Leaving Mashatu

Sunday, 9/20

We were moving on to MalaMala today, and were all very sad to leave Mashatu. Because our plane was scheduled to pick us up at the Limpopo Airfield, Elvis and Aaron took us out for a shorter ride...about 2.5 hours.

We saw elephants,

wildebeest, and lots of birds.

Then Elvis found us a family herd of elephants with little ones, teenagers and many adults. It was a lovely sighting, and Elvis parked us in a good spot, close to them but out of their way, so everyone got wonderful pictures.

One mama ellie decided to move on, but chose not to use the same path all the other elephants had used...she took a path that brought her directly past our vehicle. She was so close I didn't dare move, and just held my breath as she stood still and looked at us. Finally Elvis murmured, “It's all right, Mma, you move along now.” And she did!

On our way back, Elvis took us by a Mashatu tree with a young (about two years old) male leopard relaxing calmly on a lower branch.

We took pictures as long as we could, and then returned to Main Camp for breakfast before we checked out. It was very hard to say goodbye to everyone. It was like saying goodbye to family.

Here, I am saying goodbye to Elvis, our amazing ranger, and Bobson, who runs Main Camp so beautifully.

And here we are packing up the vehicle to head for the airfield.  That's Michael on the far right....not sure where Gary was, but probably looking for his sunglasses!

We made it in time to the airfield, but our plane to MalaMala was delayed. Afke drove in just as we did, which was so lovely of her. We all chatted for a while, and Afke showed us Pete's letter to the pilots asking them not to fly over the Pond. Then it was announced, “There is good news and there is bad news.” The bad news was that there was a problem with the scheduled plane, but that a 12-passenger Cessna could pick us up at 2:30 that afternoon. The good news was that we could go back to Mashatu for brunch, if we wished, to wait for our flight. Or, if Afke would like, we could all go to Pete's Pond and wait there...Main Camp would send along some sandwiches for lunch. Afke was enthusiastic about the idea, bless her, and so were the rest of us, so all five of us spent a lovely three hours in the hide, watching wildebeest and impala, warthogs and quelea, Blacksmith plovers, vervet monkeys, a crested barbet, the gray heron hunting nearby, and the thick-knee dikkops standing off a mischievous vervet monkey by spreading their wings and standing their ground. Marvelous! I moved away from the area where the screen is peeled back to allow pictures, to make room for Susan, Doug, Michael and Gary (none of whom had been to the hide) to take turns with their cameras.  You'll see a lot of pictures of this visit to the hide in Doug's gallery, I'm sure!  The brown-hooded kingfisher even made a brief appearance, perching on the dead bush. When it was time to go, we really hated to leave, but we said goodbye to Boiki and Susan, Afke's friend, and Skirminkel and headed again for the airport. I rode in Afke's truck, and she showed me the two nearby termite mounds where she takes Skirminkel nearly every day

When we got to the airfield, .Susan took a couple of pictures:

Another short wait, and the Cessna arrived. I tried not to get teary-eyed, but I do hate goodbyes. Gary said his eyes seemed to be watering too.  Afke took the next two pictures as we were boarding:

From left to right:  Doug, Susan, one of the pilots, me, Gary and Michael

From left to right:  Susan, Doug, pilot, me, Michael and Gary.

As we took off, we could see Afke standing nonchalantly on the tarmac, filming our departure. We all waved.

We stopped once at Polakwone Airport for customs and rest stops and more stamps in our passports. And then the Intrepid Five ....Gary, Michael, Susan, Doug and I.... headed to MalaMala.

20 Sept 09

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