November 8, 2021

 

Satara, 1300

 

Went to Satara for some lunch and in the vain hope that I’d be able to connect to the internet via cellular and upload some postings. Not going to happen. It’s weird - I actually do seem to be connecting to one of SA’s many cellular services, but I’m not able to access any service. I’m not sure how it works. I suspect that when you buy the plan from Verizon (which will allow you to use your phone “no problem”), what happens is that you have access to a subset of providers they’ve contracted with. Which probably works fine in a city but doesn’t work here because there will only be one provider in the area, if cell service is available at all. I was able to get service at Tamboti but it was very intermittent. I'm guessing that the provider would bounce me off, but at some daily update, they’d add me back on. I have never had service throughout the day. But I will try and upload some things this evening.

 

I have switched accommodations up some. I arranged to leave Tamboti one day early and move tonight to Orpen. The result is A/C and a shower in my room. I was also booked for three nights at Satara as I begin to move toward the north, but I moved those nights to Olifants, giving me 6 nights there. That’s a long time in any one camp, but it’s a nice place - not as large and frantic - and hopefully won’t be in the middle of noisy renovations.  We’ll see.

 

Have had some productive time in the car yesterday and today as I try and remember how to do any of this. After rain, there are sometimes termite emergences where thousands of winged termites emerge from the ground at the same time. Clouds of them. And it’s a feast for all kinds of wildlife. Yesterday I noticed 2 plated lizards on the side of the road eating something and they weren’t bothered by me at all, which is unusual. They were joined by a third and then by several species of birds as I worked out what was going on. There was a termite emergence happening in a dip in the road, maybe 30 meters long, and that led to the spectacle of multiple species of birds and lizards all crowding the road, side-by-side, scarfing down termites as quickly as they emerged from the ground (or in the case of some birds, snatching them out of the air as soon as they took off). Termites are a major source of protein in the bush and during a large emergence you can see all kinds of species, including jackals, baboons, birds, frogs snatching them out of the air. This emergence was more limited in scope and by the next morning it was over.

 

Saw wild dogs yesterday. Too dark to photograph and I’m kicking myself for not grabbing the phone to video as the dogs patrolled past my car. It’s another reason to miss Gina. She would have been on it.

 

One other feature of termite emergences is that it makes cooking outdoors after dark crazy. They’re attracted to light so one is constantly bombarded with insects as you try to cook with a headlamp on.  They bounce off your face, down your shirt, and into every bit of food or drink you hope to consume. Not dangerous of course, just a constant, crawling nuisance.

 

On the way out of camp this morning, just out of the gate, I almost ran into a lion, literally.  I was driving, slowly of course, but distracted by trying to figure out whether to go south or north off the main road when I saw a tan figure moving into my peripheral vision on the left. Lions and impala are almost the same color, and I DO NOT want to hit an impala. It was full stop, hard. Then data began to hit my brain that this was way bigger than an impala and I realized that I was 5 feet from two lionesses who decided to cross the road (without looking it must be said) right in front of me. They walked slowly and didn’t flinch, but the lead lioness gave me the stink eye and then they just moseyed along, like and 80-year-old lady who knows she has the right of way and dares you to do something about it. Too fast to get to a camera, so grab the phone and get a 1 second clip of lion butts disappearing into the bush.

 

 

 

That experience did help to focus my attention. Heading up the road, still trying to decide whether to go north or south, when I encountered several cars stopped on the road and saw wild dogs again. They were mostly stationary, and I’m sure were just getting up, shaking off sleep, getting ready to go hunt. I was able to get a few usable images I think, but mostly it’s such a pleasure to be in the presence of wild dogs. They’re of course not feral domesticated dogs but are a highly endangered species of canids - essentially small wolves - and they’re sometimes referred to as painted dogs or painted wolves. My understanding is that they are the ancestral species of all wolves and hence all dogs. And they’re striking and beautiful and ferocious and intelligent and worthy of respect. It’s always a good day when you see wild dogs.

 

They headed south, solving my dilemma for me. I followed a bit, but then they drifted deeper into the bush, and I left them alone and continued south. Saw a sable antelope (which is large and very beautiful antelope) and then turned around and went back to Tamboti to pack up. Drop the key in the key box (every camp has a key box - it’s a Kruger tradition) and went for a drive. Briefly saw wild dogs again, stationary and resting in the heat, and then headed to Satara for lunch, with the hope to be able to upload postings. Which brings us to the beginning of this post.  From here, I’ll head south. I can’t check into Orpen for a while, so I’m just going to head south and hit some roads I haven’t been down yet this trip.  More later.