South Africa & Namibia
Trip Report: African Animal Adventures
Hamilton's Tented Camp
Day 16 Continued
We set out from Lower Sabie Rest camp for the 90 km drive to Hamilton's Tented Camp. Hamilton's is in the Mluwati Concession which is a part of Kruger Park northeast of the other concessions, most of which lie outside the park. I chose it for that reason and the fact that it is small with only 6 luxury tents. They also use small game vehicles with no more than 6 passengers compared to the 10-12 people that get packed in at some reserves. And no children were allowed. For Blanca, it was the picture of the butler on their website. Now just to clear that up, you don't get a private butler but the guys are on call 24/7 via walkie talkies.
We meandered north slowly over the increasingly dry bush. There was no water. And there was very little game for the first half of the drive. But our luck was about to change. Just after a very busy rest camp, we had to stop as a mixed herd of wildebeest and zebra crossed the road in front of us. Then we ran into a major traffic jam with everybody staring at a rock pile. "It's a leopard with a kill" "It's a lion and a leopard" Various cars had various stories. We could see the kill - an impala - but no leopard and no lion. We threaded our way through the jam and drove down the road. And not a mile away, I spied elephants. A whole herd moving through about 30 m off the road.
We set out from Lower Sabie Rest camp for the 90 km drive to Hamilton's Tented Camp. Hamilton's is in the Mluwati Concession which is a part of Kruger Park northeast of the other concessions, most of which lie outside the park. I chose it for that reason and the fact that it is small with only 6 luxury tents. They also use small game vehicles with no more than 6 passengers compared to the 10-12 people that get packed in at some reserves. And no children were allowed. For Blanca, it was the picture of the butler on their website. Now just to clear that up, you don't get a private butler but the guys are on call 24/7 via walkie talkies.
We meandered north slowly over the increasingly dry bush. There was no water. And there was very little game for the first half of the drive. But our luck was about to change. Just after a very busy rest camp, we had to stop as a mixed herd of wildebeest and zebra crossed the road in front of us. Then we ran into a major traffic jam with everybody staring at a rock pile. "It's a leopard with a kill" "It's a lion and a leopard" Various cars had various stories. We could see the kill - an impala - but no leopard and no lion. We threaded our way through the jam and drove down the road. And not a mile away, I spied elephants. A whole herd moving through about 30 m off the road.
Then 5 km later I saw another elephant scratching himself on a tree with more down in the riverbed. Well, we had certainly found the elephants that had been such a rare sighting for us down south. Two herds in 15 minutes!
Shortly after these sightings, we turned off the major north-south tar road and set out on one of the the most pitifully bumpy washboardy roads that I have ever driven on. Continuous and bone jarring. The GPS fell off the windshield. 19 km of it. It was worse than the roads we drove in the wilds of Namibia. And the area was dry dry dry. A couple of giraffes and a few - very few - impalas. I was starting to wonder if we had booked the wrong camp because they wouldn't have any game.
Finally, about 4 hours after we left Lower Sabie, we pulled up in front of the main lodge of Hamilton's. They hurried out on the steps and welcomed us with a cold glass of wine. The manager has a deep booming voice - exactly what you would expect from the manager of an African Lodge. The main building was fabulous - completely open on the river side. A lounging area in one corner and the dining tables spread out over much of the rest. Open concept African style. There were even some elephants splashing in the water of the dam off in the distance around a bend. We had just missed them walking by. Ahhhhhhhhhh.
Hamilton's Tented Camp Kruger National Park, Hamiltons Tented Rd, Kruger Park, 1350, South Africa
They whisked the car away because I was going to be a passenger for a couple of days. I had driven every day but one since we arrived in Cape Town almost 2 weeks before. And so far so good. No problems at all. Although, I don't know about these industrial-strength thorns that keep screeching down the side of the minivan whenever I meet vehicles on a dirt road. No marks yet, so all is well.
Finally, about 4 hours after we left Lower Sabie, we pulled up in front of the main lodge of Hamilton's. They hurried out on the steps and welcomed us with a cold glass of wine. The manager has a deep booming voice - exactly what you would expect from the manager of an African Lodge. The main building was fabulous - completely open on the river side. A lounging area in one corner and the dining tables spread out over much of the rest. Open concept African style. There were even some elephants splashing in the water of the dam off in the distance around a bend. We had just missed them walking by. Ahhhhhhhhhh.
Hamilton's Tented Camp Kruger National Park, Hamiltons Tented Rd, Kruger Park, 1350, South Africa
They whisked the car away because I was going to be a passenger for a couple of days. I had driven every day but one since we arrived in Cape Town almost 2 weeks before. And so far so good. No problems at all. Although, I don't know about these industrial-strength thorns that keep screeching down the side of the minivan whenever I meet vehicles on a dirt road. No marks yet, so all is well.
