Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Pafuri Camp

Pafuri Game Drive #1: Troop of baboons, tawny eagle, crested franklin, ground hornbil, long tailed starling, nyala, yellow bellied bulbul, black fly catcher, emerald spotted dove, steenbok (antelope), warthog, tree squirrel, brown headed parrots, slender mongoose, black breasted snake eagle, giant land snail shell (snail long gone), yellowbill hornbill (zazu from Lion King), spider hunting wasp.

What is a fever tree? It's a green tree and they were thought to be the cause of malaria...they grow in the same conditions as mosquitoes.
Our guide was Simon. Here's a random Simon joke: "Do you know why that's called a dead dog tree? It has no bark!" (ha ha ha)

The luvuvhu river goes right through the camp. After brunch we strolled on the boardwalks to see what we could see. There is a buffalo lying in the shallows taking a nap, as well as a crocodile. I saw a brief glimpse of a snake while on the walkway.

We had a guest speaker from the Makeluke Village. They were forced from their land in the 50s and the area went into Kruger Park. They had to resettle (mostly women and children) and restart their lives and communities. In 1994 they could reclaim their land through the legal process, but there was no longer any infrastructure in the area. So how do they make money? They have leased their land to the Pafuri Camp and members of their community helped to build the hotel and are employed.

Pafuri Game Drive #2: bushbuck, nyala, kudu, baboon, vervet moneky, bull elephants, wooly necked stork, baboons, puff adder tracks (no snake), yellow spotted black hyrax, jennet, lesser bush baby. The stars were very bright and we can see the Southern Cross and Scorpio, no big cat sightings.

Kruger, especially the Pafuri area, used to be heavily poached, so the animals are skittish around vehicles. Simon today slayed a tree on our travels.
The rule is you can no longer call out to stop when you see impala. Impala are everywhere!

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