February 27

February 27

We woke up this morning to a beautiful South African sunrise in the bush.  At breakfast we were chatting with the couple from Belgium.  We had asked Claude (the owner of the lodge) if he could take us to see Jessica, a tame hippo near Hoedspruit, today or tomorrow.  He told us that Friday would be better as he had a number of people checking in and had to stay at the lodge.  Jessica is a hippo that we read about on the internet.  We had also seen her in a reality show on TV.  She is a tame hippo that you can pat and feed and Julie really wanted to see her.  Claude explained that you could visit her in the morning until 12:00 p.m., then again from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.  The Belgian couple said that they would also like to see Jessica and since they had a car we could join them and we could all go whenever we wanted to.  We decided to go today, but Julie and I had to be back by 4:00 p.m. as we had booked an evening game drive.  Claude gave us a map and instructions how to get there and we left.  On our way out of Pezulu we ran into three giraffes blocking the road and about a million crazy Impalas leaping and running across the road.  Quite a site as we drove under the giraffes to continue to the main gate of the reserve.  

After missing the turn, driving several kilometers in the wrong direction on a very rough dirt road we turned around and drove until we found Hoedspruit.  We then drove around looking for the road to Jessica and had to stop and ask a police officer on the side of the road.  We eventually made it to Jessica’s farm . . . at 11:55 p.m. and they were closed!!  Despite our best begging techniques we couldn’t get in to see her.  We continued back along the dirt track to the lodge wondering how and when we were going to see Jessica . . . At 4:00 p.m. we met our Game Guide, Olaf, and his tracker to go to the neighbouring Thornybush Game Reserve to search for the Big 5.  The Big 5 includes elephants, rhinos, leaopards, buffalos and lions.  On our previous game drives we had seen four of the five, never seeing the elusive leopards.  Very few people, including locals and Game Guides have ever seen leopards because it seems that you have to be in the right place at the right time . . . we were!  We saw two leopards and they had just killed an Impala.

We also saw three lions, two females and a male (all from the same litter) who had also just had just killed a blue gnu. We also saw plenty of buffalo and lots of different antelope however we  didn’t see any elephants and the rhinos had made themselves very scarce but the fact that we were able to see the big cats in such close proximity, especially the leopards, dashed any feelings of disappointment.  In fact, to add to our exceptional drive, after dropping off the rest of the passengers, Olaf and his tracker had to drive Julie and I back to Pezulu in the Geurnsey Private Game Reserve.  Suddenly the tracker pointed to a small animal who was perched on top of a speed limit post.  Olaf stopped and allowed the tracker to shine his spot light on the critter and the excitement increased.  It seemed the little guy was a Spotted Genet.  They are a small nocturnal cat-like animal and it is very rare to see one!  All in all it was a great game drive!!


We arrived back at the lodge in time for a nice dinner in the open boma.  We had traditional African dishes including Impala chops.  During the day they managed to fix one side of the large 
sliding door on our tree house so we were able to roll the bed out onto the balcony and sleep under the African sky. The waterhole outside of our balcony is full of life at night as all the animals come in to sleep.  In the moonlight we could make out the shapes of the giraffes munching on the high tree branches, the zebras grazing and many, MANY Impalas resting in the grass. We fell asleep to the lion roaring in the background, the occasional zebra calling out in the darkness and the clacking sounds of the Impalas horns as they competed for the best sleeping spot.  What a way to spend a night, it makes you wish you could stay awake all night and take it all in . . . .