More Timbavati

Day two in the bush: We were up at 5:30am. These game drives start early! (Actually, in the summertime, Kambaku’s game drives start at 4:30am because of the heat.) We gathered in the main room for coffee, hot chocolate, and rusks. By 6am, we were back in the jeep with Aiden, Moses, Alex, and Theo. 

The morning drive was beautiful and quiet. We watched the sun rise and the bush come to life. Aiden had heard from a guide at another lodge that the baby leopard survived the night. When he shared that news with us in the jeep, we all cheered. 

Driving around Timbavati, we saw more elephants and zebras and kudus and wildebeests, which are part of the Ugly 5 (something Moses taught us! The poor wildebeest…they get no love 😂). Others in the Ugly 5 include: warthogs, vultures, marabou storks, and hyenas. 

The game drive was again exhilarating, especially when Aiden and Moses showed us a baby hyena den. We saw a couple of little hyenas pop into the den for protection while the adults looked around for food.

No biggie. Just an elephant walking by during our coffee break.

Aiden and Moses set the jeep up for our coffee break.

The watering hole at our lodge. (Don't worry -- there's an electric fence just behind the kids.)

This was our hut at Kambaku Safari Lodge.

After the morning drive.

Following our three-hour drive, we returned to Kambaku and enjoyed brunch with Alex, Theo, the Canadian family, Sharon, and Gideon. We had some down time that afternoon, and then it was back to the main room at 3pm for High Tea and back in the jeep at 3:30pm for our second game drive of the day.

When the staff heard it was Tim's birthday on Monday, they baked him a cake and sang a traditional birthday song to him at High Tea.

The lodge staff singing and clapping.

During our evening game drive, we came across a lion pride. The lions were sleeping – the male was on one side of the watering hole and the females and cubs were on the other side. Watching lions sleep was incredible. They weren’t that far away from the jeep and while they sleep, they’re so cute and peaceful. In the moment, it was easy to forget that they’re top predators in the bush.

We may have watched the lions sleep for about 30 minutes – it was that fascinating. From there, we returned to camp for dinner.

Gah!!! It's the male lion!

Wow! Females and cubs! Someone is up to get water!

They just look so...peaceful.

Check out this cub sprawled on its back. Just like a house cat!

Over dinner that night, we ended up talking a lot with Gideon and asking him a zillion questions. Gideon had grown up in a village a couple of hours from Kambaku; he always had an interest in animals. He’d worked for Kambaku for 11 years and loved being a guide. He told us amazing stories, like the time he worked for a different lodge and was out on a game drive with all staff. On this particular game drive, Gideon was in the tracker seat – in the tracker seat, you’re basically on the hood of the jeep, very much out front. 

The jeep made a turn out of the bush – right in front of an elephant. The jeep stopped and Gideon, the driver, and all the staff stayed perfectly still. Gideon said that the elephant looked at him, then came right up to him and put its tusks on either side of Gideon. Gideon was still in the tracker seat, but now in between two long and sharp elephant tusks. The jeep driver panicked and called out to Gideon, “Should I move the jeep? Should I back up?!” Gideon calmly said no, don’t move. Gideon stayed as still as he could, wedged in between the tusks. The elephant proceeded to then place the top of its head on Gideon’s chest. Again, the driver asked, terrified, “Should I go?” And Gideon said no. After what seemed like forever, the elephant backed away from Gideon, releasing him from its tusks. When the elephant moved a bit further into the bush, Gideon kicked the driver out of his seat, got behind the wheel, and drove back to the lodge.

Ummm, I can’t even. In between tusks with an elephant’s head on your chest?! Heck to the no! But Gideon absolutely loves his job and can’t imagine doing anything else. 

Goodnight to the bush.

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