Lone hyena, trying to remember the punch line

            Baboons were a common sight in the park, always trooping across the road, looking around furtively as if they were criminals coming from the scene of the crime, checking out who might have seen them.

Stripes are in this year.  The plaid thing didn't work so well for them

            Alfred braked suddenly to a halt, then reversed about fifty feet.  There on the open plain, a short distance from the track, were three black rhinos sound asleep in a clearing.  He told us that there were only about 300 of the great prehistoric beasts left, so seeing three in a group was a rare treat.  We watched them for a while sleeping peacefully unconcerned there in the park.  While some of the world's largest and most formidable predators are also there in Kruger, something the size of an Escalade, like the black rhino, doesn’t have a lot to be afraid of. 

            About another half mile down the track, we paused at a bridge over a mostly dry creek bed. There, a pair of white rhinos, accompanied by some impala, grazed quietly.  The white rhino (not really the color white, more of a dull gray—the “white” comes from an Anglicization of the Dutch word for “wide,” distinguishing the face from the sharper, narrower face of the black rhino) is larger than the black and is the one you probably think of when and if the term “rhinoceros” comes to mind.

            We continued on, in search of the rest of the “Big Five” (rhino, hippo, lion, cape buffalo and leopard), but the others remained in hiding for the day.  We did see two species of eagle: one the bardolier black eagle, a stockier cousin of our national symbol, without the white head; and another, the martial eagle, a black bird with a feather pattern that makes it appear that he’s wearing white suspenders.... or maybe he is.

            After returning to Numbi Lodge, we saddled up again and rode to the nearby town of Sabi for lunch. Darryl lead us to the popular motorcyclists' restaurant with special bike parking under the deck.  Signs there proclaimed spots for “J*p Scrap,” “Colonialist British bikes” (though it must be mainly occupied by the modern Triumphs, for I didn’t see any oil stains over there), a prominent place in the middle for BMWs, another for “Italian bikes (no Vespas allowed)” and finally a bit on the end for Harleys.... that one was marked thoroughly with dark oil spots.  Inside, the restaurant was decorated with bike posters and memorabilia, including what appeared to be a complete BMW Boxer Cup racer hung from the ceiling.

Tamzin shows them how it's done

            After the show there was a buffet dinner of African foods and desserts.  I was introduced to, among other delicacies, "Koeksisters"—a twisted pastry soaked in honey, sort of a cross between baklava and a cruller—which I later learned was a favorite of Nelson Mandela. It's good to know that one of my heroes had similar tastes in pastry.

            In the river that ran through the area where the show was held, there were hippos grazing on the bottom.  I saw one raise its head briefly, then duck back down to continue feeding.  As we were leaving the compound, we were told to stay to a particular path because the hippos were out on the riverbank.  Apparently they are one of the leading killers of humans in Africa, far more dangerous in that respect than the big cats.

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Next issue we continue our Africa run with John Rice, Esq.