Sunset drive at Pretoriuskop, Kruger Park

By Roxanne Reid
Hubby and I can drive around game reserves all day and not get tired of watching animals and their interactions. By dusk, though, the rules say we have to be back in camp. Yet our best chance of seeing creatures of the night like genet, serval, civet and porcupine is after gate-closing time. That’s why we signed up for a sunset drive at Pretoriuskop, Kruger Park.

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With head guide Pat at the wheel forour sunset drive at Pretoriuskop, things started well with a lone bull ellie on some rocks. He came up really close to the vehicle to continue feeding. ‘An elephant will eat 70% grass, 20% leaves and 10% fruits,’ Pat told us. In winter, this will change to 70% trees – and they use every little bit, from the bark and leaves to the roots. The roots give them moisture content. ‘That’s why in winter you’ll see so many pushed-over trees,’ he explained.

A stately giraffe gave Pat a chance to tell us more about their way of life. ‘The female with a newborn stays on her own for a few days so the calf imprints on her, learns that “this is my mum”,’ he said. He also reminded us that the giraffe has excellent eyesight but no voice box, which is why they’re so silent.

Three bachelor buffalos looked at us as if they’d rather have had us for supper than endure our gazes. So why do they detach themselves from the herd when they get old? ‘First, the females want good grass for their young and will keep walking till they find it,’ he said. ‘But the old guys don’t want to walk so far. Second, they don’t want to carry on having to fight for dominance, so it’s better for them to go off alone away from the herd.’ No wonder they’re often so grumpy.

Once darkness settled over the bush things got very quiet. For almost an hour and a half we drove around seeing nothing. Pat said nothing. At one point he turned off the noisy diesel engine to listen for promising sounds but the bush was dead quiet, not even the hoot of an owl. 

Again we drove, the spotlight sweeping from side to side. Still nothing. I was just thinking this had been the most unproductive night drive of my life when, about 30 minutes before it was due to end, I spotted a white rhino and her calf. It seemed to be a curse-breaker because soon afterwards we saw a Mozambique nightjar sitting like a statue in the middle of the road, a small spotted genet in the bushes, another two sightings of lone rhino, and a spotted hyena sniffing along the road. 

No civet, no serval, no porcupine and no owl, which are among the top reasons for doing a night drive, but at least we saw three of the Big Five, as well as a genet and a hyena. It was better than sitting back at camp and seeing nothing at all. 

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