At the Jo’burg airport, we caught a charter flight to the Londolozi safari camp, which is located on a private game reserve (the Sabi Sand), just outside of Kruger Park. We had a smooth 1-½ hour flight in a little 10-seater "bush plane" to the Londolozi airstrip, where we were picked up in an open Range Rover and driven a few minutes to the Londolozi camp.
The Londolozi camp is built in the trees, overlooking the Sand River. The main area of the camp is a raised deck built in the enormous boughs of an ancient Ebony Tree. The camp is part of the CC Africa, which is our favorite safari provider. We stayed at "Bataleur" camp, which is the largest camp, with 6 huts (12 people).
The main gathering area:
At Londolozi, each room has a private "plunge pool" -- basically a hot tub with no heat...
The camp also has a pool. It is the only part of camp that is fenced - so that you do not end up swimming with crocodiles!
We arrived too late for the evening game drive, so we relaxed a bit, then went up to the main camp for a wonderful dinner in the "boma" – an outdoor eating area that is enclosed with a natural fence (branches) to keep the animals out. We had dinner with our guide John and a Afrikaan couple who would join us in our vehicle.
The schedule in camp is that you are awoken at 5 a.m. by someone knocking on your hut. At 5:30, everyone meets on the main deck for a snack and a sip of coffee or tea, then you hop in your open Land Rover and head out on a game drive by 5:45. You safari for a few hours, then stop "in the bush" for a light snack and coffee, tea, hot chocolate or -- my favorite -- a chocaccino (a mocha with a dash of amarula, an amaretto-like liquer). You get back in the Land Rover and safari for a few more hours, then, about 10 a.m., head back to camp where you have a hearty breakfast. After that, your time is your own – you can nap or relax by the pool (which is protected with a fence to keep out the animals) or get a guide to walk with you over to the local village (you have to have a guide to go anywhere), etc. About 2:30, everyone meets up at the main lodge again for a light lunch then, about 3:30, you head out on a game drive again. You safari for a few hours, then stop for "sundowners" – fruity beverages, beer, wine, etc., served in the bush at sundown – then you safari for a few more hours, returning to camp around 8 or 9, have dinner, and turn in for the night!
a typical game drive landrover...
stopping for coffee and biscuits during the morning game drive...
stopping for sundowners on the evening game drive...
There are a couple of great things about the private reserves: First, they are completely open to Kruger Park. The animals are free to roam in all areas, so there are lots of animals. Second, no one else is allowed on the private reserves, so you don’t run into many other people. In fact, sometimes, you don’t run into any other people! Third, on the private reserves, you are allowed to drive off road, so you can get really (and I mean really!) close to the animals. Fourth, the private reserves have strict policies limiting the number of vehicles at any animal sighting. In the national parks, you may find 10 or 15 vehicles watching a pride of lion. On the private reserves, you will never find more than 2 or 3 vehicles at any sighting. Fifth, you can stay out after dark on the private reserves, whereas you have to be in camp by 7 pm in the national parks. This means you can see predators at night, when they are more active, and you can even have dinner out "in the bush".
Returning to our stay at Londolozi: We had an amazing time. On our very first game drive, we saw 3 rhino, who hung out only about 15 feet away from our vehicle. Rhino are pretty rare, and seeing three of them 15 feet away is really special (we saw 2 in Tanzania, from about 150 yards!). After the rhino, we parked in the midst of a large herd of elephant. We also saw all the "usual" animals – wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, hippo, impala, other antelope, monkeys, baboon, etc., etc.
On one game drive, we saw a mama lion and 2 male cubs. The mama was missing her tail and our ranger said she lost her tail in a fight with a pack of hyena. The wound was terrible – part of her spine was exposed, and he had thought she was going to die. She got really skinny but she slowly rebounded and, by the time we saw them, she and her 2 male cubs looked pretty healthy.
On another game drive, we saw a beautiful leopard snoozing in a tree, and we saw her cub snoozing in a smaller tree nearby. We parked only a few feet away and the leopard mama eventually opened her eyes. I thought we had disturbed her but our ranger explained that we had not – the animals are completely accustomed to the vehicles and think nothing of them. He then pointed out a hyena poking his head out from behind a bush not far away and explained that she had heard or smelled the hyena and was keeping an eye on him to be sure her cubs were safe. We got a great picture of her in the tree, watching the hyena.
the leopard cub...
...he did not seem too concerned about us...
mama did not seem too concerned either...
...but she was concerned about a hyena that was nearby..
On our last evening game drive at Londolozi, mom asked to see hippo out of the water, so we had sundowners near the hippo pool and waited for them to leave the water (they stay in the water during the day to keep from getting sunburned and leave the water at night to feed). As darkness fell, the hippos began their hilarious grunting (ask Roger to do his impression of a grunting hippo sometime) and then they slowly emerged from the water. It is hard to believe that hippos kill more people in Africa than any other animal – they don’t look fast or dangerous, but they are!
a rare picture - hippos out of the water...
As we were preparing to leave Londolozi, we commented that the only things we had not seen were cheetah and Cape Buffalo. As luck would have it, there were 3 very large male Cape Buffalo standing in middle of the road right as we left camp! Our ranger John said he had stayed up all night finding the buffalo and herding them back to camp. We half expected to see a cheetah waiting for us at the airstrip, but it did not happen. Mom and Dad checked "Cape Buffalo" off their to-do list and we headed to the airstrip for our flight to Victoria Falls.
Here are a few pictures of what we saw:
We saw kudu (a type of antelope)...
...and Nyala (another antelope)...
...and giraffe...
...and zebra...
...and rhino...
...and elephant...
Here is one of the male lion cubs...
and some miscellaneous photos from others we met:
1 comment:
Great Londolozi posting. I run a travel website, and have linked to this posting from our Londolozi safari page, so that our readers can enjoy it as well.
Keep up the great writing (and safari'ing).
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