Amazing graze

PILANESBERG GAME RESERVE, South Africa — Ellen interrupted my afternoon spa facial to ask me if I wanted to see an elephant. “Huh? What?” I asked.

The thickly accented and soft spoken African woman repeated her question, “Would you like to see an elephant?”

I rolled over, peered out the window and there it was. Less than 50 feet from the window, a large elephant stood there grazing and shaking its head. Had I not been wearing only a towel, I would have jumped up and grabbed my camera. Instead, I lay back and closed my eyes, daydreaming about the animals I would soon see.

I had spent the past week in South Africa accompanying my husband on a business trip. After four grueling, 12-hour days of nonstop work, we had just one day - 26 hours to be exact - to experience some of what South Africa had to offer.

We wanted to make every minute count.

When most visitors to South Africa think animals, they think of Kruger National Park, which at 7,523 square miles, is 10 times the size of Pulaski County (771 square miles). Because of heavy flooding at Kruger, our local contacts suggested a small park with equally impressive wildlife viewing, the Pilanesberg Game Reserve. Pilanesberg is in North West province, west of Pretoria.

At a relatively scant 355 square miles, it is a blip on the map compared with Kruger (and half the size of Pulaski County).

Pilanesberg is home to a large variety of southern African wildlife including the Big Five, which was a term used by safari hunters and refers to the five most dangerous and difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot - lion, African elephant, buffalo, leopard and rhinoceros. The Pilanesberg Game Reserve also holds most of the animal species of southern Africa such as zebras, hyenas, giraffes, hippopotamuses and crocodiles.

Visitors to Pilanesberg can travel through the reserve by car since most of the roads are well maintained, though not paved. Several lodges are situated within the park itself, and most are surrounded by electric fences. Our last day of work was a Friday, so we wanted to find a weekend accommodation inside the park. Thankfully, the Shepherd’s Tree Lodge had an opening. The resort was all-inclusive of accommodation, meals, snacks and two daily game drives.

We were greeted by Gretha Brandt, one of the field guides. She took our luggage and told us that our evening game drive would depart at 4:30 p.m. Due to our late reservations, we had to take whatever room was left, which, as it turned out, was an executive suite. It was not a hardship. The room had a king-size bed draped in mosquito netting, a deep soaking tub, a huge indoor shower, and an outdoor shower with stunning views of the park.

Our evening drive included four other resort guests and was led by Brandt. The windowless vehicle with a canvas roof offered three rows of tiered seating that allowed for unobstructed views during the drive. The rules were simple. Stay in the vehicle at all times. If we were to encounter any animals, keep your arms and legs inside. Don’t make any sudden movements and keep any conversations quiet. She explained that the animals see the vehicle and the humans inside it as one object and so do not feel threatened.

She also reminded us of the animals we might see: hippopotamus, brown hyena, black-backed jackal, giraffe, zebra, warthog, lion, elephant, antelope, blue wildebeest, gnu, mongoose, reptiles, amphibians, birds and insects. As with any game drive, there are no guarantees that you’ll see anything. One of our companions said that she went on two game drives a day for three days straight and never saw an animal. I hoped this wasn’t going to happen to us.

A short distance into the reserve, Brandt stopped the vehicle, got out and stood by a small pile of white dung on the side of the road. She pointed out that it was hyena dung. The hyena is a scavenger, and since it eats a lot of bone, the calcium in the bones turns the dung white when dry. It was an unexpected episode but nonetheless interesting to hear.

Soon we saw a small herd of zebras and a few red hartebeests grazing under a tree. The red hartebeest is a large,reddish-fawn-colored antelope with a long, narrow face and curly, ringed horns that appear on both sexes. It is only found in South Africa.

The terrain of Pilanesberg is very mountainous. In some ways, it reminded me of Northwest Arkansas. Much of the open plains are covered with thick, high tan-colored grass. This would hamper our spotting the big cats, as it was the perfect place to hide. Brandt told us to look in trees for the leopard but admitted that “leopards don’t like to be seen.” And in her 18 months as a field guide at Shepherd’s, she has seen only a few.

As we drove we saw very little, only a family of guinea fowl and a few baby chicks crossing the road. I was starting to get discouraged. Then we spotted a giraffe. The giraffe is the tallest animal in the world. With its extremely long neck and legs and prominent horns, it can stand 16 to 20 feet tall, easily grazing high on trees and shrubs. This one was so elegant. It just stood there and grazed, curving its neck down, almost to look at us. Sure, you can see giraffe at the Little Rock Zoo and probably get closer than we did, but it’s just not the same. Seeing them in their native habitat is a whole different experience.

