When you go on safari, much of the activity is centered around game drives. This means you go out twice a day to look for game (you know, wild animals). That’s what life was like during our stay at Tintswalo. We got there around lunchtime, ate, had half an hour to unpack, and we were out the door on a game drive.
And what were you looking for on the game drives? Mostly, you were looking for the Big Five. If you have never heard that expression before, the Big Five are the five most dangerous (to man) animals you find on an African safari. We also found out that there is a Magnificent Seven (not to be confused with the western films) to look for as well. Your goal on safari is to see (or, in my case, photograph) the Big Five: lion, leopard, rhino, Cape buffalo, and elephant. According to the folks at Tintswalo, there was also a Magnificent Seven, which consisted of the Big Five and two additional species: the African wild dog and the cheetah. I will let you know right now that we didn’t find the Big Five. Of course, we (those of us on this AmaWaterways trip) had already seen three of the Big Five while we were in Chobe National Park (elephant, Cape buffalo and lion), so we were more than halfway there. We just needed the rhino and leopard for the Big Five and the African wild dog and cheetah to complete the Magnificent Seven. I won’t keep you in suspense. We never saw a leopard. Darn ?!
But there were other animals we hadn’t seen yet, and we would see many of them on our six possible game drives. I will pause the story for now to include our first game drive, which took place around 3:30 pm on our first afternoon at Tintswalo. Don’t forget: if you click the first shot, you can scroll through it using your arrow keys or by swiping. And please, don’t view my photography on a phone. Please…
-
- We split up into two groups with six people in each vehicle. We saw some other lodges vehicles and they were PACKED!
-
- Erick, our driver and guide.
-
- Reply, our spotter and tracker. He rode out in front of the truck looking for animals.
-
- First up…birds. This is a magpie shrike.
-
- And a lilac breasted roller just like the ones we saw in Chobe.
-
- A southern yellow-billed hornbill. Also known in the Lion King world as Zaza
-
- And a red-crested korahaan
-
- And this very ticked off elephant. Erick had seen him coming towards us from the right hand side. He sped up to put him behind us.
-
- When I asked why, he said that he likes to get in front of the trucks and block the way, not letting them get around him. I was in the back seat and I was glad that we drove away fast.
-
- Another lilac-breasted roller, this one in full flight.
-
- They are beautiful birds.
-
- Here’s a new one—a double-banded sand grouse.
-
- Spotted a female ostrich.
-
- And there was the male. We hadn’t seen one of those since Cape Town.
-
- And a CHEETAH!
-
- A mom and her two cubs.
-
- Just hanging out.
-
- Posing.
-
- Looking majestic.
-
- Letting us shoot to our heart’s content.
-
- One gorgeous animal
-
- That would rip your head clean off.
-
- But so beautiful.
-
- Especially in the wld.
-
- These are different cheetahs
-
- But darned if I can tell you which is which .
-
- But I bet you can figure it out.
-
- I just liked taking photos of them.
-
- Alas, time to go. I should tell you that I posted about 15 cheetah photos but took more than 250.
-
- A nice surprise.
-
- Appetizers in the bush.
-
- All set up and waiting for us. Nothing like a G&T out in the bush, by jove!
-
- Then it was back in the truck and on to the lodge for the rest of dinner. The food at the lodge was superb!
-
- An example. That’s not ketchup. That’s a blueberry and red wine sauce that went perfectly with the game and I now have the recipe for it.
That’s day one at Tintswalo. We had found another of the Magnificent Seven and only needed a rhino, a leopard (we never got), and an African wild dog to complete the set. More game drive news tomorrow. See you then. I leave you with another incredible African sunset.
Africa changes you forever, like nowhere on Earth. Once you have been there, you will never be the same. – Brian Jackman
Loved today’s post as I have with the previous ones. Your patience and camera eye allowed all of us to be right there with you!!
>
Thanks for taking me along! Your photos are almost like being there! Especially loved the cheetahs!