Predator Biologist Trip Report: Madikwe & Botswana
Mar 31st, 2006, 12:26 PM
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Predator Biologist Trip Report: Madikwe & Botswana
It's take a little while to get started but here is the 1st installment for my trip report March 1 - March 17.
The Basics
This trip was for 14 nights including 3 in Joburg, 4 on safari in Madikwe and 7 in Botswana. Originally we had 5 nights in Cape Town and Wine Country scheduled but I had a personal conflict that forced us to drop that part of the trip. I had made my bookings with the help of fellow fodorite Selwyn, and was really excited to experience the township of Kayamandi with him. I include this only to say that when I had to cancel Selwyn was a true champion and I was fortunate to recover virtually all of my deposits, more than I was actually entitled to. I wish I could echo many former travelers on what an excellent experience they had with Selwyn but I can say in both planning and cancellation his help was superb!
We departed 1:20 am on March 1st from Denver. No need for lots of details as most everyone knows the flight over is the one misery of making an Africa trip. We arrived Atlanta around 5:30 a.m. then waited for our 10:30 a.m. to Joburg. We made Joburg on time 10:30ish a.m. the next day. With 2 missed nights of sleep, and not being good plane sleepers I prefer to take the first day to just crash and not start a safari. We checked into the D’Oreale Grande at Emperor’s Palace – formerly Ceasars. This is a great option if you need to be by the airport, we were flying out to Madikwe the next morning so I wanted to stay near the airport. They have a free shuttle that runs to and from the airport every 20 minutes. Our room was very nice and comfortable. When in the hotel you have no idea that it is attached to a casino a short walk away. There are numerous restaurants and shops with late night hours, which is great in case jet lag has you up at strange times. There is a big pool, spa, and workout facilities as well. I would definitely recommend this as a stopover hotel near the airport. There are also two other hotels in the complex that offer different pricing options. I was too tired to try my hand at gambling but the casino is 24 hours. They even have a little indoor roller coaster, fresco painted ceilings, etc. It’s like one Vegas hotel dropped in by itself. After catching up on our sleep deprivation Mrs. Predator Biologist and myself caught a flight to Madikwe. Originally I was going to drive it but we were meeting friends on March 7th (Mrs. PB’s birthday) in Joburg so I wanted to get in our full game drive and be back at a good hour to meet them so we decided to fly.
Madikwe Game Reserve
I was very interested in checking out the Madikwe Game Reserve for a number of reasons. For those that don’t know Madikwe is a unique project where a large reserve was created in 1991 on ranch lands that had been severely overgrazed leading to them losing value for cattle grazing. At 76,000 hectares it is the 4th largest game reserve in South Africa and during Operation Phoenix over 8,000 mammals of 27 species were relocated to the reserve. This was all supposed to aid in wildlife conservation but also in economic development of local communities in this impoverished region.
I believe this type of restoration is the key to future conservation in Africa where land can be rehabilitated to create corridors connecting the existing parks and wilderness areas. Thus I wanted to see first hand how this effort was working. Also I am leading group trips that are designed for those interested in a conservation focus and I thought this could provide a very interesting educational component to trip itineraries. There are so many interesting topics including land restoration and management, species research, wildlife management, etc. For example, I learned that the buffalo were purchased from a zoo program in Czechoslovakia because they have the only disease free breeding stock in the world. However, because you pay $2,500 per buffalo they also consciously stocked their lion from Etosha because they come from a lion culture that does not eat buffalo but rather focus on wildebeest and zebra which are cheaper and easy to establish and stock. There are many of these interesting considerations that take you well beyond simply spotting animals. The area is also a reservoir for rare species and is an excellent place to see African wild dog and both white and black rhino which were compelling reasons for me to visit as I knew they would be hard to see in Botswana at this time of year. Normally the more wild an area and the less people the more appealing to me, but for these educational reasons I chose to visit this fenced reserve project.
Madikwe Hills
Our first stop was the ultra luxurious Madikwe Hills. This was over the top luxury in the true South African style. Lots of glass windows, air-conditioned, fridge/bar, soaking tub, fireplace, multiple rooms, and my favorite -- the private plunge pool. I am definitely one who comes for the wildlife and does not need the luxury, however, I certainly do love it when I have it – especially when I can grab a cold drink from my fridge and enjoy my own pool! Main lodging was beautiful incorporating boulders right into decks and the bar. There was a t.v. in the lounge area that was only on the first afternoon as there was a big cricket match going on – not something I want at my lodges but I did not really notice it being there. I guess it would depend on the crowd. There was also a small spa and work out facility that were out of the way and only found if you went looking.
One thing true for our whole trip was huge rains have fallen this year. There were rumors that some Sabi Sand lodges were being evacuated from a huge rain that came just before our arrival. In Madikwe it left many roads impassable so all the lodges were left using the ½ of the roads available adding to increased vehicle sightings. On the worst day I would guess we saw about 12 other vehicles. This was usually just in passing and sightings are restricted to 3 vehicles I believe while guides “Q” up over the radio for opportunities to get a turn at a sighting so it wasn't bad, it just wasn't Botswana. Our guide was fairly new to the reserve and he had one of those earpiece jaw line type phones listening to constant guide chatter. I think that had him a little distracted from interpreting the sights. Our tracker Victor knew the area well and took a test to become a guide while we were there. He was more out going than the average tracker and was quite a character. In a little challenge with an Australian visitor he ate an impala pellet – there wasn’t even cash involved, just shock value. Then when I was watering the African landscape he heaved a rock into the bushes behind me in an effort to frighten me – fortunately I am very comfortable in the bush having spent nights alone walking in the Western forests of the U.S. doing owl surveys so I didn’t generate the reaction he was hoping for. The next morning he gave another guest a pretty good scare. Our first drive here was not too productive although we did see a mother and baby white rhino just after dark on our way back. I was happy to be in Africa and hoped the sightings would improve.
