on the left after a lifetime of right-hand traffic. The answer is that at first it can be a bit daunting and one can find oneself driving up the wrong side of the road! But having previously driven in Australia and New Zealand, I didn’t find it particularly difficult to get it right (I mean left) upon my arrival here. 

Rishi and I have two vehicles, a white Ford Mondeo for city driving and a Mitsubishi Pajero 4x4, basically a truck. I’m aghast that we own such a fuel-inefficient vehicle, but it’s great for travelling over the corrugated, badly rutted roads we’ve encountered on some of our visits to safari camps. 

After a few months here, I returned to the U.S. for five weeks at the end of last year and I will be returning there again in March. This switching between left-hand and right-hand traffic every few months just requires a bit more concentration and taking care to look in both directions, probably a good idea in any case.

What happened to my steering wheel?

The biggest issue for me now is a lingering tendency to open the wrong door, at which point I briefly wonder where the steering wheel has gone. Another problem is turning on the windshield wipers when I mean to signal a turn. The driver behind me is probably cursing the lousy driver who isn’t using her directionals. This confusion is compounded by the Ford having the wipers and signals in the positions you would find in a U.S. car.

Most streets are unsigned, but fortunately that's
not the case at this well-marked intersection.

As for the general driving experience, traffic in Botswana is mostly orderly, but drivers tend to have some bad habits, many of which I see in the U.S. as well, though they seem more prevalent here. For example, drivers will pass at high speed and cut you off, only to brake hard and wait at the upcoming red light as you catch right up with them. When a traffic light turns red it evidently means, “only two more cars can go through, or maybe three if you hurry.” If I stopped on a yellow light, I'm certain I would be rear-ended. 

Rush hour traffic in Gaborone. 

Taxi drivers act like they always have the right of way. They routinely run stop signs and red lights. The prudent driver is advised to always yield to a taxi. 

One expat posted on Facebook that the traffic lights here are very badly timed. I beg to differ; they are not timed at all! As if in recognition of this fact, traffic officers are posted at the major intersections during rush hour and do their best to keep things moving.

People sometimes refer to traffic lights as robots, a common South African parlance. If the robots at an intersection are out of service, a fairly frequent occurrence, they don't fail to flashing red, but instead go completely dark. In this case, the intersection should be treated as a 4-way stop, assuming that drivers realize/notice the signal is dark, which can be tricky especially at night. Despite these problems, fender benders are surprisingly rare.

The main roads are quite good, but the side streets are usually a mess, with giant car-swallowing pot holes. Speed bumps – we got ‘em everywhere. For the Ford, these obstacles are serious business, but the Mitsubishi rolls right over this stuff, no problem. 

Speeds are controlled on the side roads by a combination of enormous potholes and speed bumps.

No discussion of traffic here would be complete without mentioning the cattle that roam about. One doesn’t see them very often in the center of town, but on side streets or toward the outskirts of the city, we see cows, donkeys, goats, and the occasional horse. 

Cattle were regular passersby on the road where we lived for our first three months, as seen in this picture from our balcony. 

Usually animals stay to the side of the road, but not always. If the car in front of you has its flashers on, that generally means "livestock ahead."

Some of these cows are bigger than the cars!

Cape Town and Environs Part 1 — Flowers and Views

Rishi and I spent September 21 through 28 in and around Cape Town, South Africa, a trip that showed us why the Mother City, as it’s known to South Africans, frequently appears on lists of the world’s most beautiful places. We got a great taste of what the area has to offer — too much for a single blog entry — so I've broken this into parts:
Part 1 — Flowers and Views (this entry)
Part 2 — District Six, Townships, and Robben Island
Part 3 — Ancient Rock Art
Part 4 — Whales and Wine

U.S. friends, if you are thinking of visiting Southern Africa, I highly recommend including some time in the Cape Town area on your itinerary. Maybe we can rendezvous with you because I certainly wouldn't mind going there again. 

The view of Cape Town from the Robben Island ferry, with Table Mountain at the left and Signal hill at the right, is lovely, even on a cloudy day.  

After flying from Gaborone to Johannesburg and then on to Cape Town, we picked up our rental car and drove straight to the West Coast, which in this case is the Atlantic Coast, where we would spend our first few days searching for South Africa’s renowned August and September spring wildflower display. 

