South Africa
Jour 3 : rhinocéros noir & marche au coucher de soleil avec les éléphants
Pour notre 3ème et dernier jour à Pongola, nous avons opté pour un programme de safari double. Le matin, nous avons commencé notre journée à 6h à la recherche du rare rhinocéros noir. À midi, nous avons chillé dans notre tente climatisée, prêts à partir pour un safari au coucher du soleil.
Early morning black rhino game drive
Sipo - our ranger - took us for a drive inside the reserve. At Pongola Game Reserve there is a WWF research camp located where biologists study the endangered black rhino. Based on the tracks and poop he spotted, he was able to track one down in less than an hour. These animals are quite shy, so at first it tried to hide. After a few minutes it came running towards us and made perfectly clear we should keep our distance. It was very impressive to see how the black rhino tried to scare us away. A memorable moment!
Enjoying some time off at our AfriCamps boutique glamping tent
In between two game drives we enjoyed some time off at our tent. With the water hole in front of our deck, we had a permanent safari experience.
Sunset elephant march
To end our stay with AfriCamps at White Elephant Safaris, we went for a 3rd and last game drive. To find the leopard would be a challenge, but our focus was 100% targeted on elephants. During our game drive we saw a lot of beautiful birds, zebras, giraffes and more. And when we thought we wouldn't find the elephants, Sipo spotted a large bull on the side of a road near the lake. Since there were calves in the herd, the larger elephants were very protective. One even trumpeted towards us. So we backed down, took a detour and ended up along the shore of the lake about one kilometer further from the elephant herd. By standing still, they didn't saw us as a thread and marched very close next to us. What a magical moment!
