Nambiti Game Reserve

Nambiti Game Reserve

A knock at the door from our guide was our 5am alarm call. We quickly dressed before a quick coffee prior to heading out into the reserve. A beautiful morning with a few misty clouds, but most of the overnight rain clouds had left us. Our guide, Jason, was full of energy and ready to explore. This is their job, but you sense they love heading out to see the wildlife. We didn’t go far before Jason spotted two Black Rhino. A mother and calf. The Black Rhinos are territorial and can be aggressive, but they didn’t seem concerned about us. The Black Rhino is a protected animal. They are hunted for their horn. The Nambiti reserve invests heavily in protecting all the animals, bur especially the Rhino. They have spotters out every day checking on them and teams of specialists deployed in the reserve looking for poachers. The reserve removes the horn from all their Rhino so they are not be killed for it. It seems perverse that this needs to be done, but if they are going to protect the Rhino from extinction, then it is important to take this approach.  

Black Rhino

When we initally booked the Safari, the discussion was around seeing "The Big 5"; Rhino, Elephant, African Buffalo, Lion and Leopard. The Big 5 name came from the hunters who considered these as the hardest to hunt on foot. Today, the term is more associated with Safari and animal spotting. So far we have seen four of them. We have not seen the Leopard, but it does not feel like a disappointment. What you soon realise is Safari is much more than The Big 5.  There are many other amazing animals, incredible birds and beautiful scenery. There seems no better time to be experiencing this than early morning. No wonder that most of the other people in our lodge have been on Safari multiple times.

We stopped at one point for coffee, with the traditional Amarula, the South African Bailey’s as the milk alternative 😏 to watch the world go by. The sun was up and a great chance to enjoy the warmth of the day.

                Our Guides Jason                                                                                           and Johnno

The highlight of the morning was while heading back to the Lodge. We came across a Giraffe and multiple Zebra close the road. The Zebra and Giraffe seemed very relaxed together, you can only assume that they both have a common predator in the Lion, so they are happy to use each other to spot danger. The Giraffe also had the helping beak of the Red Billed Oxpecker which was picking insects and tics from its head. 

We returned back to the lodge around 9am for breakfast and a leisurely day. After good food and watching the world go by,  it was time for the evening drive out. The sun had been shining all day, but as the evening approached storm clouds were forming, A group of Elephants had been seen a few miles away, so our guide headed our Safari vehicle (which is built from a Toyota Land Cruiser) in the direction of the Elephants. On the way we spotted a Black Rhino and her very young calf, but we didn’t stay long as the rain was coming and we wanted to see the Elephants. They didn’t disappoint. The herd of Elephants were close to a herd of Buffalo. Two of the big 5 together. Lovely to sit and watch.

     

And then the heavens opened and we started to get wet. Our quick thinking guide made a dash for a parking area to find a dry place to park while the storm passed. A smart move and ensured we went home dry. The icing on the cake came when we passed a small pond with Hippopotimus swimming. We could only see a small part of their heads in the water, but it was a great feeling to have seen them in the wild.

 

Finally happy birthday Mum.