Back home again in Kruger
DAY TRIPPING: SMELL OF THE BUSH AFTER HEARTACHE OF LOCKDOWN SURREAL
Did the animals behave differently? We hardly saw any. But that didn’t matter.
This week my wife and I did a day trip to Kruger National Park. For those of you who live in other provinces or abroad and are wondering how it all works, here goes ...
I had pre-booked the 8am-10am slot for Malelane Gate, mainly to guarantee getting in. Also downloaded and pre-filled in both the Gate Registration and Indemnity Form plus the Driver and Passenger Details form which has a lot of health questions. I also printed out my Wild Card letter so nobody would touch my actual wildcard.
Donned with masks, Kerry and I left Nelspruit just before 7am, paid the road toll with my credit card and I made a mental note to pay cash in future, placed in an envelope. The attendant at the toll was not wearing a mask.
You may wonder if I am a bit paranoid about picking up the virus. The answer is yes. Both my wife and I are in the vulnerable category, plus we have two in our family who have/had Covid-19, the “had one” having died on Monday despite living like a hermit since lockdown. My wife and I have also lived like hermits, but you Krugerholics know the lure of the Kruger!
We arrived at 8am with only one car in front of us at the first gate before the bridge. At that point our temperature was taken and you, the tourist, have to write down your temperature in the space provided on the Driver and Passenger Details form.
The expectation is that you should bring your own pen, which we hadn’t, so we had to use one supplied by Sanparks – but not before our hands and pen were sanitised. We were also asked a few health questions that were already answered on the Driver and Passenger form.
Then on to the office. Before entering, one’s hands are sanitised. Then the smell of the thatch and one knows one is home! There are foot markings where you line up outside the office, but that was not necessary as I was the only customer in the office, where it was business as usual, the attendants welcoming us back with what I am sure were smiling faces beneath their masks.
We brought our own rubbish bag, as was suggested online, handed the gate attendant the permit, which was handed back and sanitised by ourselves. The normal questions about firearms and liquor were asked, boot and cooler bag checked, and then we were in! The whole process took about 15 minutes.
At this point, let me say that I first went to the Kruger 55 years ago and our family have made an annual trip from Durban for the last 30 years. Then, last May, having lived all our lives in Durban, my wife and I decided to “emigrate” to Nelspruit and retire there just to be closer to Kruger Park – the goal being to spend one week every month in the park until we kick the bucket. Things were going to plan until our last trip, which ended a couple of days before lockdown.
So, despite us being in the
Kruger not that long ago, entering now seemed surreal; almost like we had served our time in jail and were allowed to go back home. I looked at the Kruger with new eyes. I also vowed that, at least today, it would not matter if the sightings were poor, that just being there to smell the bush, see the familiar koppies, relive memories of times past would be heaven. And just as well I took that vow because we hardly saw a thing.
Apparently we missed a leopard by five seconds, but that seemed normal. It has happened too many times before! Yes, the first animal we saw was the ubiquitous impala, but this time with a new appreciation, never to be taken for granted ever again.
Up the H3 with a toilet stop at Afsaal. One could buy basic food items there, but the shop was closed and all the seating was taped off, so no picnics allowed there.
We found a zebra in Skukuza camp looking at the Sabie river and took a photo of her – the only photo I took today. Perhaps she was trying to attract a new mate with those pants! Then down the H4-1, pulling in for lunch at a spot where, six months ago, we were lucky enough to see a leopard ambush an impala coming down to drink at the Sabie River.
And I say lucky because it took young and patient eyes from the car next to us half an hour to point out the leopard.
“You see that tree?”
“Yes.”
“Go 50m to the right and ...” Well, you know how it goes! No leopard this time. At least, not one that ageing eyes could see! Then to the high level bridge, then the H1-2 – which in our family is known as the pizza crust – and to complete the pizza slice, back along the H1-2. Then onto the S1 and out Phabeni gate. At the gate our hands were sanitised before the attendant would accept the permit. Then back home.
What was different? Even though the dams and rivers that we saw had lots of water, the change from the green of March to the brown of today was remarkable. There were more cars on the roads than I expected, though we did travel on main roads. In certain stretches there was more dung of all types on the road. Every car we saw had an MP registration. And the biggest question that I (and most people) wanted to know, did the animals behave differently. Well, I can’t really answer that because we hardly saw any. But that didn’t matter to us – because we were back home!