This morning’s safari drive with Warwick proved to be a very quiet session with there being few big animals to see and those we did see such as rhinoceroses and elephants were not close to the track.
We did see two hippopotamuses in the Marico River but they too were quite a distance away and pretty much submerged apart from nostrils, eyes and rumps.
Even the usual diversity of bird life was limited this morning although there were many of the usual ‘go-away’ birds and hornbills. We did manage to get some reasonably close-up shots of a pair of chanting goshawks and pied babblers.
Lilac roller
Pied babbler
We returned to Jacis Lodges and had a quick breakfast before showering and finalising our packing.
The chef at Jaci's Lodge
Eric from African Geographic was promptly there to pick us all up and drive us the four hour trip to Johannesburg’s O M Tambo Airport. As we left the Madikwe Game Reserve we were farewelled at the southern gate by three giraffes who looked quizzically at us as they like to do.
The drive from Madikwe to Johannesburg was initially on a rocky and dusty road through scattered small villages where the housing was usually mud brick or corrugated iron shanties. There appears to be high unemployment in this region as there were many people just sitting in doorways or along the side of the road.
Village on route to Johannesburg
At around the half way mark to Johannesburg the savannah vegetation changed and the soil improved so irrigated crops replaced the stunted dry acacia terrain.
Next we entered the platinum belt. The geology of this part of Africa comprises igneous rocks that are amongst the oldest on the planet. Seismic and volcanic activity have caused two significant effects. Firstly, the lava deposition millions of years ago has resulted in the tilting of the tectonic plate causing sloping mountains that terminate in an abrupt western fault-line. Secondly, the occurrence and comparative abundance of noble metals, especially platinum but gold, silver, rhodium and palladium are also present. The richest platinum deposits on Earth are here and are a major source of income for South Africa. Not surprisingly this area is subject to extensive mining and there are kilometres upon kilometres of high rock piles on either side of the road.
Approaching Johannesburg the highway skirts the capital city of Pretoria and here poverty is replaced by apparent wealth as opulent housing, flash cars and expensive infrastructure abound.
After checking into the airport we had farewell drinks with Fran and Jamie who leave us and head on their way to Zambia tonight as we head back to Australia.
Farewell drinks at O M Tambo Airport
Our flight back to Sydney was on a Boeing 747-400 that was absolutely packed with passengers but nonetheless it was a comfortable flight with us all getting some semi-sleep. As we gained eight hours on top of the long flight time of nearly 12 hours by the time we arrived in Sydney it was late on Friday afternoon.
A three-hour wait followed by an extra hour’s delay before boarding our Sydney – Hobart flight was a bit of a pain to endure but it did give us time to have a glass of wine and to catch up on family news, our blog and photo culling.
On landing at Hobart airport at 22:45 Friday evening we were met by Martyn who very kindly volunteered to pick all four of us up despite the late hour of arrival.
By 23:30 we were home to find everything in order which was a relief particularly when we’d heard while in Botswana of flooding and terrible weather in Tasmania. In contrast we’d had only half a day rain affected the whole time we were away with most days warm and sunny although cool nights.
This brings to an end our African safari experience. We are so very grateful to Malcolm for his fantastic efforts in making this whole trip such a fabulous experience.
Although we haven’t yet mentioned it to Jamie and Fran, it seems that after discussions with Rae and Malcolm, another safari trip to similar African locations may well be on the planning agenda for October 2018.
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