From the meandering mountain passes of Swaziland, we drove almost six hours through Nelspruit to Kirkman’s Kamp in the heart of the emblematic Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve. 

This time we stuck more on-road than off-road so as not to miss the afternoon game drive at the lodge. Due to my car’s dead battery and having to replace it soon after reaching White River, we came extremely close to missing out. Of course, they would have waited for us, or taken us in another vehicle to join the safari. No doubt about it!

Fortunately, with thirty minutes to spare we had time for high tea spread out on the patio before the show began…

The Cats

Known for its prolific leopard sightings, Sabi Sands had always been on the top of my list for wanderlust. Finally, I made it! After the fearless honey badgers, which are more elusive than leopards, the leopard is my next favourite animal to observe in the wild.

The three leopard sightings with the game ranger, Jonty, unsurpassed any other sighting I’ve before experienced. We got to behold a female tearing a fresh impala kill to shreds; another smaller female strolling along the main track just after sunset – being too mesmerised by the sighting I didn’t care to capture her with my camera; a fattened, greatly larger male, huffing and puffing in the shade trying to recover from the feast of warthog that he secured up in the tree a few meters away. 

Good Morning, Africa!

During our first morning drive, while the sun burnt through the clouds, a surprise awaited us. A full African breakfast cooked for us in the middle of bush. What a treat!

Kirkman’s Kamp Lodge

We chose &Beyond Kirkman’s Kamp to experience Harry Kirkman’s beautifully restored original homestead. With only twelve cottages on the grounds, the place felt intimate enough. 

Elephants

The social habits of elephants completely captivated my attention. I adore viewing calves and how graceless they are with their trunks. Not knowing how to control it, they try their best to mimic adults but hardly succeed. It must be the forty-thousand muscles that make it an intricate appendage to master. 

The Non-Predators

It’s always warming to view a rhino in the wild with its horn still attached; however, out of the rest of the wildlife, the not so predatory, the dung beetle fascinated me the most. I’d never really thought about the dung beetle in great detail before until now, and if I had to apply what they do best to ‘life’ it would become a rolling experience… 

The day in the life of a dung beetle… There are four distinct groups: the layers, the diggers, the rollers and the steelers. Dung beetles fight for their shit, they steel others’ shit, roll with the shit and if it’s stolen by another then the victim, without a fuss, starts again. They simply accept their lot and do not allow any shit to get them down. 

Dung Beetle Jokes

What do dung beetles train with to build muscle? Dung bells.

What does a teacher say to its pupil when it gets an A? Well-dung!