Searching for the Big Five on a Small Group Escorted Tour
An Antipodean travel company serving World Travellers since 1983
Sadly travellers on a might have magnificent photographs of rhinoceroses from the , but are requested not to share these on social media or the web as poachers can ascertain the GPS co-ordinates of when and where the photo was taken. These hunters are utterly ruthless. Since 2007 the poaching of the rhino has increased and poachers use increasingly sophisticated weapons. Nations in have agreed to Save the Rhino by improving security, training rangers and providing them with anti-poaching equipment including firearms. If their lives are being threatened during a confrontation with poachers, rangers have the right to shoot to kill. However, this raises all sorts of opposition in and around the world. Tragically, at airports in , and Kasane in , incoming visitors can be seen wearing camouflage gear and wheeling trolleys with long flat cases carrying sophisticated hunting equipment. That is why they are visiting!
The emphasis on The Big Five on a , however, is very limiting to travellers and their is so much more to see on a . Tourism, in an attempt to broaden the ambitions of visitors, has added The Little Five (the shrew, ant lion, rhinoceros beetle, buffalo weaver and leopard tortoise) which match each of the Big Five; The Shy Five (porcupine, aardvark, bat-eared fox, meerkat and aardwolf) and even The Ugly Five (wart hog, wildebeest, vulture, Marabou stork, hyena) and emphasise the over 2,000 bird species to be seen. And certainly once we leave , or the Garden route and venture into your to stay in your ready for a early morning or dusk drive in the on a then all animals on look amazing in their natural habitiat.
To be on a and see a huge herd of walking down to the river, highlighted against the sunset in the , , is a truly wonderful sight, but so is sighting a cheetah or two hiding in the grass under an acacia tree. A pride of lions walking along a dusty track is iconic, but to sit just off the shore in a boat on the and watch a family of baboons for an hour and appreciate their group’s roles is wonderful. The mothers fuss over the children who fight, provoke and tease each other. The young males try to lure young females away from the group and the patriarch remains remote, lying in the sun, until he has to come in to settle a major dispute. However, it is the matriarch who is the ultimate boss of the group. On a it is these moments and memories that you have witnessed that make the in a or the part of a memorable in that .
The most dangerous animal on the African continent is the hippopotamus, responsible for over 3,000 deaths a year. Although vegetarian these animals are fiercely territorial and will defend their patch of the river. A bloat of hippopotamus with just eyes, nose and ears above the muddy water is an amazing sight. But the deadliest animal in , and much of the world, is the mosquito.
As rewarding as it is to see The Big Five on a in a on a , it is just as rewarding to have risen early to leave the to see this time a honey badger who is one of the fiercest carnivores in and has been filmed taking on a family of lions or other larger animals to defend its catch; or other such as an elusive aardvark because they are nocturnal and live underground during the day but emerge when the day cools down to eat termites; or to sight a movement among the trees and to recognise a giraffe or three standing so tall and majestically. Watching a giraffe drink with legs splayed so it can reach the water is captivating for the traveller.
In Australia, we are accustomed to our magnificent and unique birds and used to their colour and customs, but the birds of are also varied, prolific, colourful and unique such as the stunning loerie birds – some grey, some purple and green. The Cape Glossy Starling looks like an Australian black opal. The striking helmeted and crested guinea fowl bustle around in groups then startled, rush in panic to another spot. The majestic African Fish Eagle with its loud and raucous call builds huge messy nests high in trees along river banks then swoops to catch a fish in its talons. In , the Ibis are red, and quite startling, from eating crustaceans. The beautifully elegant Blue Crane ( ’s national bird), and grey Crested Crane are wonderful to observe in their natural habitat. 500 bird species of the 2,000 in have been spotted in Kruger .
A small group of will send visitors away from a with wonderful photographs and amazing experiences of , birds and truly magnificent scenery as the backdrop for stories on any of the modern “5” to see on a into the .