Tne Call of the Wild
Kee Poh Li & Lynnette Wong:
A trip to South Africa will seem incomplete without a trip to Safari. The POR team had the opportunity to behold God's creation as part of the team ventured to Kirkman`s Kamp, 6200 hectares in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve on the southern border of the Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. The Safari trip with the sightings of the animals was a dream fulfilled for many peacemakers who are enjoying the spectacular view of the unspoilt wilderness and the Sabi Sand River. The other team also had their own mini safari experience at the Pilanesberg National Park that proved to be a fruitful experience!
Lynnette Wong:
Rise and shine at 4am! Today marks an exciting time of adventure as 16 of us hit the road to the Safari for Kirkman's Kamp.
On the way, we were welcomed with breath-taking sights of hills,
valleys, shrubs and lush greenery. Coupled with the expanse of an
incredibly clear blue sky as backdrop to the surroundings, describing
the view as a picturesque scenery is definitely an understatement!
Emotions stirred within me as I marveled at God's magnificent glory; each remarkable landscape had been carefully crafted with intricate details. The sheer beauty of nature left me speechless as I gaze upon God's lovely work of art.
We've finally arrived after an ardous 7 1/2-hour coach ride that went the wrong way, but it was truly worth it!
Kirkman`s Kamp is 6200 hectares in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve on the Southern border of the Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. With its spectacular views of the unspoilt wilderness and the Sabi Sand River, Kirkman's Kamp is regarded as one of the best loved lodges in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve.
We were greeted by a group of friendly staff and the manager,
Catherine brought us through an orientation round the private lodge.
Lunch was served at 2pm and we dined at the Alfresco area, enjoying
the gentle breeze accompanied by a fantastic view overlooking the
hills - pure indulgence!
Let the adventure begins...
We had our first game drive at 4pm and each session lasts for
approximately 3 1/2 hours.
Game drives traversed an area of 6 300 hectares (15 700 acres) and strict vehicle limits at sightings ensured the exclusivity of our game viewing experience. Off-road driving ensured that we have the best possible view of any exceptional sighting and rangers were constantly in touch with each other to keep track of animal movements.
Under the guidance of our outstanding ranger, Dalson, we caught sight
of the impala, giraffe and frankolin within the first 30 minutes.
As impalas need to mate and create a nursery of young ones in order not
to be penetrated by the predators, they often move around in herds.
We also had the chance to smell, feel and touch wild mint - it smells absolutely fabulous and refreshing!
Driving along, a ngala was spotted among the thickets. Furthermore, we were blessed by a welcome gift when we saw a group of lion and lioness feeding on a dead buffalo. All of us were so excited that we couldn't stop taking pictures and videos of that amazing sighting.
We managed to chance upon a white rhino that is humongous! He stayed in the water to cool down.
As evening draws near, we were given a short breather before the game drive came to an end. Boerewors, grilled traditonal South African sausage was served with chutney dip. There were also beef jerky, roasted nuts and dried boerewors.
The rangers alerted us when they sighted a female leopard. We hopped on to our respective vehicles while everyone waited in anticipation to snap pictures of the leopard upclose.
We ended the night's program with dinner and the appetizer was
carribean soup (minestrone), followed by a main dish of Kudu meat.
Dessert served was sticky toffee, bree cheese and kiwi - awesome!
Do follow our blog and join us as we continue the jouney of a lifetime in this amazing Safari adventure!
Enkomo! (means thank u very much in Afrikaan)
Yeo Ching Foon:
We woke up very early at 0415am, took shower, did our final packing,
checked out from Johannesburg Fire and Ice Hotel followed by
breakfast. Thanks to the complimentary service from the hotel, we were
able to have breakfast at 5am. Pastor Dale and Nicholas met us at the
lobby to bid us farewell. And we headed towards Kirkman's Kamp for
safari.
We rested in the coach and woke up around 8am and had our own mini tea-break in the coach. We passed by many tall, beautiful and majestic mountains and beautiful scenic places. Everyone started taking out their cameras and snapping pictures as we would not usually see this back in Singapore. However there were too many nice mountains ranges and after some time, most of us just stopped taking pictures and sat down to enjoy the views.
We stopped at a petrol station around 11am to have a toilet break, I
asked the coach driver how long more it would take to reach our
destination, I was told 10 mins. However at 12pm, it seemed we were
not anywhere near our destination as we were passing through small
towns instead. To our surprise, we found out that the coach
driver did not know his way to Kirkman's Kamp and had never been there
before. The sky over the horizon also turned dark and it started to rain. I believed most of us who saw this started to pray in our hearts
for God's intervention and mercy for our safari trip. The POR team
whipped out our iPad and started to help the driver to navigate using goggle
map through the unfamiliar and deserted roads to the Safari.
