Page 35 - Blue Valley Issue 5 2020 print.pdf

NATURE

At Skukuza – it was still closed for overnight
stays - we wandered about the camp and
found tourist accommodation occupied by
staff whose washing was hanging out to dry.
The radios were blaring and there were other
signs that the occupants had abandoned the
staff village.

The restaurant was open for outside meals
but very few people were about and the
tables, set far apart, were mostly empty.

The nearby Skukuza Golf Club was closed but
clean.

We were looking forward to visiting Lake
Panic’s bird hide and anticipated having it
to ourselves, but we found it padlocked. I
think that was our biggest disappointment,
for Lake Panic rates as one of Africa’s greatest
bird hides.
[A ‘tower’ of giraffe? I am using the collective The park’s infrastructure, however, was
noun for a standing group of giraffe, the something else. I will never forget the creepy Although the southern area of Kruger was
noun coming from Alan Levine’s 2007 book, atmosphere at Pretoriuskop. It was derelict open to a limited number of local visitors and
Serendipity of Collective Nouns.] and there was an eerie silence. The camp to those, like us, who had obtained permits
hadn’t been swept for weeks. The lawns to enter from other provinces, all the picnic
We were amazed how near we could get and were uncut. The restaurant and shop were sites, including Afsaal and Nkuhlu, were not
felt we could have moved nearer but we did abandoned. The cottages were empty, sealed just closed but barricaded.
not want to disturb them. and grubby and the accumulated detritus
from autumn and winter swirled about the The good news was that rhino poaching had
Many post-lockdown visitors have remarked camp’s pathways in miniature whirlwinds. fallen substantially. In the first six months of
on how reluctant animals were to move aside 2020, ‘only’ 166 white rhino had been killed
when vehicles approached. The only sign of life was a young woman in by poachers who, normally, are financed and
charge of the filling station. She was valiantly armed by criminal syndicates in the Far East.
In September, game ranger Richard wielding a broom, making sure that at least The figure was half of what was expected.
Sowry took an astonishing early-morning her little patch was kept clear - remarkably
photograph with his cell phone of a pride clear considering the amount of leaves The park’s authorities put it down to the
of about 14 lions – including youngsters – eddying about in the breeze wherever one ‘COVID-19 restrictions on movement and
fast asleep on the Orpen-Satara road. They looked. stronger anti-poaching measures’.
showed no inclination to move even when
Sowry stopped only metres away. From what we saw, there had been very In the unspecified Intensive Protection Zone,
little maintenance within Kruger Park and
We were amazed by the number of lions hundreds of cottages from Pretoriuskop to for the first time in the last 10 years, no rhino
was killed. That was at least one positive
we saw. On the main road from Skukuza to Pafuri have suffered damage from wildlife. outcome from the effects of the pandemic.
Lower Sabie we saw at least a dozen in one
BV
pride. Half an hour later we saw a pride of
four. When we reached Sunset Dam at Lower
Sabie, a number of impala raced towards us
and we thought they were going to leap over
the car but they managed to dodge it – they’d
been ambushed by yet another pride.
Some friends, staying at Ngwenya Lodge in
October and entering the park via Crocodile
Bridge, also remarked on the unusual number
of lions. They were often the only vehicle
watching them.

Apart from the lions, we saw the usual variety
of animals and we fancied that, instead of
being skittish as we’d expected, the animals
seemed oblivious of our presence. This is
despite the fact that many of them might not
have experienced a car stop near them for
months.
The long and short of it is that, as far as we
could see, the tourist-free winter months had
no really significant effects on the behaviour
of the park’s wildlife.

BLUE VALLEY NEWS • Issue 5 2020 • 33