Ghostblog Hantu dan Mitos

The day started as it had done yesterday; with me roaring to get out of the gates at 6AM. I drove slowly north on the gravel road to Matjulu Dam. I crawled through the early morning twilight, desperate for a sign of cheetahs; even wild dogs at a pinch. Nuffin'. There was also nothing at the dam, but on the way back I spotted a small rhino sleeping not far from the road. This little guy was the embodiment of "just five minutes more". His eyes were open, so he was awake. His ears were going back and forth, so he knew we were there. A big safari coach parked and blocked my view when he finally got up, but they soon left. He stood for about five minutes, freaking out a couple of times at the little birds that accompanied his every move. Then he slowly keeled over in the grass, determined to get a few more winks. I know it's morning, but I want to sleep longer. Awake, but not liking it much. Just a few winks more... Zzzzz... After this, I went east on the S110 for a while....

I started the next day very early. Up at 5AM, roaring to go at the gate at six. I immediately set course for the Mestel Dam, but only the hippos were there and they weren't even playing. After five minutes, I drove north, then southeast on the S7. Again, I took the Shabeni loop, and almost came up nuffin'. But a few hundred meters before the loop ended, and while my eyes were fixed on the hill off to my right, my peripheral vision registered that something was coming down the road my way. I looked, and there were two young, male lions in the middle of the road, bearing straight down on me. I frantically grabbed my superlens and found them in the viewfinder. I pressed the button. Nothing happened. I turned the power on. Still nothing. With a sneaking suspicion, I opened the battery holder. Empty. I'd taken it out the night before and it was still in the charger, which was in my PC case, which was in the fucking trunk. No matter; I grabbed my other camera and started shooting...

The next day was probably the most boring I've spent in the park so far. I drove in through Phabeni, and of course, there was only one guy on check-in, so the line was long. In addition to almost not giving me my papers back, he failed to inform me that I needed to go in the left hand queue out of the gate, which caused some confusion when the guy in the booth tried to make me pay twice. A few well-placed fucks and I was on my way. I quickly turned south on the S3, headed towards Numbi gate and Pretoriuskop Camp, where I had my first booking. The road wasn't terribly exciting. A few impalas and zebras scattered along the way and a family of one warthog mom and three little piglets. The only glimmer of real excitement came at the Mestel Dam, where I spent more than an hour in splendid solitude, watching three hippos making an absolute ruckus (and peeing in the wild again). I don't know if it was three youngsters or a couple and their baby, but one was significantly smaller t...

The next day I awoke at 5:30. I didn't fall out of bed this time, but the fucker was still wobbly. I set out for Lake Panic, where I'd seen hippos, crocs and ellies the year before. On the gravel road in, I was treated to three hyenas running across the road, but I didn't have time to get my camera. I also took a shot of a tree full of sleeping vultures. However, the lake itself was pretty quiet. You could hear the hippos around the bend, but that was all. Disappointed, but in good spirits, I set course for the Paul Kruger Gate and the S3 gravel road which follows the Sabie from there. Vultures up a tree. Alas, nothing. My beloved road, which had given me lions, rhinos and baboons last year, was almost empty, except for the usual impalas. I even met the cunt who guided us on our safari back then. I recognized him, because when I said "Hi, anything back your way", he gave me a challenging stare and said "How do you do?" I then recalled that the sanctimoni...