Shooting Springbok
Our first dinner was a social event as we were joined by 3 Aussie pilots who were hilarious and an outgoing couple from the U.K. The food at the camp was very good and so were the drinks. Somehow after consuming quite a bit of wine from the Cape we got introduced to the Springbok – a tasty little shooter consisting of Amarula and Crème de Menthe which added a nice green color approximating the South African Springboks rugby team colors. Well as we all showed up a little green for our first morning game drive I recounted the story to our guide (who had retired after the first round of springbok) that a whole herd of Springbok came by and we knocked them all down.
Our morning drive was a pleasant one and we saw some giraffe, an elephant, white rhino, lots of nice birds, hippo etc. We were starting to get in the groove. On the afternoon drive we found a lioness consuming the remains of a wildebeest – her partner already stuffed and sleeping off to the side. More white rhino too.
Wild dogs of my dreams
Our second night I had scheduled a private dinner to celebrate Mrs. PB’s birthday while we were still traveling alone. It ended up raining this night and we got a little wet and chilly on our way back from viewing. When we entered our chalet there was a lovely table set for two in our living room. Throughout the bathroom was a scattering of burning candles and flower petals on the floor. Our soaking tub was filled with a hot bubble bath with flower petals and the bath mat had I Love U spelled out in petals. It was a very romantic scene.
Our dinner was then served by a wonderful young man appropriately named Charity. He was kept up a little late the night previous herding together the Springbok and now he personally delivered each dinner course to our chalet. The dinner was devine with a terrific crawfish salad with citrus vinegarette, impala steaks, polenta, and pancotta.
The night before we arrived the Aussies had actually had a couple of wild dogs on their back deck. Their chalet was down on the edge of a clearing so it was in the right spot – most are built around rocky areas up the hill. This night I was awoken by the roaring of lions, makes me so ecstatic to be awoken by that sound. Then as I fell into a deep sleep I dreamt of our guide Gary coming around the corner of the chalet with 3 wild dogs in his arms. He crouched down and released each one of them onto our deck and I saw them run by our glass doors.
We awoke to dreary rains but I just knew there was a reward in store for us if we toughed it out (considering a canopy on the vehicle this would be nothing compared to toughing out our Botswana activities to come later). After about an hour and a half the rains ended and the sun broke through. We were rumbling down a road and there just off the road ahead was a magnificent black rhino! He was reddened from wallowing in the mud and was unusually out in the open. The black rhino (more accurately the hooked-lipped rhino) is a browser that is usually in the bushes and somewhat shy. Rhino’s have terrible eye sight making them dangerous because if they know something is there but can’t determine what it is by smell the charge is on. This rhino had trouble sniffing us and continued to approach providing an excellent observational sighting. Eventually he came close enough and determined he was not in danger and went off into the bush. We were very excited by this sighting! We then picked up lion tracks and followed the trail for a good while. They eventually led to the fence line – our first encounter seeing the fence. That was not my favorite thing to see but it quickly changed as we looked up the fence line and there was a pack of African wild dogs!! We counted 12 – one with a radio-collar. A few of the species here are very well studied but the researches do not utilize the technology to share sightings, they have to be earned like any other reserve. The dogs looked like they may go hunt as they trotted off in front of us. The behavior was fascinating to watch as some dogs would stop and bond with another by begging and possibly regurgitating some food. At one point 7 or 8 dogs were surrounding each other and appearing to eat. I pointed out this behavior and our guide said they are probably catching mice and frogs, etc. along the way – I know that was not the case. This bonding ritual is key to getting everyone excited and working as a team. We followed for a while and then the dog turned around as if they may be sensing something. A couple of dogs were right next to me where I possibly could have petted them they were so close. I heard a bird make an alarm call and the dogs all took a jump in that direction. They then trotted about 20 yards from us and were staring out into deeper vegetation. Another vehicle had arrived and was on the other side of them. I told my wife that I though the lions we were tracking were in there. Sure enough the other guide radioed over that he believed the lions were in there too. I believe the dogs figured out where they were and then moved on safely in the other direction at which time we let another vehicle take our place at the sighting. It was tremendous that we were the ones who found them so we had a nice ½ hour with them mostly by ourselves.
On just our second morning the Madikwe visit had been a big success. We had seen my favorite species to observe – the wild dog, had excellent viewing of both rhino species and I was enjoying learning more about the creation of a wildlife park. Our next lodge was also in Madikwe on the far western side of the reserve about an hour and a half drive away. I chose to visit two lodges because I wanted to see the high end luxury but I also wanted to stay at the first local community owned property in South Africa.
Next up … Buffalo Ridge, Madikwe Game Reserve.
The Basics
This trip was for 14 nights including 3 in Joburg, 4 on safari in Madikwe and 7 in Botswana. Originally we had 5 nights in Cape Town and Wine Country scheduled but I had a personal conflict that forced us to drop that part of the trip. I had made my bookings with the help of fellow fodorite Selwyn, and was really excited to experience the township of Kayamandi with him. I include this only to say that when I had to cancel Selwyn was a true champion and I was fortunate to recover virtually all of my deposits, more than I was actually entitled to. I wish I could echo many former travelers on what an excellent experience they had with Selwyn but I can say in both planning and cancellation his help was superb!
