A Visit to a Village, Plus Buffaloes and Lions

By Thursday morning, we had the routine at Kambaku down pat. Up at 5:30am. Over to the main room for coffee and hot chocolate and rusks, and then into the jeep by 6am. 

It was cooooold out there in the mornings.

Aiden and Moses had gotten a tip from another guide about a pride of lions. And thus, the hunt to find these lions began. Once we left the lodge, we drove quite a way over the Timbavati dirt roads to find the pride.

A note about the dirt roads: They were amazing. Also, except for one unique tree and one unique watering hole, I never knew where I was on the dirt road network. I was always so turned around and every road looked like the next. Aiden told us that there were 785 roads in Timbavati -- and he knew his way around all. Each road had a name. The various lodges owned the roads on their property and were responsible for maintaining the roads. Safe to say that dirt roads = mind blown.

But back to the lions. We drove to where the lions were last sighted, deep in the bush. Moses looked at their tracks and the indentations in the ground and surmised that they had moved on. So Moses started walking through the bush -- "But is it safe?!" questioned Theo, to which Aiden replied, "It's safe. We go through so much training to be out here. Moses will be fine" -- with the hope of spotting the lion pride.

Moses and another guide track the lions on foot.

Moses directs Aiden where to drive during our lion search.

We spent probably 90 minutes looking for the pride, to no avail. Gideon was driving his jeep in the same area -- and found the lions! But we were too late. Aiden said we'd continue looking for the lions on the evening game drive.

The morning was definitely not a wash, however. We saw elephants and zebras and impalas and wildebeests and a lot more.

We also saw the dwarf mongoose, which is Africa's smallest carnivore. Aiden shared that the dwarf mongoose lives in a group led by a dominant female. When another female feels capable of becoming the dominant female, she will begin excessively grooming/licking/cleaning the dominant female. After being licked, the dominant female will then groom/lick/clean the female who's challenging her. It's essentially a licking contest until someone emerges the cleanest and is dubbed the dominant female. Tim says the dwarf mongoose is his new favorite animal. I mean, nature is WILD!

We returned to the lodge about 8:30am and our family sat down pretty quickly for breakfast. We were not eating breakfast with the large group because we had somewhere to be: We were heading out to tour Sigagula, a village that borders the Timbavati Reserve and is supported by the Timbavati Foundation. 

We learned about the Sigagula tour from Cordy, Kambaku's general manager. Cordy and her family live in Sigagula. Cordy started at Kambaku as a bartender and in May, was promoted to general manager of Kambaku Safari Lodge and its sister lodge, Kambaku River Sands.

Close to 10am on Thursday, we piled into a jeep and Sharon, our lodge manager, drove us to the Timbavati Control Gate. There, we met Ripfumelo Mgiba, a Timbavati Foundation staffer who'd be taking us on the village tour.

After a 45-minute drive over more dirt roads, we landed in Sigagula. Ripfumelo took us to see the Foundation's EcoPod first. The EcoPod is essentially an environmental school for the village. It's situated on primary school property, so that the school students can have easy access to visiting the EcoPod. We loved walking around the EcoPod and taking in all the displays (and yes, you can touch real elephant dung while there).

This is an elephant tracking collar. It's huge! It gets placed around an elephant's neck. These collars are used to protect elephants from poachers, but also alert villagers to a pesky elephant's arrival. There are certain elephants who come into villages and wreck things.

Checking out the EcoPod.

Following the EcoPod visit, Ripfumelo took us to see a traditional healer. We sat in his front yard while he spoke to us through a translator, Karen, who would also be our village liaison. For 200 rand apiece, he offered to do a bone reading for us. I placed 200 rand under the mat he was sitting on and then he asked me my name. The healer chanted, clasped small bones in his hand and shook them, and then threw the bones down on the mat. Then he took a minute to read the bones. The healer told me that I'm healthy, I'm a loveable person, and that I am a leader. 

Next, Tim placed 200 rand under the mat. The healer asked his name, chanted, and threw the bones down. He took a minute to read the bones, and then told Tim that he, too, was healthy and was a strong leader (among other things).

We were out of rand and told the healer so, but he didn't want to leave the kids out. So, he did their bone readings for free. He told Wyatt that he was healthy and a leader, but also a bit problematic (which made us all burst out laughing). He cautioned Wyatt not to be "too much" at times. He told Taylor that she was healthy and a leader, but also exhibited anxiety. He counseled her not to be anxious or worried about things. 

We thanked the healer for his time and the readings and said goodbye to him. Once he went into the house, a woman came out with traditional food, which we would sample. Karen told us that she made cow's head, pap (a South African porridge made with maize meal), spinach, and umqombothi, a traditional beer.

