Back to Gomo Gomo - Day Two

White Rhino

Wednesday morning we had time for a quick cup of coffee or tea and rusks before we left the lodge on our game drive.  We were fortunate that we had the Land Rover to ourselves until later in the week.  We saw three white rhino first thing.  White rhino have a square mouth and are grazers, black rhino have pointed lips and are browsers; their coloring is the same.  There were nine lions at the kill when we returned there.  The tree above was filled with vultures patiently waiting their turn.  We noticed the four month old cub and he (or she) was so cute!

A Red-billed hornbill.   Bird life here, even in winter was amazing

We drove on and a majestic male giraffe was nibbling new growth from a thorny tree.  His coloring was very dark.  We dropped Jeffrey off alone in the bush, armed only with a radio, to track leopard and picked him up later.  When the sun was high, we took a break and H.J. served coffee and tea and fresh baked muffins.  Back on the road Jan spotted a honey badger scampering through the bush; not sure if anyone got a picture.  H.J. and Jeffrey both left the vehicle to follow leopard spoor (tracks) — never mind the tourists sitting in the vehicle in the middle of the road…  H.J. took his .458 cal. game rifle from the case resting on the flat windshield, not for shooting, but he is not allowed to leave it in the vehicle.  He said the rifle could bring down an elephant.  They had no luck spotting the leopard.

Four month-old lion cub at the kill

We returned to camp and had breakfast.  Cold cereals, yogurt and fruit juice was followed by a cooked breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast.  With full tummies, we had a choice of the morning game walk, enjoyed by Kevin and Carol, relaxing by the water hole, checking email or a nap, which was chosen by a couple of us.  It was wonderful to wander around the lodge, sit by the pool, read a book, write post cards or just watch the wildlife come out of the bush to drink at the water hole.  The sound of the drum gathered everyone for lunch around 2:00 p.m.  Lamb curry was served.  It was warm in the daytime but very cold for the game drives.  We purchased Gomo Gomo warm scarves and hats and wished we had brought heavier coats, so we layered all we had.

A "business" of Dwarf Mongoose

Rulani (the "calm") female leopard

The afternoon game drive rewarded us with truly amazing sightings.  A herd of kudu was our first opportunity to take photos of these majestic antelope.  The stately bulls’ horns spiral and their sides have vertical white stripes.  A “business” of dwarf mongoose was fun to watch and Henry the hippo peaked out of the pond at us.  But “Rulani” the leopard was tracked and we had a wild off-road ride through the bush to see her.  (Rulani is a Shangaan word meaning calm) She was posing in the fading sun on an old termite mound.  So gorgeous!  She got up and we followed her as she slowly walked through the bush.  She stopped and posed again between the two land rovers, turning one way and then the other and opened her mouth in a big yawn.  She walked on and we followed her a while longer with cameras clicking away.  Then we saw hyena. 

Sunset - time for the traditional "Sundowners."

Of course we had Sundowners and then followed a lion walking down the road toward the dam to drink.  We drove to the other side of dam and waited for her to appear, which she did.  We returned to the kill and were surprised to hear the cub “meow” between the snarling adult lions tearing and chewing on the carcass.

Joe took time to download his photos to the laptop before dinner was served.  We again chose our seats in the boma and began with sweet potato soup.  The menu included steak, Avery was delighted, chicken pie, squash, salad and lemon meringue pie served in a hollowed out lemon.  Delicious!

By now we felt right at home at Gomo Gomo.   We enjoyed visiting with the staff, knew the schedule for breakfast at about 10:00 a.m. after the game drive, lunch at 2:00 p.m. and dinner around 8:00 p.m.  Game drives left camp at 6:15 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.  We gave them our laundry which was returned neatly folded the same day.  H.J., our Ranger, entertained us with his stories, happily answered hundreds of questions and put up with our banter and silly “tree” riddles.  (Eg: What do you call a small tree? – an Infantry) He served us drinks at every meal.  Each night when we returned to our bungalow there was a delightful hand written and illustrated traditional story about a wild dog, hippo, warthog or rhino and sweets on our turned down bed.

