Pongola Day Six

I mentioned in the last blog the four of us had decided to head over to the camp next door to hang out with the guys for a few hours. Heike picked us up at 7:00pm and we made our way over to the research camp. The atmosphere was completely different from the other night with all the guys being sober and very mellowed out. We had the chance to check out a few of the rooms that we will inhabit come Saturday, and although they aren’t comparable to the cottage they were still a step up from Intibane. We also found out a little more information about our new friends... and interestingly enough only three of the guys we have gotten to know would be able to legally drink in Canada. This was quite funny because the oldest looking of the bunch were the youngest and vice versa. We also found out that South African Idol exists and one of the guys (Lionel) had tried out just for the fun of it. He even got two minutes of air time. At 9:45pm we called it a night and headed home.

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It was a very unusual day today in terms of the animals we sighted and the events that occurred. 

We set out at 8:30am and headed south toward the lake because we were receiving strong signals for the main herd and a few of the older bulls. During the first fifteen minutes of the drive we came across a bachelor group of giraffe along the railway tracks. The giraffe has turned out to be a very awkward animal in my mind. When we stopped the vehicle to take a few pictures three of the giraffes lined up beside each other. The giraffe in the middle stared directly at us, not even blinking an eye, while the other two cocked their heads to the side and just stood there. It makes you wonder who is really watching who, and what could a giraffe possibly be thinking about as it stares directly at you?

Continuing on our way Heike made a few more stops to take signal and turned off the main road into a thicket where the herd was potentially hiding out. We wove our way through the bushes and onto the floodplain before we managed to spot any elephant. We re-entered another part of the thicket and around 10:04am spotted our first bull. This individual turned out to be Ntini and just to his left were Ngani and Kohlewe. We automatically began our 30-minute scan sample of the group and picked out the individuals we would be conducting focal samples on. Abbey and I recorded Kohlewe’s behaviour while the other two focused on Ngani. Ntini was the last to be sampled and then we headed off to find the other herd. 

As we made our way toward the floodplain I managed to spot two bull elephants across the lake. These two are known as Shayisa and Khumbula. The opposite side of the lake isn’t actually a part of the PGR; it is used as a nature reserve and has no large game in it. Unfortunately, the elephants don’t know this and managed to swim around the large fence that divides the nature reserve and the PGR. Heike made a quick phone call to the manager of the property and we received permission to make our way around the lake in hopes of collecting data on the bulls. At 1:00pm we had made our way to the opposite bank of the lake and parked the vehicle in view of the thicket along the lake. The two bulls didn’t emerge from the thicket while we were there, but we did manage to see a very robust hippo checking us out from in the lake. We also saw a brahma bull hanging out along the water’s edge. According to Heike the presence of this bull is illegal and he must have been with a herd of cattle being illegally grazed on the property. The entire three hours that we waited for Shayisa or Khumbula the bull didn’t move an inch.

Around 3:00pm we decided to try and find the main herd so we made our way back to the opposite side of the lake. We were driving along a road that borders the thicket when a younger elephant made her way onto the floodplain. She was followed by Astro, one of the adult cows, as well as three or four other juveniles, including OJVM #3. Astro remained out of our view making it impossible to do any focal sampling so instead we just viewed the antics of the younger animals. Eventually Boudica, another adult female, made her way out of the thicket with her 7 month old calf. Elephant calves are hysterical to watch because it is completely apparent that they are still infants and are always learning. Boudica’s calf was distracted when it first came out of the bush; therefore, Boudica was approximately 20 meters away from her calf when it first realized it was lagging behind. When this happens the calves flatten their ears against their heads, raise their trunks, and run as fast as they are possibly able to catch up. As you watch them you can see the determination on their faces as they move their stumpy legs faster and faster. This particular calf was also at the age when learning basically means mimicking the behaviour of the elephants around you. As Boudica meandered her way around the floodplain she would stop to rip up grasses and shrubs along the way. Instinctively, she would swat the forage into her chest and shoulders to knock away any soil before putting it in her mouth. Her calf, following closely by her side, would copy her behaviour by attempting to pull up little pieces of grass here and there. Watching this is quite amusing as elephant calves sometimes have trouble operating their trunks successfully. After pulling up a few strands of grass, the calf made an effort to swat the dirt off and after managing to only fling dirt into his face the little guy gave up and shoved the grass into his mouth, soil and all.

All the elephants had disappeared back into the thicket by 4:30pm. Instead of heading home right away we stayed to watch an off-duty patrol man bring in the horses that were grazing the surrounding area. The horses are owned by a company that is responsible for the security of the PGR and are used for daily patrols along the fence lines. Knowing the routine, the horses quickly started walking back towards the stable where they were housed... and along with them came two zebras. The two zebras had somehow managed to join the herd of horses sometime in the last few months and due to their gentle nature the owners of the horses didn’t seem to mind. As the horses walked single file toward their paddock the two zebras brought up the rear. Although the zebras are locked out of the paddock the two of them stay in close vicinity to the other horses and rejoin them the next day when they are turned out once again. 

The trip home is usually a quick one, only taking an hour or so. Thirty-five minutes from our cottage we were driving along at a steady pace when there was a loud bang. As it turns out we had managed to blow a rear tire on the ele-truck. The five of us got the jack out and the necessary tools and prepared to change the tire. After some struggle we managed to get the tire off but to our dismay our jack couldn’t lift the vehicle high enough to put the spare tire on. Luckily, a friend of Heike’s was driving past and used his jack to lift the truck higher. We were all relieved when the spare tire slid easily onto the hub but any elation we felt quickly dissolved when we realized that the spare tire didn’t fit on the hub properly. Without any other options Heike made a quick phone call to have someone bring another tire. 

At 7:00pm (ish), Andre and Lionel showed up... without another spare tire. As usual, men will be men, and the two of them decided that the spare tire we had couldn’t possibly not fit on the vehicle. After ten minutes of attempting to fit the tire on they finally agreed with us and grabbed the spare off the vehicle they had arrived in. This tire did the trick and by 7:30pm we were finally on the road again heading home. The sun had set at 6:09pm so we were all very glad to be back in the ele-truck and safe from any hyenas or wild dogs.