One by one, we tried the food. Karen taught us to grab some pap, roll it into a small ball, and then dip it into the spinach. Ohmygosh, it was SO GOOD. And then we each took a piece of cow's head*. I didn't think too much about what I was eating... And then Karen sang us a song about umqombothi. He said that, before you drink this beer, you sing about it. He sang a little and then we each took a sip of the beer -- kids included. The beer was not good, but Tim was extra polite and took two sips.

Rolling the pap.

Taylor's turn.

And over to Wyatt. Also, I have no clue what I'm saying here. Probably asking for a repeat of directions. Non-visual learner and all.

Now it's time to eat cow's head.

We left the traditional healer and traditional food, and Karen walked us down the street to visit a mat weaver. The mat weaver invited each of us to help her weave. It's definitely soothing!

Such concentration.

I think he liked it.

Can't do this in 'Merica.

Our final stop of the day was at Nourish, where Karen was the executive director. Nourish is an amazing social enterprise and my nonprofit heart just bled the entire time we were there. Ripfumelo, with Foundation support, established a girls' program at Nourish. She and others teach girls about gender-based violence. GBV is a significant issue in Sigagula, and the Timbavati Foundation wants to break the cycle with the younger generation. Girls are also taught self-defense and how to sew and wash their own sanitary pads. Ripfumelo told us that many girls still miss a lot of school because of menstruation, because they simply don't have pads. Nourish is trying to change that.

Ripfumelo shows us the special "girls only" area at Nourish.

Nourish also runs a workforce development program and an after-school education/care program on-site. The whole place was so, so cool. 

We said goodbye to Karen and thanked him and promised to send him a Lakers shirt (he is a HUGE fan). Ripfumelo ushered us into her car and drove us to the Control Gate. Now that we had a sense for village life, we asked her lots of questions on the drive back.

Gideon met us at the Control Gate and drove us the rest of the way to Kambaku. The staff asked us about our visit and we gushed and gushed. It had been an absolutely incredible experience.

Soon after our return, it was time for the afternoon game drive.

New guests had arrived at Kambaku Thursday afternoon: One couple from Italy and another from England. There was also an Indian family staying at the lodge, so between all of us -- plus Alex and Theo -- Kambaku was nearly full.

The Italian couple joined us in our jeep. 

And guess what we saw, not too far into our drive? That's right: A lion pride. This pride was sound asleep (lions sleep during the day and hunt/move at night) and they were literally adorable. Just like fluffy cats sleeping on top of one another. Moses asked us who wanted to jump out of the jeep and pet one. No one volunteered. These cats may be cute, but they are downright terrifying, too.

The lions are just right...there!

They look SO cute, right?!

Look at them, all on top of one another. Wild!

We also ticked off the Big 5 on this drive, as Aiden took us to see Cape buffaloes. The buffaloes that we saw were the "Dugga Boys," old buffalo bulls that had been driven out of the herd by the younger bulls. We saw these old males by a watering hole; it was a buffalo retirement community. Surprisingly (or maybe not), these Dugga Boys can still charge. They may be old, but they'll get you.

The buffalo retirement community. Poor guys. Left all alone with each other.

A little while later, after seeing elephants and rhinos and zebras and wildebeests and impalas and more, we stopped for drinks and snacks. I really had to go to the bathroom, so Moses pointed out a bush I could run behind. He also pointed out a kudu not far from the bush. I will tell you, it was a surreal moment going to the bathroom in the bush as this kudu stared me down. I watched the kudu the entire time, so I could be sure it wasn't going to run toward me. 

Evening drinks on the drive. No kudus in sight.

On the way back to the lodge, literally 200 meters from the entrance, we saw a lion pride walking down the road. Moses's light picked up their eyes. The lions walked right past our jeep and then curled up to rest on the side of the road. Aiden turned the jeep around so we could get a better look. There were no cubs -- just a few females and a male; they must have hidden the cubs somewhere so they could move more quickly. It was incredible and again, slightly terrifying. We watched them for probably 15-20 minutes before driving the rest of the way to Kambaku.

Lion! Walking down the road!

Lions!!

Lions!!!

Aiden joined us for dinner that night and told us insane stories about working on a rhino anti-poaching unit and getting shot at by poachers for two years. He also told us about his training to become a bush guide, and how one time he was charged by an angry rhino. He was prepared to shoot the rhino, but guides are taught not to shoot until the very last nanosecond. And for good reason, because the animals generally turn, which is what happened in Aiden's case -- the rhino brushed his shoulder but didn't run into him. There were a lot more stories. We just listened, mouths agape.

And that was our eventful, wonderful, fascinating Thursday. 

*I was thankful for the cow's head. Prior to leaving for Sigagula, Aiden had told Tim that the traditional food often served to guests is chicken legs and necks. Evidently the dish is called 'walkie talkies.' Gotta love the humor.