We departed 1:20 am on March 1st from Denver. No need for lots of details as most everyone knows the flight over is the one misery of making an Africa trip. We arrived Atlanta around 5:30 a.m. then waited for our 10:30 a.m. to Joburg. We made Joburg on time 10:30ish a.m. the next day. With 2 missed nights of sleep, and not being good plane sleepers I prefer to take the first day to just crash and not start a safari. We checked into the D’Oreale Grande at Emperor’s Palace – formerly Ceasars. This is a great option if you need to be by the airport, we were flying out to Madikwe the next morning so I wanted to stay near the airport. They have a free shuttle that runs to and from the airport every 20 minutes. Our room was very nice and comfortable. When in the hotel you have no idea that it is attached to a casino a short walk away. There are numerous restaurants and shops with late night hours, which is great in case jet lag has you up at strange times. There is a big pool, spa, and workout facilities as well. I would definitely recommend this as a stopover hotel near the airport. There are also two other hotels in the complex that offer different pricing options. I was too tired to try my hand at gambling but the casino is 24 hours. They even have a little indoor roller coaster, fresco painted ceilings, etc. It’s like one Vegas hotel dropped in by itself. After catching up on our sleep deprivation Mrs. Predator Biologist and myself caught a flight to Madikwe. Originally I was going to drive it but we were meeting friends on March 7th (Mrs. PB’s birthday) in Joburg so I wanted to get in our full game drive and be back at a good hour to meet them so we decided to fly.
Madikwe Game Reserve
I was very interested in checking out the Madikwe Game Reserve for a number of reasons. For those that don’t know Madikwe is a unique project where a large reserve was created in 1991 on ranch lands that had been severely overgrazed leading to them losing value for cattle grazing. At 76,000 hectares it is the 4th largest game reserve in South Africa and during Operation Phoenix over 8,000 mammals of 27 species were relocated to the reserve. This was all supposed to aid in wildlife conservation but also in economic development of local communities in this impoverished region.
I believe this type of restoration is the key to future conservation in Africa where land can be rehabilitated to create corridors connecting the existing parks and wilderness areas. Thus I wanted to see first hand how this effort was working. Also I am leading group trips that are designed for those interested in a conservation focus and I thought this could provide a very interesting educational component to trip itineraries. There are so many interesting topics including land restoration and management, species research, wildlife management, etc. For example, I learned that the buffalo were purchased from a zoo program in Czechoslovakia because they have the only disease free breeding stock in the world. However, because you pay $2,500 per buffalo they also consciously stocked their lion from Etosha because they come from a lion culture that does not eat buffalo but rather focus on wildebeest and zebra which are cheaper and easy to establish and stock. There are many of these interesting considerations that take you well beyond simply spotting animals. The area is also a reservoir for rare species and is an excellent place to see African wild dog and both white and black rhino which were compelling reasons for me to visit as I knew they would be hard to see in Botswana at this time of year. Normally the more wild an area and the less people the more appealing to me, but for these educational reasons I chose to visit this fenced reserve project.
Madikwe Hills
Our first stop was the ultra luxurious Madikwe Hills. This was over the top luxury in the true South African style. Lots of glass windows, air-conditioned, fridge/bar, soaking tub, fireplace, multiple rooms, and my favorite -- the private plunge pool. I am definitely one who comes for the wildlife and does not need the luxury, however, I certainly do love it when I have it – especially when I can grab a cold drink from my fridge and enjoy my own pool! Main lodging was beautiful incorporating boulders right into decks and the bar. There was a t.v. in the lounge area that was only on the first afternoon as there was a big cricket match going on – not something I want at my lodges but I did not really notice it being there. I guess it would depend on the crowd. There was also a small spa and work out facility that were out of the way and only found if you went looking.
One thing true for our whole trip was huge rains have fallen this year. There were rumors that some Sabi Sand lodges were being evacuated from a huge rain that came just before our arrival. In Madikwe it left many roads impassable so all the lodges were left using the ½ of the roads available adding to increased vehicle sightings. On the worst day I would guess we saw about 12 other vehicles. This was usually just in passing and sightings are restricted to 3 vehicles I believe while guides “Q” up over the radio for opportunities to get a turn at a sighting so it wasn't bad, it just wasn't Botswana. Our guide was fairly new to the reserve and he had one of those earpiece jaw line type phones listening to constant guide chatter. I think that had him a little distracted from interpreting the sights. Our tracker Victor knew the area well and took a test to become a guide while we were there. He was more out going than the average tracker and was quite a character. In a little challenge with an Australian visitor he ate an impala pellet – there wasn’t even cash involved, just shock value. Then when I was watering the African landscape he heaved a rock into the bushes behind me in an effort to frighten me – fortunately I am very comfortable in the bush having spent nights alone walking in the Western forests of the U.S. doing owl surveys so I didn’t generate the reaction he was hoping for. The next morning he gave another guest a pretty good scare. Our first drive here was not too productive although we did see a mother and baby white rhino just after dark on our way back. I was happy to be in Africa and hoped the sightings would improve.
Shooting Springbok
Our first dinner was a social event as we were joined by 3 Aussie pilots who were hilarious and an outgoing couple from the U.K. The food at the camp was very good and so were the drinks. Somehow after consuming quite a bit of wine from the Cape we got introduced to the Springbok – a tasty little shooter consisting of Amarula and Crème de Menthe which added a nice green color approximating the South African Springboks rugby team colors. Well as we all showed up a little green for our first morning game drive I recounted the story to our guide (who had retired after the first round of springbok) that a whole herd of Springbok came by and we knocked them all down.
