This morning is the final game drive at Phinda Forest Lodge. As per last night, I have a private vehicle, so it’s an early 5.45 am departure on the game drive at my request. It pays dividend early, as close to the waterhole we visited yesterday afternoon, we spot a lioness with a cub. Nearby is the adult lion from last night. We then realise that the male lion has joined the adult female offspring of yesterday’s lioness, the lioness’s cub, and another adult lioness – so a small pride of 5 lions. We’re the first vehicle on the scene, so it’s a great opportunity to spend some quiet time with this group of lions. Check out the size of the paws that lion cub will grow into…
We find the female cheetah with the five month old cubs for the third time. At least we find the cubs, waiting for their mother under a tree – the female has been sighted in pursuit of a kill, so these hungry cubs might get fed today.
The female cheetah has been gone quite a while, and her cubs begin calling her with what sounds like a high-pitched bird-like tweet.
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Eventually we hear the female calling her cubs, and they disappear off into the thicket.
She sits down with the cubs under a shady tree, and we initially think that she has been unsuccessful in her hunt, but later find the carcass of a young male nyala in the grass. The female hasn’t taken the cubs to the kill, and seems to be intent on teaching them a hard lesson that food is hard to come by, and involves going hungry for long periods of time. No doubt they will have a feast later in the day, assuming that no other predator tries to steal this hard won kill.
It’s a pretty warm day today, so on the way back to the lodge, all of the action is at the dam – plenty of rhino, wildebeest and geese.
It’s time to leave Phinda Forest Lodge after three nights, and to start heading to Tswalu Kalahari Reserve tomorrow. First though, it’s a 1.45 hour drive to Richards Bay airport to catch SA1208 to Johannesburg. It’s another full flight, and we land 55 minutes at Joburg airport.
O.R. Tambo is an impressive, modern airport with excellent facilities. At 5.15pm on a Sunday, the Post Office was still open, there is a well-stocked pharmacy, a flotilla of ATMs, and a small Woolworths with a range of groceries and clothes. There are multiple places to eat, and the domestic terminal is right next door to the international terminal.
It’s another overnight stay at the Intercontinental, which at a 100m walk from the international terminal, with luxurious sound proofed rooms and an excellent, inexpensive breakfast, has completely sold me as the place to base myself for travel within Southern Africa on my next visit in 2017.
