Wrieë gruute biesten gezien


Schotia, 17th of August 2018 - From Wilderness, we drive along the N2 towards Port Elizabeth on the Garden Route. The weather is improving but the sun breaks through only when we get to our destination: Schotia Game Reserve. This private park is next to Addo Elephant Park and has the ‘big five’, the must for every tourist. Don’t know what the big five are? Lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and buffalo. Why those? They are the most difficult animals to hunt on foot. We are lucky because the four persons who had to be with us in the jeep, cancelled. Therefore, Karin and I have our own private ranger: Kurt von Maltitz. Where his ancestors came from is a no-brainer. On top of that, he has blond hair and blue eyes. We have to open and close a couple of gates and then Kurt skilfully manoeuvres his Landrover over the tracks. We spot warthogs (think of Pumba) everywhere, and kudus with impressive corkscrew horns. Not much later a couple of elephants. They do not seem to bother and do their thing. We see giraffes plucking leaves from tall trees. It is a bit nippy outside and we are glad we can warm up halfway with a cup of cocoa. Then we drive further until sunset. We see three lions, an old and a young male and a female. The young one respects the old one and keeps a certain distance. The old male is rutting and roars to get the attention of the lioness. She is not in the mood and gives him a left hook with her paw. Great show at very short distance from the jeep. Like the elephants, the lions hardly give us any attention, lie down, and yawn. Further up we see two rhinos, Bonnie and Clyde. Clyde charges our jeep and Kurt quickly goes in reverse. ‘He is a bit of a character, we know him..’ When the sun sets, we drive to the lapa, a thatched roof on wooden poles in the center of the park. Here we have dinner around the open fire.

Don't mess with Clyde (FDC)

Marriage crisis in lion land (FDC)


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