Our morning drive was a pleasant one and we saw some giraffe, an elephant, white rhino, lots of nice birds, hippo etc. We were starting to get in the groove. On the afternoon drive we found a lioness consuming the remains of a wildebeest – her partner already stuffed and sleeping off to the side. More white rhino too.
Wild dogs of my dreams
Our second night I had scheduled a private dinner to celebrate Mrs. PB’s birthday while we were still traveling alone. It ended up raining this night and we got a little wet and chilly on our way back from viewing. When we entered our chalet there was a lovely table set for two in our living room. Throughout the bathroom was a scattering of burning candles and flower petals on the floor. Our soaking tub was filled with a hot bubble bath with flower petals and the bath mat had I Love U spelled out in petals. It was a very romantic scene.
Our dinner was then served by a wonderful young man appropriately named Charity. He was kept up a little late the night previous herding together the Springbok and now he personally delivered each dinner course to our chalet. The dinner was devine with a terrific crawfish salad with citrus vinegarette, impala steaks, polenta, and pancotta.
The night before we arrived the Aussies had actually had a couple of wild dogs on their back deck. Their chalet was down on the edge of a clearing so it was in the right spot – most are built around rocky areas up the hill. This night I was awoken by the roaring of lions, makes me so ecstatic to be awoken by that sound. Then as I fell into a deep sleep I dreamt of our guide Gary coming around the corner of the chalet with 3 wild dogs in his arms. He crouched down and released each one of them onto our deck and I saw them run by our glass doors.
We awoke to dreary rains but I just knew there was a reward in store for us if we toughed it out (considering a canopy on the vehicle this would be nothing compared to toughing out our Botswana activities to come later). After about an hour and a half the rains ended and the sun broke through. We were rumbling down a road and there just off the road ahead was a magnificent black rhino! He was reddened from wallowing in the mud and was unusually out in the open. The black rhino (more accurately the hooked-lipped rhino) is a browser that is usually in the bushes and somewhat shy. Rhino’s have terrible eye sight making them dangerous because if they know something is there but can’t determine what it is by smell the charge is on. This rhino had trouble sniffing us and continued to approach providing an excellent observational sighting. Eventually he came close enough and determined he was not in danger and went off into the bush. We were very excited by this sighting! We then picked up lion tracks and followed the trail for a good while. They eventually led to the fence line – our first encounter seeing the fence. That was not my favorite thing to see but it quickly changed as we looked up the fence line and there was a pack of African wild dogs!! We counted 12 – one with a radio-collar. A few of the species here are very well studied but the researches do not utilize the technology to share sightings, they have to be earned like any other reserve. The dogs looked like they may go hunt as they trotted off in front of us. The behavior was fascinating to watch as some dogs would stop and bond with another by begging and possibly regurgitating some food. At one point 7 or 8 dogs were surrounding each other and appearing to eat. I pointed out this behavior and our guide said they are probably catching mice and frogs, etc. along the way – I know that was not the case. This bonding ritual is key to getting everyone excited and working as a team. We followed for a while and then the dog turned around as if they may be sensing something. A couple of dogs were right next to me where I possibly could have petted them they were so close. I heard a bird make an alarm call and the dogs all took a jump in that direction. They then trotted about 20 yards from us and were staring out into deeper vegetation. Another vehicle had arrived and was on the other side of them. I told my wife that I though the lions we were tracking were in there. Sure enough the other guide radioed over that he believed the lions were in there too. I believe the dogs figured out where they were and then moved on safely in the other direction at which time we let another vehicle take our place at the sighting. It was tremendous that we were the ones who found them so we had a nice ½ hour with them mostly by ourselves.
On just our second morning the Madikwe visit had been a big success. We had seen my favorite species to observe – the wild dog, had excellent viewing of both rhino species and I was enjoying learning more about the creation of a wildlife park. Our next lodge was also in Madikwe on the far western side of the reserve about an hour and a half drive away. I chose to visit two lodges because I wanted to see the high end luxury but I also wanted to stay at the first local community owned property in South Africa.
Next up … Buffalo Ridge, Madikwe Game Reserve.
Mar 31st, 2006, 05:51 PM
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Thanks so much for posting your report. I'm thoroughly enjoying it and looking forward to reading more.
Madikwe does sound like the kind of place that I could have a love/hate relationship with - love the dogs ((&
) hate the fences. Although I should wait to hear about Buffalo Ridge before jumping the gun.
Appreciate your making time to post;
Sherry
Madikwe does sound like the kind of place that I could have a love/hate relationship with - love the dogs ((&
) hate the fences. Although I should wait to hear about Buffalo Ridge before jumping the gun.Appreciate your making time to post;
Sherry
Apr 1st, 2006, 04:06 PM
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Glad you could recover most of your deposits and sorry about whatever happened to upset your original plans. Coming to the rescue when things don't go as planned and providing a fix is truly the mark of a good operator.
Consuming impala pellets for the heck of it is pretty hard core.
The birthday dinner must have been wonderful. Petals in the bathmate. Very romantic.
I got to the dream about the wild dogs.
Consuming impala pellets for the heck of it is pretty hard core.
The birthday dinner must have been wonderful. Petals in the bathmate. Very romantic.
I got to the dream about the wild dogs.
