Trip report Part 1 Phinda Forest SA
 

Itinerary:
Joberg Airport Intercontinental
Phinda Forrest Lodge 3 nights
Phinda Rock Lodge 2 nights
Rattray’s Mala Mala 4 nights
Azura Beach Mozambique 4 nights

Photolink: http://www.pbase.com/scfphoto/root
This is an ongoing project so be patient more to come


Thanks to all who answered my questions in planning this trip. You were very helpful. Please excuse typos and I am sure I will not be able to include everything so feel free to ask questions.

First a little background so readers will know where we are coming from. We are in our very early 50’s and have traveled extensively around the world although this was our first trip to Africa. I must say up front we did not really experience much of Africa as all our locations were quite removed from any local communities. There were community visits that could be arranged but it seemed time was always short I now regret this as I realize how much more to SA there is besides seeing animals. Next trip!

Our intention was to see the wildlife of SA and that we did! It was amazing to us and I can never convey the awe and wonder we experienced while mere inches away from 3 male lions walking past the vehicle, or watching a female leopard caressing the male trying to convince him to mate. All of you who have been to these special places know what I am talking about and those yet to go will soon find out.

I am not going to write a minute-by-minute account of our trip but will give my impressions of the strengths and weaknesses of the lodges we visited. Will also attempt to tell about a few of the highlights experienced.

Phinda Forrest Lodge: First, I think Phinda’s strength is its variety of ecosystems and the knowledge of their rangers and trackers. This makes a great start for this type of trip. There are 7 different bio zones and the animals and their behavior vary some depending on the area you traverse. Our ranger was Chris and he had great depth of knowledge of the animal’s behavior, and adaptations to their environment. He was so enthusiastic about imparting his knowledge but did so in a very warm humorous way. He was a great fit for us and we learned a great deal. Our tracker was Eske and we had the pleasure of Doomey a long time tracker working towards his ranger license. He was a local and we took several bush walks with him and he really knew his subject. This is when you can see all the little things you miss on drives. Not to b missed. The accommodations at Forrest are well known about and very comfortable and private. Which is a necessity since all the walls are glass windows. The unique thing is viewing all the wildlife from your room. There are literally hundreds of nyala, impala, and duikers wandering about. Along with genet cats, vervet monkeys and too many birds to count. So even when you are trying to rest you are still seeing more wildlife. Food and service were all very good. Not over the top gourmet but mostly excellent food.

OK, Wild life highlights. We would see all the antelope species on every game drive to the point of boredom after the first few days. Oh just another nyala or duiker! We also saw wildebeests, giraffe, zebra, white rhino, and many birds.
On the first evening drive we encountered the 3 new male lions trying to take over the territory from the dominant male who was in hiding the entire time we were at Forrest. These were magnificent cats coming into their prime. No one expects the dominant male to last long. Chris knew just what to do and parked the vehicle and the lions came and laid down on all sides of us within 10 feet. See the photos in the Phinda gallery. What a first game drive. In hindsight it was the most dramatic lion experience we had. As knewbies we were pretty blown away.

The following morning was another unique experience even for the guides and trackers. We came upon 6 cheetahs, a mother and her 5 sub adult offspring. They were all watching a clump of lala palms. A sickly aging male nyala was in the thicket and the cheetah had it surrounded. The youngsters would try to attack from one side while another distracted the nyala, but the nyala would lower it horns and fight them off. The mother did not seem interested and watched the younger ones try to go for the kill. It got down right comical at times, as the young cheetah seemed so inept. True to form the cats tire easily and went to take a nap. The nyala was still in the thicket and could not come out. Occaisionally a cheetah would try to sneak up on it but he would lower his horns again and fight the cheetah off. We finally left with the situation unresolved. The cheetahs were spotted later in another location and had not fed so I guess the nyala survived for another day.

The evening drive found more cheetah. This time a mother and very small cubs. The cubs would wait in one spot while the mother hunted. A very special sighting. Later in the evening as darkness approached we found the 3 amigos again. Light was very low so not good for photos. The highlight was that the 3 lions all started to roar their warning to the dominant male. We were within 30 feet of them as they roared and it was spectacular. The sound literally shook us.

We had not seen any elephants so far and they are one of DW’s favorites. She kept kidding the ranger and tracker about the lack of elephant sightings. The next day we set out to find some elephants. Water was really scarce in Sept. so the elephants were coming to Vlei Lodge to drink from the plunge pool at #6. We could hear them coming by the crash of trees in the dense bush. What we did not expect was how many were coming, they just kept coming out of the bush in groups, then patiently waiting their turn for a drink at the pool. Next two large

I must be too wordy the site cut me off. Here is the rest of intallment 1.

dueling but the weaker one moved off pretty quickly. There was lots of water squirting and frolicking by the young elephants. It started raining and darkness was falling so the game drive was pretty much over as the elephants disappeared back into the sand forest. The next morning we were watching some other animal and out of nowhere right behind us come a family of elephants. No one in the vehicle heard a thing including the ranger and trackers. It was spooky how quiet they were. Overall a great three days at Phinda Forest lodge. We really felt that this was our favorite lodge we visited. They do a great job.

I almost forgot the black Rhino tracking. This was quite an experience. It is done on foot once they track the rhinos down to a small block of land. Unfortunately for us it turned into 2 hours of tracking and 2 minutes of rhino time. Walking through the thickest brush with the nastiest thorns I have ever experienced the rhino researcher turns around and whispers, “ We have a big problem, there is a buffalo herd between us and the rhinos.” Anyway we could not get down wind from the rhino. He got us close enough to see it in the thick brush but it caught our scent and took off. When he found us a climable tree to hide behind he tried to track it further but it was gone. Oh well we saw it and saw many other animals along the way.

Next up is Phinda Rock Lodge. All the rocks are on the roads!

Enjoying this. Phinda Forest was our first safari experience and I still remember it fondly. We too had wonderful sightings, our ranger was top-notch, and the camp was lovely.

Great account of Phinda with some unique sightings. You certainly saw the signature cheetahs!

Even 2 minutes of black rhino on foot is good luck. Were you trying especially for black rhino or just any rhino and you picked up spoor of the black?

You are right that you can watch the animals from Forest Lodge while you rest.

We were looking for black specifically. There had been a newborn recently so he was trying to find it. We also got charged by a female warthog defending her piglets. It got pretty exciting out there.