We got up before dawn so that we could go on an early morning game drive, to see the animals before they hide from the heat of the sun.
the experience was so totally amazing - that it made up for the rude hour that our alarm clocks went off
more on what we saw soon
Here is the complete story:
The alarm on my mobile phone went off at the rude hour of 4am. We spent the next hour bleary eyed getting ready for an experience of a lifetime. An early morning game drive.
We were lucky to be blessed with 2 game rangers, Shani and BJ (BJ was new and was in training). Shani informed us that one of the rangers earlier on had spotted a herd of buffalo on the move, and that we were going to track them and see if we could find them. I was really excited about this because the buffalo was the only member of Africa’s big 5 that I had not yet seen (Africa’s big 5 consist of Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino & Buffalo).
On our way while headed towards the general area where the buffalo had been sighted earlier, we got right up close to giraffe, zebra and some impala. But what was the most incredible was getting right up close to a small herd of rhino and then right up close to a mother rhino and her 5 week old baby.
We drove right past the herd of buffalo a few times, without even a sign of them. It was not until another game drive vehicle informed Shani over the short wave radio where they were. We had driven right past them not even 5 minutes earlier. We turned around and headed back, we then went down another track (following at a slight distance from the other vehicle). This track took us into the middle of a large field of buffalo grass (Shani said that it gets it’s name because the buffalo are very fond of this grass) The grass was very long and while sitting still in the now stopped vehicle, we could hear rustling and every now and then see a little movement in the grass.
Then suddenly right in front of us (in between the two game drive vehicles) a buffalo and her calf came out of the grass and crossed the track into the grass on the other side (she almost disappeared again in the grass). We were then aware that we were actually right in the middle of a small herd that were on the move. We sat and watched them while Shani told us more about these incredibly large animals. I was totally amazed at the size of their heads and their helmets (the horn covering on their head).
After such incredible experiences of seeing so many of Africa’s wild animals up so close, I felt that the rude hour in which we woke was justified, and I decided to forgive my mobile phone alarm clock.
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