Apr 2nd, 2006, 08:04 AM
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After retiring to my own dreams, I read the rest of your great report. Your comments on animal behavior and the conservation aspects of the parks are interesting. The lion-buffalo predator-prey facts are fascinating.
That's nice you had such a good wild dog encounter as well as the rhino.
I'll be interested in the game viewing at Madikwe Hills vs. Buffalo Ridge.
You've set a high bar for future Mrs. Predator birthdays.
That's nice you had such a good wild dog encounter as well as the rhino.
I'll be interested in the game viewing at Madikwe Hills vs. Buffalo Ridge.
You've set a high bar for future Mrs. Predator birthdays.
- Please 
Apr 4th, 2006, 07:55 AM
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Thanks for the comments everyone and the B-day wishes for Mrs. PB.
Sorry to lose the momentum but I had to go out in the field and couldn't get to the next segment. Here we go:
Buffalo Ridge, Madikwe Game Reserve
We chose to stay at Buffalo Ridge because it is the first 100% community owned lodge in South Africa. The government provided the Lekgophung village with a concession within Madikwe as reparation for losing much of their land during the apartheid times. It took the community a long time to raise the funds and obtain the loans needed to build their lodge and they opened in November 2004. One of our favorite previous safari camps was Damaraland Camp in Namibia which is also a community based project. For lasting conservation I believe it is critical to provide economic benefits to local people who will then value the wild place that leads to their livelihood. Most lodges provide some benefit with jobs but when the community actually gets the profits and the higher paying management job opportunities it is the ideal situation in my mind.
We arrived to a warm welcome and the camp immediately had a different feel, much like Damaraland Camp did. You just feel like you are a step closer to the community maybe than a typical camp. After our greeting we were shown to our chalet. The chalet was beautiful, much simpler and smaller than Madikwe Hills but yet very finely built with one spacious room with a high ceiling, a separate bathroom area and a large shower. Perched on the ridge there is a nice little porch to sit out and enjoy the view across Madikwe. One feature we really liked was the glass doors could slide open but there was a separate screen door allowing the sounds, smells, and fresh African air in but keeping the bugs out. At Madikwe Hills it was open all up or keep it closed and I don’t like to muffle the sounds in particular. Another unique touch was the chalets feature black and white photos of people in the village doing their daily activities. It was a nice way to tie in the community and gives the chalets a modern chic kind of décor. The main lodge is incredible, built in multiple tiers on the ridge giving it a tree house kind of feel – very open, scenic and well blended to the environment. The top tier has a good sized pool, the biggest of any camp I have been to. Food was exceptional, some of the best we have had in any camps.
Game drives had a very different feel from Madikwe Hills. I think the difference came from a couple of factors – more roads had become available as the rains dried some, the west area is thicker in vegetation, and our guide had a different style. Our guide Moremi was extremely knowledgeable and had worked in the reserve for about 8 years at other camps before Buffalo Ridge opened. He listened and shared information with other guides very little preferring to pursue his own sightings. We typically saw 1 or 2 vehicles at the most on our 4 drives here. We saw many elephants and giraffes over here, much more than the east side but we had less rhino sightings. We found dog tracks but no dogs -- had we not seen them already I think Moremi would have listned for reports and driven to where ever they were found. We saw our only spotted hyena and leopard tortoise over here and saw lions on 3 out of 4 drives. The best highlights were all after dark. We observed our first brown hyena, a very secretive species. When driving back to the lodge we came around a corner and an elephant in the road decided to charge us immediately, luckily we were not too close and a quick reverse move maintained some distance but the elephant ran down the road after us for a good 30 seconds before deciding he had won and wondering off the road allowing us to make a quick pass. And the best highlight sitting in the dark with 4 male lions (2 mature and 2 immature) roaring from 10 feet away so powerfully that the sound reverberated through us – at this moment Madikwe felt every bit as wild as any reserve can. At this point we were the only two guests for the night and we were treated to another highlight, our own dinner in the very intimate boma which is only used for 4 people or less. The food was glorious and we really enjoyed the romantic experience as well as the individual attention we received.
Currently a management company is helping the community grow into the management of the lodge. Our guide Moremi is on the Board of Directors for the community and will be one of the people taking over the management in the next few months. They are working on putting together a quality visit to the village to add a valuable cultural experience in addition to game activities. Overall I was very impressed with the quality of this lodge that costs significantly less than the high luxury lodges in Madikwe – other than no private plunge pool I think the lodge is just as wonderful as Madikwe Hills was and in some ways preferred it. I would urge people to consider community owned lodges where they exist and try it for your self.
To wrap up Madikwe we sighted 21 species of mammals despite it being lush and thick after all the rains. I am sure dry season sightings are even much better. We had a great experience in Madikwe with good sightings and wonderful lodging. While I would not normally choose this area vs. the wide open spaces of Botswana I recommend Madikwe as a fantastic complimentary destination for those that really want to see wild dogs and rhinos and may very well miss them on a Botswana safari. It is also a perfect destination for those who have a special interest in Game Reserve management or land rehabilitation. Madikwe would be great too for those who only have a couple of days to go on safari in South Africa or those who do not want to take malaria precautions and want a ‘softer’ safari experience but still see most of the major animals.
