Game Reserve tracks

Over the last two years or so the veld in the Eastern Cape has been very bare and brown due to a long drought, but after some very good rain during the winter the drought seems to be broken in most areas and the vegetation has returned with a vengeance.  Visiting Bucklands Game Reserve during late August this was very evident and one of the things I love about it is that it makes the game drive tracks stand out very nicely, making them very photogenic.

The first photo was taken at the lookout where we had coffee on our morning game drive while the second one is a track running past the lodge. 

Giraffe tracking on foot... and breakfast after

The Mini vs Maxi trip was starting to draw to an end and we were just about done with our morning game drive at Bucklands Game Reserve.  We had one thing left to do and that we to find some giraffe to walk.  We got as close to them as it was possible with the vehicle and headed further on foot.

Along the way our ranger pointed out jackal spoor

Not long after we started to approach the giraffe.  Spot the ranger's rifle that I was firing during our firearm handling exercise.  We were approaching through an open area so we couldn't get too close.  The giraffe with their high vantage point spotted us coming a long way off.

I did get a could of photos of these long necked creatures before we had to head back to the vehicle, but anyway, I've had my giraffe close encounter during the trip already.

On our return to the lodge brunch was waiting for us out on the stoep (veranda) and by then all out tummies were rumbling.

We did all agree that a hearty brunch with this fantastic view was the perfect way to end a fantastic and memorable trip.  All that remained for us was to head back home with our photos and start telling the story. 

Walking rhinos at Bucklands

Our morning game drive (the second drive of our stay) at Bucklands Game Reserve during the Mini vs Maxi trip basically had two goals in mind.  We wanted to walk rhino as well as giraffe with rhino being first prize.  Not long into the drive we pulled over for some welcome coffee at one of the lookout spots before our search continued.  There is a bit of a private joke involved in this stop which won't be retold here to preserve some reputations.

Our search came close on a couple of occasions.  Werner, our excellent ranger, stopped at a couple of rhino toilets during the drive, always on the lookout for fresh dung.  Rhino always go back to the same spot and create dung middens to mark their territory and finding fresh dung would have meant that we were close.  

Werner picked up their tracks a few times but all a bit on the old side.  Not long afterwards the call we were waiting for came through.  The one female with her calf had been spotted and we headed straight over.

On arrival at the sighting we hopped off the vehicle after a thorough safety briefing.  We kept to the rules.  Walk in a straight line behind the ranger.  Stay quiet.  Keep your eyes open.  And always know where the appointed "safe" spot was and the quickest way to get there.  The rhinos had moved off by the time we got there, but we weren't about to give up. 

Perserverence pays off and after a short search we found them in the bush.  Unfortunately it wasn't the most photogenic sighting, but still an awesome experience viewing one of the Big 5 on foot.

Bucklands sunrise

Sunrise on the last day of the Mini vs Maxi trip, seen through the old Wild Fig tree next to the lodge at Bucklands Game Reserve.

Flowers at Bucklands

Going around Bucklands Game Reserve on our game drive I realised the impact that all the rain we received during the winter had on the surrounding landscape.  The veld is green and there are flowers everywhere.

Lodge at night

Returning from the night drive to the Bucklands Boutique Guest House, the lodge staff had a fire burning outside and dinner was being prepared in the kitchen.  Although I wanted to go and have a quick bath before dinner I decided to rather chill by the fire a little while before the meal.  The bath could wait till later.  And I think I took the better option sitting there listening to the night sounds.

Night drive at Bucklands

About three hours into our game drive at Bucklands Game Reserve, the sun started to reach out for the horizon and we headed to a spot in the reserve to enjoy the African sun setting.  

Stopping for sun dowers is the ideal opportunity to stretch your legs and chat about the experience so far.  Its also an opportunity to enjoy a couple of snacks and a drink before the last stretch of game drive.

The sun set, as we would like to believe, as it only sets in Africa. Magnificently.

After sunset the game drive lasted for another hour.  You may ask what there is to see after dark, but believe me there is a whole other world to discover.  Our ranger's powerful spotlight sought out most of the animals we saw before the sun set, but also found a number of nocturnal animals.  Amongst them we spotted a pair of Aardwolf.  Its only the second time I had seen these very interesting animals.  Although they look like a smaller version of the hyena, they only came out at night and feed on insects. 

Unfortunately I didn't get any good photos of animals in the spotlight.  I don't have a proper SLR camera and I just couldn't get my prosumer superzoom to focus in the light.

Game drive at Bucklands

During our wonderful stay at Bucklands Private Game Reserve during the Mini vs Maxi trip we had the opportunity to go on two game drives.  The first one starting at about 15:00ish (sorry, but I just can't remember the exact time) in the afternoon with the other one early the next morning.  As we were the only ones at the lodge for the night we had a game drive vehicle all to ourselves.  Our ranger, Werner, must be one of the most knowledgeable ranger I've ever had on a game drive.  He also literally went out his way to find us as much as possible during the drive and when there was nothing to see he was telling us about trees, plants and the history of the area.  Some of the game we saw on the drive included:

Blesbuck

Burchell's Zebra

Ostrich

Kudu

Giraffe

And Homo sapiens, also known as the visitors staying at the Luxury Tented Camp.