Source: http://www.bcb.uwc.ac.za/inforeep/capeproject.htm

The Western Cape is home to the Cape Floristic Kingdom, which among the six defined global floristic kingdoms is the smallest in size at only 78,555 sq km, about the size of South Carolina. Despite its small size — it only takes up the southeastern edge of South Africa — the Cape Floristic Kingdom contains more than 9,000 plant species, of which about 68% are endemic. Unfortunately, it’s also been listed as a “biodiversity hotspot,” meaning that its significant biodiversity is under threat from humans. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Floristic_Region, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity_hotspot.)

During the trip, I learned that plants originating in the Western Cape include birds of paradise, gerbera daisies, gladiolus, calla lilies, clivia, pelargonium, and protea, not to mention a huge array of ericas (heathers), succulents, and ice plants. We knew we were a little late for the peak of the flowers and also didn’t travel quite as far north as Namaqualand, the area which is supposed to be literally blanketed with flowers in August. Nonetheless, we enjoyed beautiful scenery and definitely saw lots of flowers as our pictures attest.

This collage highlights a few examples of the many plants originating in the Cape Floristic Kingdom. King protea (lower right), the  largest of the genus protea, is South Africa's national flower. 

We spent the first night, Friday, in Langebaan, a town along a beautiful inlet. En route there, we also took a quick drive though the West Coast National Park, though twilight kept us from lingering. Saturday, continuing northward, we spent the morning driving along the coast to Paternoster before heading inland to Citrusdal, where we spent the next couple of nights. Citrusdal is the heart of South Africa’s orange growing region, so the smell of orange blossoms fills the air, especially in the evenings.  

Paternoster's beautiful beach with whitewashed homes.

Citrusdal sits at the foot of the Cedarburg mountains, which provide
 a beautiful backdrop to the orange-tree filled valley.

Sunday saw us driving northward again, en route to Clanwilliam, a small agricultural town, and then over a pass through the mountains to a spot called Sevilla, where we spent the afternoon walking along a trail that accesses rock paintings created by San bushmen, the area’s original inhabitants. See http://rjabroad.blogspot.com/2014/10/ancient-rock-art-in-south-africa.html.

Monday it was on to Cape Town, about a two hour drive south. We arrived at our hotel at midday, and the first priority was taking the cable car up Table Mountain. The weather was partly cloudy and cool, but as the forecast for the next few days called for worsening clouds and rain, we knew this might be our best chance to see Table Mountain without the blanket of clouds, known as the table cloth, which frequently comes in from the sea and cloaks the mountain.  

The cable car ride to the top of Table Mountain is special in its own right, but the views from atop the mountain are the real draw, even on a cloudy day. 

We spent a full day Tuesday touring historic sites from South Africa’s apartheid era. See http://rjabroad.blogspot.com/2014/10/cape-town-and-environs-part-2-district.html.

Over our last two days in Cape Town, we continued our exploration of the natural beauty of the Cape Peninsula. We spent one day driving along the Atlantic coast, headed south on the peninsula that looks like a hooked finger extending south from Cape Town. At the end of the peninsula is the Cape Point Nature Preserve. 

At Cape Point Nature reserve, we visited the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point, respectively the southwestern most and southeastern most points on the peninsula. We hiked up to the lighthouse at Cape Point to enjoy the views. Contrary to popular opinion, this is not the southern most point on the African continent, which is in fact at Cape Agulhas, about three hours drive southeast from Cape Town. 

Wildflowers in the Cape Point Nature Reserve.

On the return trip, we drove along the other side of the peninsula, beside the Indian Ocean coastline. We stopped for lunch and wine tasting at Groot Costantia, one of the oldest wineries in Africa. 

Finally, on our last day in Cape Town, we capped off our stay there with a visit to the world renowned

Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens, with its magnificent setting nestled against the back of Table Mountain. We took a fabulous two-hour walk through the garden's highlights with a volunteer docent who told us that the wildflowers were are at their peak.

Rishi with wildflowers at Kirstenbosch.

This bird, a Cape Francolin I think, also seems to be admiring the wildflowers. 

Photos from the Kirstenbosch protea garden show a selection of the many protea types we saw there. 

Kirstenbosch has a large collection of cycads, a plant type that
dates back to the Jurassic era and is little changed since that time. 

Egyptian geese at Kirstenbosch. 

For the blog on our last two days in the area, visiting the Whale Coast and Franschhoek, see http://rjabroad.blogspot.com/2014/10/cape-town-and-environs-part-4-whales.html.