As we waited for our flight out two planes passed overhead then we heard one land but he was only 1/3rd of the way down the runway and not driving to the pick up spot. We went to investigate and found that before our plane could land the owner of a different camp had just landed and his tire blew out so he could not clear the runway and our plane diverted back to the east landing strip (over an hour drive away). This guy was flying in to emergency evacuate a guest that had malaria – contracted from Kruger area before coming to Madikwe. Moremi had to put a tow rope around the front wheel of the plane and drive at a snails pace while our tracker (Franco) and my wife and I had to push up on the wing of the plane to take the weight off of the flat wheel and walk it forward. This became an excruciating exercise as we probably had to cover 100 yards and of course I hadn’t done any activity in days other than push the button on my camera or lift a beverage. Eventually we cleared the runway and our plane was able to return and take us out as well as the chap suffering from malaria who looked quite miserable.
Next Up: Joburg – Emergency iPod replacement and the Unisex bathroom
Sorry to lose the momentum but I had to go out in the field and couldn't get to the next segment. Here we go:
Buffalo Ridge, Madikwe Game Reserve
We chose to stay at Buffalo Ridge because it is the first 100% community owned lodge in South Africa. The government provided the Lekgophung village with a concession within Madikwe as reparation for losing much of their land during the apartheid times. It took the community a long time to raise the funds and obtain the loans needed to build their lodge and they opened in November 2004. One of our favorite previous safari camps was Damaraland Camp in Namibia which is also a community based project. For lasting conservation I believe it is critical to provide economic benefits to local people who will then value the wild place that leads to their livelihood. Most lodges provide some benefit with jobs but when the community actually gets the profits and the higher paying management job opportunities it is the ideal situation in my mind.
We arrived to a warm welcome and the camp immediately had a different feel, much like Damaraland Camp did. You just feel like you are a step closer to the community maybe than a typical camp. After our greeting we were shown to our chalet. The chalet was beautiful, much simpler and smaller than Madikwe Hills but yet very finely built with one spacious room with a high ceiling, a separate bathroom area and a large shower. Perched on the ridge there is a nice little porch to sit out and enjoy the view across Madikwe. One feature we really liked was the glass doors could slide open but there was a separate screen door allowing the sounds, smells, and fresh African air in but keeping the bugs out. At Madikwe Hills it was open all up or keep it closed and I don’t like to muffle the sounds in particular. Another unique touch was the chalets feature black and white photos of people in the village doing their daily activities. It was a nice way to tie in the community and gives the chalets a modern chic kind of décor. The main lodge is incredible, built in multiple tiers on the ridge giving it a tree house kind of feel – very open, scenic and well blended to the environment. The top tier has a good sized pool, the biggest of any camp I have been to. Food was exceptional, some of the best we have had in any camps.
Game drives had a very different feel from Madikwe Hills. I think the difference came from a couple of factors – more roads had become available as the rains dried some, the west area is thicker in vegetation, and our guide had a different style. Our guide Moremi was extremely knowledgeable and had worked in the reserve for about 8 years at other camps before Buffalo Ridge opened. He listened and shared information with other guides very little preferring to pursue his own sightings. We typically saw 1 or 2 vehicles at the most on our 4 drives here. We saw many elephants and giraffes over here, much more than the east side but we had less rhino sightings. We found dog tracks but no dogs -- had we not seen them already I think Moremi would have listned for reports and driven to where ever they were found. We saw our only spotted hyena and leopard tortoise over here and saw lions on 3 out of 4 drives. The best highlights were all after dark. We observed our first brown hyena, a very secretive species. When driving back to the lodge we came around a corner and an elephant in the road decided to charge us immediately, luckily we were not too close and a quick reverse move maintained some distance but the elephant ran down the road after us for a good 30 seconds before deciding he had won and wondering off the road allowing us to make a quick pass. And the best highlight sitting in the dark with 4 male lions (2 mature and 2 immature) roaring from 10 feet away so powerfully that the sound reverberated through us – at this moment Madikwe felt every bit as wild as any reserve can. At this point we were the only two guests for the night and we were treated to another highlight, our own dinner in the very intimate boma which is only used for 4 people or less. The food was glorious and we really enjoyed the romantic experience as well as the individual attention we received.
Currently a management company is helping the community grow into the management of the lodge. Our guide Moremi is on the Board of Directors for the community and will be one of the people taking over the management in the next few months. They are working on putting together a quality visit to the village to add a valuable cultural experience in addition to game activities. Overall I was very impressed with the quality of this lodge that costs significantly less than the high luxury lodges in Madikwe – other than no private plunge pool I think the lodge is just as wonderful as Madikwe Hills was and in some ways preferred it. I would urge people to consider community owned lodges where they exist and try it for your self.
To wrap up Madikwe we sighted 21 species of mammals despite it being lush and thick after all the rains. I am sure dry season sightings are even much better. We had a great experience in Madikwe with good sightings and wonderful lodging. While I would not normally choose this area vs. the wide open spaces of Botswana I recommend Madikwe as a fantastic complimentary destination for those that really want to see wild dogs and rhinos and may very well miss them on a Botswana safari. It is also a perfect destination for those who have a special interest in Game Reserve management or land rehabilitation. Madikwe would be great too for those who only have a couple of days to go on safari in South Africa or those who do not want to take malaria precautions and want a ‘softer’ safari experience but still see most of the major animals.
