Day 15. Saturday, 1st September
Callum spends his last night in the caravan with us. Whilst Dave and Steph pack up, ready for their trip to Jo’burg, we go to Sunset Dam at 6am where we enjoy a still and very clear sunrise.
If one wants to truly lose yourself then I would suggest sitting at this place just observing the amazing activity that goes on as the bushveld awakens. Herewith just a selection of photographs that I took during the first two hours.
At 7am Dave and Steph arrive with trailer in tow and we pass Callum over to them through the window. Little did we know at the time but this same window was to shortly provide a lot more excitement.
With the light deteriorating for
At 7am Dave and Steph arrive with trailer in tow and we pass Callum over to them through the window. Little did we know at the time but this same window was to shortly provide a lot more excitement.
With the light deteriorating for photography we drive up the Sabie river road (H4-1). At the Ntwatimhiri causeway loop we come across a large male lion plodding steadily upstream atop the river bank. But he is largely obscured by bush so we turn around and drift down the road. Without David’s keen eyes we see little until we reach the scene of Mary’s leopard triumph on Monday – 1/2Km from the Lullaby rocks.
We note a very large troop of baboons coming up the road towards us led by a resolute big male. He passes by Mary’s door in the front passenger seat and all is going well until Renette in the back emits a scream. I look back to the shocking sight of this huge baboon INSIDE the Quantum right next to Renette leisurely going through the items on the seat looking for food. The nearest weapon I have is water bottle which I throw at him but he ignores me and nonchalantly climbs into the back where he goes through our belongings. Meanwhile Renette has had to close the window through which he entered (Callum’s window) because another baboon wants to climb in too. That means that our intruder is trapped together with us. Renette now frantically but to no avail tries to open the side door to get him out but it is too stiff. The baboon then climbs forward and sits passenger-like in the row of seats behind Renette who has by now armed herself with a hand broom. She brandishes this at him and he stands up leaning forward and snarling with those massive canine teeth centimetres from Renette. After a super effort Renette at last gets the door open and our visitor coolly leaves followed by a thwack on his rear end from the hand broom. This all sounds rather amusing but I can assure you that these huge and arrogant baboons are no laughing matter especially for Renette who had him up really close. These animals put leopards to flight and are not to be trifled with. He leaves behind a strange unique smell which is not unpleasant – maybe from some fruit he has been eating. In all my sixty years of coming to Kruger I have never experienced this – even in the days when baboons routinely rode on cars. Our immediate thought is to thank heavens Callum was no longer with us as this horrifying experience would have left very deep scars on his mind. I resolve to carry a pepper spray canister from now on.
Meanwhile another troop of baboons has the run of Lower Sabie camp and are so streetwise that they can unzip Mary’s tent. One surprises her while she is having her siesta and she wakens to find she has company. Again at lunch time there is a thud outside and venturing out I find a large baboon has rifled through the rubbish bin and then had a good go at moving our portable freezer – something he obviously knew all about. I fear there is going to shortly be a serious incident with these baboons and I hope Sanparks get sued for their negligence. This kid’s glove treatment of monkeys and baboons does not work as they become more and more brazen – and dangerous.
Whilst back in camp, reports come in that the nearby lions have killed a waterbuck but the thought of entangling oneself in a melee of cars is too much. We stay in camp.
This afternoon we go up the tar H10 towards Mlondozi and then take the eastern gravel road back towards camp. It is warm today and all is quiet.