Eventually we saw numerous animals - zebras, impalas, rhinoceroses - but they were too far away for a good look.

The rhinoceros is a very endangered and highly protected animal in South Africa. Poaching is a huge and ongoing problem for the government. In some cases, poachers fly into game reserves by helicopter, killing the rhinos for their horns. Because rhino horns are thought by some to have mystical healing properties, they are widely coveted. In 2010 there were 333 rhinoceroses slain by poachers in South Africa alone, and last year the number increased to 448. As of February, 31 rhinos have been poached.

We stopped for a break at a small lake near the Mankwe Dam located near the center of the reserve, where lots of birds and other waterfowl were fluttering about. The prettiest of the birds was the southern red bishop. A small bird, it is easily recognized by its coloring. Adult males are bright red and black. The forehead, face and throat are black and the rest of the head is red.

As the sun was beginning to set and the air was beginning to cool, we continued the second half of the drive. South Africa lies in the Southern Hemisphere, so summer was drawing to a close. In Pilanesberg, the days are warm but the nights are quite cool. I had left my jacket behind and was wearing only shorts and a T-shirt. Overhearing my plight, Brandt passed me a blanket. All of Shepherd’s safari vehicles are stocked with fleece blankets that resemble ponchos. It has an opening for your head but allows for your arms to be free, just in case you needed to grab your camera. The sun had set and it was dark. Gretha grabbed her spotlight and the remaining drive was completely in the dark. Occasionally you could just see pairs of glowing eyes looking out from the brush. At times, even with the spotlight, it was hard to tell what kind of animal it was.

As Brandt moved the light back and forth across the terrain, out of nowhere appeared a hippo, right in the middle of the road. It didn’t stop for us and disappeared into the brush.

South Africa has no shortage of nocturnal creatures. A spotted eagle owl perched in a nearby tree flew off briefly and landed in the middle of the road. Brandt held its gaze with the spotlight for a few moments. It looked back at us with its huge, golden eyes, then turned its head 180 degrees, just to make sure nothing was creeping up from behind. A moment later, it flew off.

We arrived back at Shepherd’s shortly after 8 p.m. and joined others in the dining room. Brandt sat at the next table and reminded us she would be waking us at 5 a.m. Faced with the early wake up call, we headed back to our room where the bed was turned down for the evening. All the drapes were closed, the mosquito netting was in place, and chocolate candies were on the pillows. The nicest touch was an interesting “fact” sheet about the hyena. It was rolled, tied with thread and garnished with a sprig of dried lavender.

Sure enough, there was a knock on our door at 5 a.m. We met the others in the lobby for tea, coffee, pastries and cereal. Thirty minutes later we were heading back into the park. I am seldom up early enough to enjoy the sunrise, but I could not think of a better way to greet a Sunday morning.

I had high hopes for seeing at least one big cat but it wasn’t to be. Like my own cats, the big ones are aloof and show themselves only when they feel like it. Soon, my husband spotted an elephant in the distance. As we headed down the road toward it, it was walking across the plains toward us. The male elephant, which Brandt estimated to be about 17 years old, crossed the road right in front of our vehicle and stopped to graze on a weeping wattle tree alongside the road.

For nearly 30 minutes we sat and watched this elephant make a meal of this small tree. He dined less than 25 feet from our vehicle. We could see the elephant in minute detail: every hair, every wrinkle, was so vivid and full of life. As I took countless photos, my husband shot video. I even shot video with my smart phone, filling the frame. This 30 minutes alone made the entire trip worth every penny.

The remainder of our Sunday game drive was pretty much a bust. Aside from a herd of impala, close-up viewing of animals was rare. Our midmorning break was near an overlook that provided a sweeping view of the park. In the far distance we could see zebras, impala, rhinoceroses, warthogs and wildebeests dotting the plain.

A full English breakfast along with fresh fruit and pastries awaited us at the resort. Afterward, we returned to our room to pack for the trip home. Our bill was 6,200 rand, which converts to about $816. For what we experienced, we felt it was a bargain. But beware of the extras. The “all-inclusive rate” does not include drinks of any kind, which we found a little surprising. A bottle of water was R8 ( about $1.05) and a Coke was R18 ($2.37) each. These costs can add up quickly, but compared to U.S. prices, they were still less than what we expected.

I left Shepherd’s with just two regrets. The first was not seeing any of the big cats. The second was that we could not stay longer than 26 hours.