Page 35 - INTRA MUROS November 2020
P. 35

NATURE





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






                                                                                   INTRA MUROS  NOVEMBER 2020     33
   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40