As you can see from the pictures above, safari camps are a little different. The camp was totally raised on stilts. The main building, the swimming pool deck, the walkways and each of the 6 remote tent cabins were at least 1.5 - 2 m off the ground. In one dry riverbed separating 3 - 6 from the main building, the walkway was at least 4 m up. This allowed elephants a way through and the dung proved that they used it. Being raised discourages animals from joining in with our fun. Bushbuck and impala were common visitors below and the inevitable troop of baboons. Blanca also saw a couple of mongoose run by as well as a small wildcat in the riverbed.
The golden rule at Hamilton's was to never get down off a walkway. And at night you always called for a staff escort - you never left your tent alone. Each tent gets a walkie talkie to radio the main building.
And then there is the schedule. You paid to see the Big 5. Did you think that this was a holiday? Silly you. They have a 3 hour game drive that leaves around 5:30 am. Breakfast is around 10 am after the drive. Lunch is 1 pm. Another drive leaves at 3:30 pm. Dinner is 7 pm after the drive. All meal times have some flexibility since the cook(s) seemed to be there most of the day. You order your lunch entree at breakfast and dinner at lunch so that they can be prepared. But of course, you don't have to go on any game drives if you don't want to, but that is a big chunk of what you are paying for.
So I was ready but there was a bit of grumbling from my wife about the schedule. We unpacked and it was off to meet our guide and our safari mates. They turned out to be a couple from Germany who had just shuttled in from Skukuza Airport. The next day, two women who arrived late - one from Germany and one from Canada - joined our drives. Our driver was a young enthusiastic South African named Wesley, who told us that he was a temporary fill in for a driver that was away. The concession we were in, Mluwati, has a total of 3 lodges which are jointly owned and share some resources - like drivers. The truck was a Toyota Land Cruiser - of course - but it wasn't white! It seems that they paint the safari vehicles khaki or tan so they blend in. As if a roaring vehicle filled with camera-snapping tourists would ever blend in . . .
And the rules had changed. In Kruger drivers are never allowed to go off-road. The concession drivers can - but only for the Big 5 - even though we were technically still in Kruger. They are not allowed to drive in the burn areas. Wes explained that in recent years they had done some controlled burns to rejuvenate the grasses for the herds to try to ease over-grazing. But as with the surrounding areas we had driven through to get here, everything was dry. Very dry. The drought. Unfortunately, that nice rain that brought the animals out around Lower Sabie hadn't reached this far north. The last rain had been 2 months before.
The other huge advantage our guide had was a radio. With the other lodges, there was a total of 6 trucks and drivers in motion during every drive time and they were sharing sighting info.
So what did all of this mean to us? Close ups!
The golden rule at Hamilton's was to never get down off a walkway. And at night you always called for a staff escort - you never left your tent alone. Each tent gets a walkie talkie to radio the main building.
And then there is the schedule. You paid to see the Big 5. Did you think that this was a holiday? Silly you. They have a 3 hour game drive that leaves around 5:30 am. Breakfast is around 10 am after the drive. Lunch is 1 pm. Another drive leaves at 3:30 pm. Dinner is 7 pm after the drive. All meal times have some flexibility since the cook(s) seemed to be there most of the day. You order your lunch entree at breakfast and dinner at lunch so that they can be prepared. But of course, you don't have to go on any game drives if you don't want to, but that is a big chunk of what you are paying for.
So I was ready but there was a bit of grumbling from my wife about the schedule. We unpacked and it was off to meet our guide and our safari mates. They turned out to be a couple from Germany who had just shuttled in from Skukuza Airport. The next day, two women who arrived late - one from Germany and one from Canada - joined our drives. Our driver was a young enthusiastic South African named Wesley, who told us that he was a temporary fill in for a driver that was away. The concession we were in, Mluwati, has a total of 3 lodges which are jointly owned and share some resources - like drivers. The truck was a Toyota Land Cruiser - of course - but it wasn't white! It seems that they paint the safari vehicles khaki or tan so they blend in. As if a roaring vehicle filled with camera-snapping tourists would ever blend in . . .
And the rules had changed. In Kruger drivers are never allowed to go off-road. The concession drivers can - but only for the Big 5 - even though we were technically still in Kruger. They are not allowed to drive in the burn areas. Wes explained that in recent years they had done some controlled burns to rejuvenate the grasses for the herds to try to ease over-grazing. But as with the surrounding areas we had driven through to get here, everything was dry. Very dry. The drought. Unfortunately, that nice rain that brought the animals out around Lower Sabie hadn't reached this far north. The last rain had been 2 months before.
