Page 35 - INTRA MUROS November 2020

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