Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa

We just returned from an AWESOME safari down in South Africa - just over the border from Botswana, to the Madikwe Game Reserve --- a HUGGGEEEEE reserve. We stayed at one of the many, many, many....MANY game lodges there - called The Bush House. Excellent accommodations. We will DEFINITELY be going back. The food was fabulous. Every time we turned around, it was time to eat again! We had muffins (chocolate!) and hot beverages before the morning (6:30 am) game drive; then had a snack (including more hot beverages) again during the morning game drive; back to the lodge for a full breakfast - cereal, yogurt, fresh fruit, eggs cooked to order, bacon, sausage, toast....; tea with a substantial 'snack' (finger foods, fruit salad, fresh fruit, dessert, etc.) around 3:00; snacks (nuts, jerky, dried fruit, chips/pretzels) again during the evening game drive as we watched the sun set; then an indescribably delicious meal after returning from the evening game drive. Mmmm mmmmm. For our first dinner we had ostrich steak with a red wine sauce. Yes! --- we ate ostrich! It was delicious. Tasted like a beef steak. For our second dinner we had pork chops with an applesauce glaze. Also very tasty. Each dinner included soup, home made bread, fresh veggies and of course....dessert. Enough about the food....on to what we saw during our four game drives (2 per day - one at 6:30 am and the other at 4:00 pm).

First of all - a little background about safaris in Africa. Madikwe Game Reserve is known as The Big Five - meaning they have the top 5 animals people typically want to see on a safari. What are The Big Five? Glad you asked! They are: Lion, Elephant, Rhino, Cape Buffalo and Leopard. The leopard is the most difficult to find. But guess what????? We saw ALL FIVE during our game drives on Saturday! We had an excellent field guide/driver. I have to make a confession about how we spotted the leopard......(no pun intended about the spots) during our evening game drive. We saw the reflection of the leopard's eyes, as the spot light was scanning the hills (that our field guide was holding...while driving)... way up on the rocky ledges of one of the many 'mountains'/hills... and our driver and another guest were able to make out the leopard's silhouette with the help of binoculars. (Leopards hang around the rocky, mountainous terrain...which we can't drive on - so they are difficult to see up close....unless you happen to see one up in a tree during the day.) So technically, we didn't see the full leopard...but those beautiful golden eyes. Maybe for our next trip we'll see the full leopard!

Anyway - here are the pics - and some additional info/descriptions as needed. OHHHHH.....one key point I've failed to mention!!!!! Our digital camera...that we've had for over 4 years...that has been overseas with S's deployments to the 'sandbox'...and every where that we've been.....DIED on us as we began our first game drive on Friday evening!!!!!!!!!!!! UUUGGGGHHHH!!! Thankfully, we had our Sony digital camera with us...which is about 6 years old --- which can take digital pics...but only at 3.0 MP. Thus - the quality on these pics isn't as crisp as we'd like, by any means, but the trip was tremendous fun. (Yep - we're in the market for a new digital camera. ****For you photo snappin' savvy friends - your suggestions are most welcome!!!***** (The camera that just died was a Canon Powershot A95.)






Zebra mama and baby. I think the zebras are my most favorite creature.



















One of many giraffes that we saw....














A proud Daddy with his two 'cubs'. Did I mention how coooollllllllldddddd it was during the morning drives??? The morning temp was in the mid-40s I guess, plus factor in the wind chill of truckin' down the road in an open Land Cruiser. Brrrrrr... Dressing in layers...at least 4 or more, plus a coat, gloves, headcovering was the key. Next time I'll be sure to bring turtlenecks, too.




Speaking of cubs and such.....the highlight of the animals we were able to see would have to be the lions. Their majesty, power and presence was beyond words. Here are pics of a male lion, female lion and lion cubs. There were 4 lion cubs (about 4 months old) in all....but they wouldn't all stay in one place long enough for me to take a picture of them together! Kids. [Sidenote: the pics of the lions were taken at their 'feeding place' for the last several days....so the field guides knew exactly where to take us for guaranteed viewing of lions. An elephant had died - not by lion attacks -but either of natural causes or some sickness not determined...thus the lions had their meals readily available for several days. Yes, we saw the elephant carcas...and lots of other gory details that I'll spare you. It's ingrained in my memory. Yet, it shows how God is providing food for those cubs and other animals. Yes, the girls did see glimpses of the scene - but really looked off across the grassy fields instead - and were saddened by the loss of the elephant -but also understanding of the provision of food for the lions and the cubs. The girls chose to focus on the playfulness of the cubs - and watched as the cubs rolled around in the grass with one another - put their paws in one another's faces, played with tails, etc.] By the way....we were extremely close to the lions for these pics....probably 10-15 feet at most.

Cubs playing..






















Video of a very sleepy lion.....






I knew I forgot to mention something else....many of the lodges at the reserve have their own watering hole...which draws in some of the animals...which means you can view animals from your lodge. (When we arrived Friday afternoon - there were a brother and sister lion lounging in the shade by the water hole!!!!) Thankfully, the lodge where we stayed has an electric fence around the entire perimeter of their property - so there's no danger of a lion, wart hog, elephant, wildebeast, etc. coming on to the grounds. Plus, it means kids can safely run around and play.

These are kudu, which came to the watering hole at our lodge.

Elephants....including a very muddy one.......... and also cute elephant babies. :-)

Male impala













The Cape Buffalo. We were told these animals are only 2nd after hippos as being responsible for the most deaths to humans in Africa (on safari). Powerful - and underestimated. Thus, it isn't the lions you need to worry about!

This bird is known as the Lilac Breasted Roller...which we were told by our field guide...is the National Bird of Botswana.






Lastly.....what is it a picture of? A lion paw print (track). (Look towards the bottom center of the pic - to the left of the tire marks. During this morning's game drive - our field guide was tracking a pack of about 5 lions (no where near the lions in the above pics). The tracks continued on to another part of the Reserve - for which we needed clearance by that particular lodge to enter their property area. Our field guide tried several times to radio them for clearance (which I'm sure they would have given)...but no one answered. This was about 7:30 in the morning...guess they were still sleeping. We were bummed not to actually find the lions...but the tracking was exciting!!!! A science lesson for the girls in tracking animals!!!