The Next Chapter: Schotia Safaris

Wouldn’t you know it. The ONE morning we get to sleep in & I don’t set my alarms. And they go off. What gives? I need an alarm & it doesn’t work. I don’t need one & it goes off! At 0530! Argh!

We left a little late for Schotia. Speeds of 180 km/h were reached. We arrived with 4 minutes to spare. I’m not sure if I was more relieved to arrive alive or on time. In any case, we were 6 people & we climbed up into our open top safari Land Rover & headed off on our 6 hour adventure.

The afternoon highlight was most definitely the 2 white rhinos we saw. They were in close proximity to our vehicle & I took some great shots. White Gnus were also spotted – I’ve never seen them before, along with reedbucks (I think). We also saw blue wildebeest, warthogs, waterbucks, impala, springbok, kudu, and zebra.

Our guide, Renier, was a plethora of knowledge, showing us the skull of a kudu & how the horns are actually part of the skull & only covered in keratin. He told us about the termite mounds & how the red soils works well with termite spit to make the hard clay that forms the mounds. Did you know that inside termite mounds the temperature is about 36º? He told us the name of the white rhino is actually a misunderstanding. It was actually meant to be WIDE rhino, because of it’s wide mouth, but it was somehow translated into White & it stuck. Renier also showed us a leopard tortoise, which can live up to 150 years old!

We stopped for tea & a biscuit at a little café type room – formerly it was a dairy barn. The land is managed by a family which has been there for 6generations. We no sooner poured our rooibos tea when someone spotted giraffes out back. Letting the tea cool, I raced outside to photograph this long & lean creatures. They are so beautiful. Gawkish but graceful, they shyly made their way across the little patch of grass behind the buildings.

We climbed back into our vehicle & headed back out in search of lions. The weather had changed & it was quite cool by now. There was also a fog rolling in, so visibility was getting low. We didn’t see much of a sunset & it seemed to get dark quite quickly. There we were in the fog, in the dark & looking for lions. I’m having a Ghost & the Darkness moment! Just as it was getting too dark for photos, we found the lions!

Now that was something. They walked RIGHT past our OPEN top vehicle. We’re talking close people. Male & female lions. Wow. Just strolling along. We followed them for quite a while. In fact, one of the lionesses even took off after a wildebeest, but she called off the chase before anything too exciting happened. One lioness had 5 cubs & they were much bigger than the ones we saw yesterday. We watched them play & interact with each other. Of course, they terrorized their mother too.

After our lion watching was sufficient, we headed to the lapa for dinner. A fire was roaring & the food was hot & ready. We enjoyed a traditional South African meal – complete with Malva pudding.

When it came time to leave for the end of the tour, we stopped to see the resident hippos in a nearby pond and then, of course, what were the lions up to. They still hadn’t caught anything, but I’m sure if we had stayed a few more hours, we would have seen a fair bit of carnage. I’m not sure I would have wanted to see that, but it would have been amazing to see the agility & speed of the lions in action.

I think it’s safe to say, if we ever end up near PE again, we’ll certainly stop in at Schotia!

Tomorrow we’ll leave for George to see Leana. We’ve certainly enjoyed our stay at Kronenhoff & our visit with Oom Jurie & Tannie Hendrien. I always enjoy this part of South Africa. I’m always sad to see the visit come to an end. There’s always a next time though…

xxxxMaria

ps - There's a Facebook page for Kronenhoff. If you feel inclined, 'like' it. If you've stayed there or want to, leave a message there or on Trip Advisor! Thanks!