Day 4 - Evening

Flying southwest over Krueger, we saw paved roads and some small communities, then quite large communities surrounded by cultivated fields and a wet river that seemed to flow from southwest to northeast. The landscape became greener and wetter, but not so much that there are any "lawns." It seems that water is reserved for crop land.

There was one interesting area, a large granite ridge along our route. To the north of the ridge, the land was broken out into large green cultivated fields with few houses. Just on the other side of the ridge the plots were smaller, and brown and each one had a house on the corner. My initial thought was that the river ran on one side and not the other, but then the ridge tapered away and ended and the green fields took over. It would be interesting to know what that was all about, but suddenly the farmland ends and we are flying over the bush again, but greener this time.

Phinda, our next "Camp" has a much nicer air strip. Not only was it paved, there are even a few buildings with restrooms, just in case that was a good idea after the two hour flight. (Karylinn will have to tell the story of her froggy friend; I dare not steal her thunder.)

On the way to the Phinda Mountain Lodge (There are seven lodges on the Phinda property) we met our first Nyala. This is an antelope that is a bit larger than an impala. Here at Phinda they are as ubiquitous as the impala are at Ngala. This pair is a male and female. At birth, both are the lighter brown color. As they come to adulthood, the males get darker and they get horns. We also saw crocs in the watering hole, warthogs and a cape buffalo; all before we got to unpack!

The accomodations at Phinda are even more plush than Ngala. On arriving at the lodge, we were greeted at the edge of the driveway with cool wet towels (warm in the cool evening) and a cocktail or juice. The lodge is another open air affair, with a courtyard surrounded by dining room, gift shop and lounge. Out the far side of the lounge, multiple decks and stairs down to the sinuous path that leads to the individual cabins.

The cabins are large thatch roofed buildings, nicely appointed inside. This is ours, and yes that ceiling is the underside of the thatch, waterproofing, insulation and decoration all in one.
I keep calling them "cabins" and perhaps someone can suggest a better word. But these are really for couples or at least very good friends. The shower is glassed in, there is a glass wall to the private deck from the bath, an outdoor shower and plunge pool also on the deck. The area is fenced so each unit has privacy, but as we found out later, this does not keep the animals away.

We had met our ranger Sibu on the way from the airstrip. I asked whether we chose him or he chose us. It turns out the answer was "yes." At the airstrip, Amanda had listened to the rangers chatting and thought that Sibu sounded like a smart, experienced guy. So she chose our ride to the lodge. On the way, all our family was acting out like our usual selves. (Those who know any of us, start imagining combinations and permutations and you'll be about right) At any rate, Sibu must have thought we'd be entertaining and asked if we'd like him to be our guide for the rest of the week. I think it worked out quite well.

After we had a chance to freshen up, and afternoon tea of course, Sibu and our tracker Joel (pronounced Jo-el) took us in search of lions. There is a full grown giraffe that had died, (they think of natural causes) a few days ago. There had been a male lion feeding on it, so we went to check it out. (I'll spare you the photo of the carcase. It was not really gory, but I can tell you it stunk to high heaven. Apparently, since it is somewhat under cover and Phinda does not seem to have a large hyena population, it has not attracted much attention from scavengers.)

When we arrived, there was no sign of the male, but there was a lioness laying in the grass near the carcase. We sat for quite a while just watching her. Sibu let others know and another Land Rover or two showed up, watched a while and left. Still we waited. After a bit, she got up and was on the move. Again, I was surprised that she seemed unperturbed by our presence. Here, she turned and looked at us, but she didn't run away, just stuck to her mission.

She was able to take a fairly direct route. We were forced to detour around some fairly dense thickets, but eventually we found her near four cubs. She arrived, plopped herself down, and one of the cubs walked over and barfed right in front of her. "Hey look mom, I ate too much." A bit later and they all lay down for this family portrait.

It turned out that there was another kill just behind them in the bushes. We could never see it, but one of the other vehicles said it was a warthog. We sat and watched for quite a while. Mom mostly lay still, but the cubs were back and forth, playing, rolling around, being kids. Eventually we needed to leave. Phinda has a strict rule that there can be only three vehicles at a sighting and we needed to give others their turn. (I presume this is mostly for the animals benefit, but I think it benefits us too. Some of the great feeling of such a place comes from being alone, not 5th in a line of cars.)

After we left, Sibu took us up to the top of "Pride Rock." Ok, that's not what he called it, it has another name that I can't remember that is something like "place of the chiefs" in the Zulu language. But look at this place! Giant granite outcrop, commanding view of the area, there have been lions or leopards spotted there. I think "Pride Rock" is a great name. (Unless you have not seen the Disney movie or the Broadway show, then you have no idea what I am talking about.)


Never the less, the view was spectacular, the sunset gorgeous and even those of our group with a fear of heights just had to go and take a look.




After sunset, we took the usual night drive back towards the lodge. As we travel, Sibu suddently stops in the road. Joel has seen a glint of eyes up a side road. Carefully backing up, Sibu turns right, down a short slope through what looks like a small dry creek bed and through an archway of brush. Truly this is the "road less traveled" and we are all alert for more shining eyes in the darkness. Alas, there are none. The narrow track opens into a small clearing, and Sibu turns around. There is not enough room to turn in one go, so he backs and fills but a hiss and a rumble tells us we have a flat tire. Well, we have a spare . . . right? Uhhh, no. They had a flat earlier in the day, and Phinda is large and the repair shops are far away. We've gone out without a spare.

Ok, it's dark, not twilight, full dark, no spare and . . . what was that part about staying in the vehicle so we don't look like prey? Sibu gets on the radio and tells someone or other that "we are on Blahdeblah north of MBleh and could they please . . .." Hold on, you mean this crummy little dirt track has a name?!? "Oh Sure. You can drop me down anywhere in this place, I'll know immediately where I am." Sure enough, within about 10 minutes another Land Rover showed up, some of us held the lights while the tire was changed and we were on our way.

Dinner in the boma and I am determined that I will record the day's experience and write to the blog. After all, I have a private deck, some lovely Amarula in the minibar (Ngala had a complementary decanter of sherry, at Phinda it's whatever you want) and . . . and . . . gosh! sorry. It's 9:30 and I'm crawling under the duvet, barely able to keep my eyes open. Fortunately, the wake up call is not until 6:00 here. WooHoo! an extra half hour!