As we waited for our flight out two planes passed overhead then we heard one land but he was only 1/3rd of the way down the runway and not driving to the pick up spot. We went to investigate and found that before our plane could land the owner of a different camp had just landed and his tire blew out so he could not clear the runway and our plane diverted back to the east landing strip (over an hour drive away). This guy was flying in to emergency evacuate a guest that had malaria – contracted from Kruger area before coming to Madikwe. Moremi had to put a tow rope around the front wheel of the plane and drive at a snails pace while our tracker (Franco) and my wife and I had to push up on the wing of the plane to take the weight off of the flat wheel and walk it forward. This became an excruciating exercise as we probably had to cover 100 yards and of course I hadn’t done any activity in days other than push the button on my camera or lift a beverage. Eventually we cleared the runway and our plane was able to return and take us out as well as the chap suffering from malaria who looked quite miserable.
Next Up: Joburg – Emergency iPod replacement and the Unisex bathroom
Apr 6th, 2006, 08:56 AM
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atravelynn: Brown hyenas are one of the specialties in Madikwe so I beleive they are doing well. Our guide pointed out their sign posts a couple of times. They deposit a white mucussy substance on grass that marks their patrol area.
It was very cool to see one -- I always love finding something that I haven't seen before, especially since it doesn't happen too often anymore.
It was very cool to see one -- I always love finding something that I haven't seen before, especially since it doesn't happen too often anymore.
Apr 6th, 2006, 08:57 AM
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Joburg – Emergency iPod replacement and the Unisex bathroom
We were returning to Joburg for a night because a couple that we had met previously in Namibia were flying in from France to join us for the Botswana portion of our safari. They were due to arrive in the a.m. and our flight was supposed to get us in mid-afternoon. I had booked us all into Ten Bompas after reading about it on this board. The restaurant was very highly rated and we wanted to enjoy a great welcome dinner together. Well by the time we had done our runway plane removal at Madikwe and had our plane return we were at least an 1 ½ hours late landing us into big rush hour traffic from the airport to the suburb of Rosebank. Arriving around 5 would not have been a big deal but I had photo storage issues to resolve before our 7 pm dinner reservation. I had purchased a 60 GB video iPod to store my photos on. I had tried it at home and all was good but on my first download at Madikwe it crapped out on me, wouldn’t transfer the pictues and would not even play music anymore. Luckily I had just enough card space to get through Madikwe but if I didn’t get this resolved in Joburg I would be out of luck for Botswana. We checked in and greeted our friends at which point I felt terrible to say I have got to run to a photo shop. It actually proved pretty easy as I jetted to the Sandton Mall which had a couple of camera shops. After the fiasco with Apple I had decided I would grab the Epson P2000 that I should have bought in the first place – I went iPod because I wanted to get the Bose docking station and use it as a stereo as well as a plug in for my jeep but now I was too focused on photography to worry about that stuff. Problem is electronic prices in S.A. were much higher than in the U.S. They didn’t have the Epson P2000 but only an Epson P4000 which was going to be about $900 – I couldn’t do that. So I had to buy a 30 GB iPod which cost me $100 more than my 60GB cost at home. Fortunately it worked and I was able to shoot away for the rest of the trip. The sales clerk told me it had 16 hours of battery life but everytime I downloaded a card it nearly ran out (30-45 minutes). Needless to say I am very disappointed in this product and warn others don’t buy it! After getting home I heard about 2 others who have had theirs crap out in the first couple weeks. To compound matters by the time I got home it had been 40 days since my purchase and Best Buy refused to give me a store credit choosing to loose my business instead! They would send it to Apple for repair but of course I already have a very expensive replacement and I sure don’t want two of these.
With the iPod problem solved I finally got to start catching up with our friends who had trusted to book on with me for their safari. The Ten Bompas was a funky boutique hotel. They had selected 10 well known interior designers and let each one do a room. Our room had a mural of the Joburg skyline and some funky colors, not our favorite but it was a very comfortable and well set up suite. Our friends had a wonderful wild Africa theme in theirs. Champagne was delivered to our suites and your in-room bar was complimentary – our kind of place! We went to our dinner reservation at Sides, the restaurant at the hotel which is very highly rated. Two of us loved our food (me being one) and the two ladies were not so hot on the special that they ordered which was mediocre. But the real talk centered around the Unisex bathroom which was supposed to cause some sort of shock value. You could hear people at other tables discussing it whenever someone returned and the staff would kind of look for a reaction out of the corner of their eye. I thought it a little odd that I could hear music blaring from behind a closed door when we were checking in. Ends up it was from one of the t.v.s that sit in the floor under glass in the Unisex playing music videos. It was not quite as risqué as it may sound – there are 3 stalls and they go from floor to ceiling making them as private as the loo in your house. The 3rd stall was interesting though as it was a urinal into a small ground trough with a large frosted glass wall behind it. There was a sensor beam that would activate water down the glass wall when your feet entered the beam. Of all the things people imagine you will encounter in Africa this was certainly the most bizarre and unexpected.