Thank God, we eventually managed to find our way to Sabi Sand Game Reserve and the rain stopped. After reached Sabi Sand wildturn, we switched from coach to jeeps and while on our way to Kirkman's Kamp we were greeted by impalas and a giraffe. Finally we reached Kirkman's Kamp around 1330. Shortly, lunch was served under the shade of a big tree with a scenic view facing the Sabi Sand Game Reserve.
At 4pm, we were split into 3 jeeps and went on a safari drive. God had blessed us with a beautiful weather. Although we were directly under the sun without shelter, we did not feel hot. We saw many animals and birds along the way like the impala, waterbuck, warthog, elephants, brown snake eagle, bush chicken, hornbill, woodland kingfisher, European rola, red hornbill, lion and leopard.
The most memorable scene was seeing the lions feasting on the buffalo. We saw 2 lioness and male lion and our jeep parked about 20m from the buffalo carcass. Shortly after we stopped the jeep, a female lion slowly walked towards us until it was right in front of our jeep just 2m away from us and stared at us. As this was my first time to safari, I was not expecting any lion to come so close. I was taken aback but the ranger just told us not to move and stayed still. Thank God, the lioness was waiting for its turn to feast on the buffalo instead and eventually laid down and rested.
At 7pm, the sky turned dark and we gathered in the midst of safari for a refreshment break. Imagine having a break in the middle of safari in the dark? What if some lions or predators come out from nowhere? Nevertheless I took a lemonade and took a sausage and was eating it halfway when the rangers hastened us to quickly board the jeeps as a leopard was spotted. Most of us abandoned our food and drinks and quickly jumped into the jeeps and was not sure what was happening. Some of us probably thought the leopards or some predators were coming our way. Later the 3 jeeps went round and we found out they were looking for a young leopard. Eventually we managed to see the leopard and after that we headed back to Kirkman's Kamp for dinner. During dinner we have an opportunity to try Kudu meat (one species of deer)!
This has been an exciting day and even though we had been to the safari for only over 3 hours, we were all looking forward for tomorrow. Hopefully we will be able to see the remaining big 5, buffalo and rhino. Stay tuned to our Safari Day 2 tomorrow!
Pauline Kho:
For the group not going for the Safari trip at Kirkman's Kamp, Ms Gerda from Acres of Love recommended that we should visit a "miniature Safari" too. This was at the Pilanesberg National Park situated 50 km north of Rustenburg, about 2 hours drive from Portea Fire and Ice Hotel Melrose Arch. Pilanesberg National Park covered an area of 50,000 hectares or 500 square kilometres.
Our adventure started early and at 6am, we went onboard the van. From
the window, I could see the scarlet sun in the sky, it was very
beautiful. We were glad to have the company of Darren, Ms Gerda's son
to join us for our visit to the park.
The driver cum tour guard, Mr Juan, prepared some snacks and drinks for us. We had a wonderful picnic at a lovely field. When we entered the park, the first animal we saw was a leopard tortoise on the road. We also saw a few zebras crossing the road. We managed to see waterbuck, bushbuck, kudu, elephants, giraffe, white rhinoceros, secretary bird, hippopotamus, ostriches, ducks, wild boars, monkeys and buffaloes.
We then had lunch at Pilanesberg Centre. On the way back, Mr Juan bought some dried beef and some dried pork from a Farm Product shop for us to eat. It was definitely a fruitful and enjoyable trip!
Dixon Koh:
Groete Vir Almal! ('Greetings Everyone' in Afrikaans)
As part of the team who didn't go for the safari trip, we also had our own programme planned for the day. Our day started with us hitting the road at 6am for a two-hour drive to our own mini safari.
Shanty towns filled the sides of the road we travelled on. Juan, our tour guide cum driver, explained to us that the formation of shanty towns was due to the influx of illegal immigrants, miners seeking employment and requiring housing. We also stopped along the roadside to enjoy our morning breakfast prepared by Juan and his daughter, Dante accompanied by the cool wind blowing. It was an experience! But what truly warmed my heart was the hospitality extended to us as Juan set up a table filled with croissants, muffins, coffee and tea for us. He was generous and blessed us abundantly. Juan even gave the beef & pork jerky as a gift to us.
When we reached our destination, Pilanesberg National Park, we were greeted by the chirp of birds and the scent of fresh grass. As Juan painstakingly gave us tips on how to 'hunt' for the animals, we also admired the vast and magnificent landscape which God had created at the same time. In less than 1 km entering the park, we were greeted by 3 baby ostriches blocking the driveway. After driving around the ostriches, Juan brought us to various locations within the park to spot other wildlife animals like the antelopes, hippo, springboks (it's like a deer and South Africa's national animal) wild boars, rhinos and even zebras that were crossing the driveway to get to the greener pastures to graze.
Sien Julle Almal Gou
(See you all soon)