Bucklands Game Reserve - Boutique Guest House

The area from Port Elizabeth eastwards is big game country and one of the new (game reserve) kids on the block is Bucklands Private Game Reserve.  After visiting them recently on the Mini vs Maxi trip I have to honestly say that calling them a kid doesn't do them justice though.  Bucklands are situated about 35 kilometers north of Grahamstown next to the 45000 hectares The Great Fish River Nature Reserve.

Bucklands was launched in 2007 by Terry and Michele Stewart and their family with the Luxury Tented Camp opening in 2009 and the Boutique Guest House in 2010.  The reserve consists of 5500 hectares and includes the properties known as Bucklands, Lower Bucklands and Schrikwaters Poort.  It was decided not to introduce lion and elephants at this stage, but the reserve does have white rhino and buffalo along with giraffe, zebra and a wide variety of antelope and smaller animals.  On our evening game drive we even saw Aardwolf which I have only seen once before, but more on that in a later post.

On our visit we stayed in the newly restored Bucklands Boutique Guest House.  The accommodation is situated in the original homestead which was erected in about 1872 by Alf Buckley.  Attached to the house is double storey fort which is thought to predate the farm house itself.  As there are now exact records on the fort, the assumption is made that it was built as part of a military outpost on the frontier defence line, serving as protection between Fort Brown and Double Drift. 

The first floor of the fort is taken up by one of the four bedrooms at the lodge while the ground floor is used as a sitting room away from the formal lounge.  Some of the interesting features of the fort section of the lodge are the thick fortified walls with the original gun slits in them.

The lodge itself is stylishly furnished and decorated using very dark wood and leather.  The one thing that really impressed me was that it wasn't over done as you often find at lodges, so it didn't look "plastic" Africa.  It had a colonial, yet modern kinda simplistic feel.  Homely in many ways.  You weren't afraid to sit down and get comfortable without somebody looking at you with a raised eyebrow. 

The four luxury en-suite bedrooms are all individually furnished with the honeymoon suite having a four poster bed.  I'm not sure about the other rooms, but mine had a clawed bath in it which the Damselfly would have loved had she been there.  Returning from dinner, which included homemade venison pie, I even had a warm water bottle in my bed.  And that is exactly where I spent the rest of the evening relaxing, listening to the jackals calling in the distance.

More posts about Bucklands coming over the next couple of days...  

Day 3 and 4 of the Mini vs Maxi trip

Day 3 of the Mini vs Maxi Adventure Across the Eastern Cape started with a hearty breakfast at the legendary Lavender Blue just outside East London for Team Mini.  Farm style breakfasts with orange juice all around and us intrepid travellers and then we were ready to head towards Grahamstown for our next destination.

Driving through King William's Town we decided to incorporate some history and Xhose culture into our adventure trip and detoured to see the grave of Steve Biko just outside town.  Neil and I was wondering why there were a large number of little stones on the grave and Sisa continued to explain to us, and the video camera capturing our trip, how its part of the process of sending a soul on to the hereafter.

Team Mini made one more stop heading east, pulling our sponsored VW Polo over for a view of the Great Fish River.

Our last destination of the trip was at Bucklands Game Private Reserve about 35 kilometers outside of Grahamstown for a couple of game drives, good food, comfortable accommodation as well as one or two other activities.

After our arrival we barely had time to put our bags down when we were whisked away for a firearm handling session.  Although its not an activity that they offer guests, they decided to give us an extra adventure seeing that both Sisa and myself have never handled a rifle.  We were taken to the reserve's shooting range where we got to handle a pistol as well as two of the rifles used by rangers for conservation and during game walks.

After shooting off a couple of rounds we went out on a game drive during which we had a number of stunning sightings, amongst others a couple of Aardwolfe after dark.  Other species included rhino, giraffe, zebra, kudu, impala and blesbuck (pictured above).

One of the highlights of any afternoon / evening game drive is stopping somewhere with a good view to see a real African sunset with a couple of drinks in hand.  This game drive was no different.

Day 4, our last day on the Mini vs Maxi trip, started with coffee and rusks before we headed out on an early morning game drive.  During the drive we had the fortunate opportunity to walk both giraffe as well as rhino.  By walking I don't mean walk with tame animals.  Walking an animal refers to disembarking a vehicle and approaching an animal in the veld or bush on foot.  The drive was followed by a big late morning breakfast.  After saying our goodbyes we headed back to East London to drop of Sisa before Neil (who has James Blunt tickets in PE for Sunday night) and myself took on the road back to Port Elizabeth.

Over the four days of the trip I just did a basic recap and description of the places we visited and activities we did.  Over the next few week I'm cover the activities we did in more detail and will also show of a number of the photos I have taken.