Rulani kept us mesmerized for about 45 minutes

Animal Encounters - The Eland

The Kudu  -smaller than an elk.

I begin my narrative by making a few comparisons of size. The Wapiti or Elk, commonly hunted or seen by tourists in North American protective areas is the second largest deer species – the Moose being the largest. The males of both species display prominent antlers that are shed each year. An average bull elk can weigh 700lbs (320kg) or more while the bull moose can weigh over 1,500lbs (730kg).  Females weigh considerably less than males with elk cows weighing around 500lbs and moose cows about 800lbs.

The Wapiti or Elk

The Moose, the largest of the deer species.

There are many species of antelope in Africa and most are characterized by both males and females having distinctive “horns.”  Horns, unlike antlers, are permanent bone growths and are not shed in winter as are antlers. In size, the elk is fairly close to the African Kudu.  A kudu bull with his great set of spiral horns can weigh over 600lbs (270kg).  The biggest of them all is the African Eland, which is even heavier than the moose.  An eland bull will often weigh in over 2,000lbs while the female, or cow, will average over 1,000lbs – heavier than the longer-legged moose female.  The Eland’s horns are not particularly impressive, growing to be up to 2ft long in the male, but their large bodies and regal demeanor make them stand out.

The Eland - males like this one may weigh over 2,000lbs

Visitors to Africa don’t often see a lot of Eland.  They are typically not seen in herds as large as those of impala and wildebeest, and they are more wary than many of their antelope cousins.  In my travels in Africa I have not seen eland very often and on those several occasions they have been at a distance and in small numbers.

In October 1966 I was on an assignment to the north of Hwange Game Reserve in Zimbabwe.  I was driving a Land Rover along on a rough track in an area known as the Matetsi Game Corridor. The vegetation was thick and the terrain was very hilly with many rock outcrops. I was following a game fence that led in a north-south direction.  It was a standard seven foot high game fence made up of sturdy mopani posts, each 10-12 inches thick, at 15 meter intervals, and six strands of wire, stretched taut between them.  Although the fence ran straight through the hilly country, the road would parallel the fence for a short distance before curving away to go around a hill or rocky feature, then returning to follow the fence line.

As I drove slowly along the west side of the fence I was stopping periodically to verify compass bearings and mark the fence alignment on a 1:50000 scale map before continuing my slow progress. Quite unexpectedly when the road took me back to the fence at one point there was an eland calf running ahead of me on the track. He was on my side of the fence and trying to get through it by running into the wire.  The reason became obvious when his mother, a huge eland cow suddenly appeared on the other side of the fence.  Somehow the calf had managed to get through the strands of the fence and was now separated from its mother.

Now, as I drove slowly behind them, probably at about 10-15 mph, they continued to run away from me and the mother was testing the fence by pressing up against it, clearly trying to reach her calf. We came onto a flat area where the road was visible for quite a distance ahead.  Suddenly the mother turned away from the fence, took a few long strides to gain speed and turned sharply to her left, lifted her massive body, and without breaking stride rose up and jumped over the fence as though it wasn’t even there.  As her hindquarters crossed the top strand of wire, she touched it lightly with one of her hooves as though measuring herself, before landing easily on the far side and within seconds, she and her calf were galloping away into the thick acacia shrub.

It happened so quickly, but seeing that huge antelope, probably weighing around 1,000lbs, clear that 7ft. fence so effortlessly remains in my memory as one of the most remarkable things I have ever witnessed.  I should mention that when seen so close up, an eland seems huge; a grown female stands over 5ft tall (1.54M) at the shoulder.  My camera lay forgotten on the passenger seat to my left.  My journey that day took me on to the Kazungula Road and the village at Victoria Falls.  After a meal and a cold beer I walked down the hill and visited the Victoria Falls for the first of many times.