Next up … Deception Valley Lodge, Kalahari Desert, Botswana
We were returning to Joburg for a night because a couple that we had met previously in Namibia were flying in from France to join us for the Botswana portion of our safari. They were due to arrive in the a.m. and our flight was supposed to get us in mid-afternoon. I had booked us all into Ten Bompas after reading about it on this board. The restaurant was very highly rated and we wanted to enjoy a great welcome dinner together. Well by the time we had done our runway plane removal at Madikwe and had our plane return we were at least an 1 ½ hours late landing us into big rush hour traffic from the airport to the suburb of Rosebank. Arriving around 5 would not have been a big deal but I had photo storage issues to resolve before our 7 pm dinner reservation. I had purchased a 60 GB video iPod to store my photos on. I had tried it at home and all was good but on my first download at Madikwe it crapped out on me, wouldn’t transfer the pictues and would not even play music anymore. Luckily I had just enough card space to get through Madikwe but if I didn’t get this resolved in Joburg I would be out of luck for Botswana. We checked in and greeted our friends at which point I felt terrible to say I have got to run to a photo shop. It actually proved pretty easy as I jetted to the Sandton Mall which had a couple of camera shops. After the fiasco with Apple I had decided I would grab the Epson P2000 that I should have bought in the first place – I went iPod because I wanted to get the Bose docking station and use it as a stereo as well as a plug in for my jeep but now I was too focused on photography to worry about that stuff. Problem is electronic prices in S.A. were much higher than in the U.S. They didn’t have the Epson P2000 but only an Epson P4000 which was going to be about $900 – I couldn’t do that. So I had to buy a 30 GB iPod which cost me $100 more than my 60GB cost at home. Fortunately it worked and I was able to shoot away for the rest of the trip. The sales clerk told me it had 16 hours of battery life but everytime I downloaded a card it nearly ran out (30-45 minutes). Needless to say I am very disappointed in this product and warn others don’t buy it! After getting home I heard about 2 others who have had theirs crap out in the first couple weeks. To compound matters by the time I got home it had been 40 days since my purchase and Best Buy refused to give me a store credit choosing to loose my business instead! They would send it to Apple for repair but of course I already have a very expensive replacement and I sure don’t want two of these.
With the iPod problem solved I finally got to start catching up with our friends who had trusted to book on with me for their safari. The Ten Bompas was a funky boutique hotel. They had selected 10 well known interior designers and let each one do a room. Our room had a mural of the Joburg skyline and some funky colors, not our favorite but it was a very comfortable and well set up suite. Our friends had a wonderful wild Africa theme in theirs. Champagne was delivered to our suites and your in-room bar was complimentary – our kind of place! We went to our dinner reservation at Sides, the restaurant at the hotel which is very highly rated. Two of us loved our food (me being one) and the two ladies were not so hot on the special that they ordered which was mediocre. But the real talk centered around the Unisex bathroom which was supposed to cause some sort of shock value. You could hear people at other tables discussing it whenever someone returned and the staff would kind of look for a reaction out of the corner of their eye. I thought it a little odd that I could hear music blaring from behind a closed door when we were checking in. Ends up it was from one of the t.v.s that sit in the floor under glass in the Unisex playing music videos. It was not quite as risqué as it may sound – there are 3 stalls and they go from floor to ceiling making them as private as the loo in your house. The 3rd stall was interesting though as it was a urinal into a small ground trough with a large frosted glass wall behind it. There was a sensor beam that would activate water down the glass wall when your feet entered the beam. Of all the things people imagine you will encounter in Africa this was certainly the most bizarre and unexpected.
Next up … Deception Valley Lodge, Kalahari Desert, Botswana
Apr 6th, 2006, 12:30 PM
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Fortunately the photo storage issue was resolved for you without loss. You are right about others having Ipod troubles, some reporting it on this Forum.
Dumb question, but why must you download your photos to an Ipod? Why not just have an extra memory card or two? Or is the downloading to save the cost of the extra memory card(s)?
While loos (or lack thereof) have been an issue discussed on this forum before, nothing like your post crosses my memory.
Brown hyena at Madikwe moves it up a notch in my mental list. Of course the wild dogs are a plus.
Looking forward to Deception Valley with great interest.
Dumb question, but why must you download your photos to an Ipod? Why not just have an extra memory card or two? Or is the downloading to save the cost of the extra memory card(s)?
While loos (or lack thereof) have been an issue discussed on this forum before, nothing like your post crosses my memory.
Brown hyena at Madikwe moves it up a notch in my mental list. Of course the wild dogs are a plus.
Looking forward to Deception Valley with great interest.
Apr 6th, 2006, 01:00 PM
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Hi PB,
Sorry to hear that you had iPod problems -- I used mine without a hitch throughout my three-week trip last year, so you may have gotten a dud.
Lynn -- for me buying a storage device rather than more cards is matter of economics. A 1GB Extreme CF card costs about $100 and only holds about 80 photos from my 20D. Given the amount that I shoot on my trips, buying a storage device for a few hundred dollars and re-using the cards makes sense. Dealing with lots of cards is also fiddly and annoying, at least for me. Super-high capacity cards can solve this problem...but have a greater tendency to become corrupted, and that's the last thing you want when a huge number of your precious photos are on them. Hence the storage device.
Cheers,
Julian
Sorry to hear that you had iPod problems -- I used mine without a hitch throughout my three-week trip last year, so you may have gotten a dud.
Lynn -- for me buying a storage device rather than more cards is matter of economics. A 1GB Extreme CF card costs about $100 and only holds about 80 photos from my 20D. Given the amount that I shoot on my trips, buying a storage device for a few hundred dollars and re-using the cards makes sense. Dealing with lots of cards is also fiddly and annoying, at least for me. Super-high capacity cards can solve this problem...but have a greater tendency to become corrupted, and that's the last thing you want when a huge number of your precious photos are on them. Hence the storage device.
Cheers,
Julian
Apr 6th, 2006, 01:25 PM
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Lynn: just as Julian explains I would have needed about 7 or 8 GB in memory cards and I really didn't know for sure what I would need. Rather than guess and be limited I brought 2 memory cards and then for less than the price of just over 3 1GB cards I bought the iPod for storage that could handle 60GB which would be enough if I ever get to take a much longer trip in the future. The other nice benefit is instead of having 6 or 7 cards laying around until my next trip I can listen to music and get more use for my $.