The other huge advantage our guide had was a radio. With the other lodges, there was a total of 6 trucks and drivers in motion during every drive time and they were sharing sighting info.
So what did all of this mean to us? Close ups!
While these lions are still very much wild animals, they have been gradually conditioned to allow safari trucks to get really close. Wes parked the truck and shut the engine off in the middle of a group of 3 sleeping lions. They surrounded us - about 5 m away - and there was no gun in the truck. There wouldn't be time to use it anyway. I will admit that it is a pretty exhilarating experience. Wes explained the whole conditioning thing and how he watched for the slightest trouble sign from them. They had been observing this trio for a year. 2 brothers and a female who will eventually mate with one of them. The one male had a scar on his face from a fight. After a brief glance at us, they calmly slept through our 15 minute visit. Or were they? Like any cat, they were always watching . . . and listening . . . Wes told us that the 2 males had a real taste for buffalo and that was their usual kill. They coordinated their attacks and they were very good at it. They certainly looked well fed. Thankfully.
This is what we couldn't get in the bigger public park. Predator sightings were always a tiny speck 150 m away with 6 or more vehicles angling for the best picture. Sure, I have seen people's Kruger pictures with lions lying on the road but they were the exception - not the rule. The private lodge could give us 'in your face' Big 5 game. But on the other hand, the public park offered spontaneity - the real joy of discovery - while the lodge safari was always just a bit contrived.
We continued on . . . spotting a pair of male white rhinos - one of whom had lost his horn. It will grow back with time. We also stopped for a sundowner. If you have ever been on safari anywhere, you know about this ritual. The guide hauls a portable bar out of the truck and everybody toasts sundown in the wild. Wes always picked a nice open space for some reason.
This is what we couldn't get in the bigger public park. Predator sightings were always a tiny speck 150 m away with 6 or more vehicles angling for the best picture. Sure, I have seen people's Kruger pictures with lions lying on the road but they were the exception - not the rule. The private lodge could give us 'in your face' Big 5 game. But on the other hand, the public park offered spontaneity - the real joy of discovery - while the lodge safari was always just a bit contrived.
We continued on . . . spotting a pair of male white rhinos - one of whom had lost his horn. It will grow back with time. We also stopped for a sundowner. If you have ever been on safari anywhere, you know about this ritual. The guide hauls a portable bar out of the truck and everybody toasts sundown in the wild. Wes always picked a nice open space for some reason.
Just as we were setting out again at dusk, Wes got an urgent call on the radio about an active spot. We raced there in a 'Ferrari Safari.' Leopards! A mother and her son had been spotted in a thicket very close to Hamilton's.
We were greeted on return with warm towels and a cordial. Dinner was set up on the lawn in front of the main building. Beef filet and very good. And since it wasn't a secure area, guards patrolled the perimeter throughout the whole meal. A little overboard? Maybe. But those leopards were only 1 km away . . .
Day 17
It was an interesting night. We were woken up around 2 am by the baboons. Something had whipped them into a frenzy and they woke the whole camp with their barking and screeching. Being in a semi-tent made it all that much louder. And then around 4 am, a lion roared in the distance. Trust me, you have not lived until you have heard lions roar in the night. Spooky. I got up and went out on our deck in the dark. And that was doubly spooky. I will admit that I kept a flashlight in motion watching the ground below and the trees above . . .
We had to meet at 5:15 am for coffee before the game drive. A shower in an outdoor shower at 5 am is not really a wonderful thing. It was quite chilly . . . Anyways, we bundled up in the truck with blankets and set out with the mornings 1st glow to search for game. Not much for a long while and just as my wife announced to Wes that she had to hit a washroom . . . Boom. Elephants! She was able to manage and we got up close with a herd of about 6 ellies. The matriarch got edgy after a while and we backed off a bit. Incredible.
We dropped Blanca off at the lodge and continued. No sooner were we rolling then we got another call about an active sighting. 4 lions were chasing a rogue male who had been fighting with their pride. They meant business. They walked right in between our 2 Land Cruisers into the bush then across the plain.
That afternoon we went out for our last game drive at Hamilton's. We decided that we would skip the next morning's drive because we badly needed a morning that wasn't rushed. Plus we had to pack and drive to Skukuza Airport to fly to Johannesburg. The drive was somewhat anti-climatic with Cape Buffalo, kudu, dwarf mongoose and the usual zillion impala. My highlight was a bushbaby who bounced across in the light. Oh . . . and more sleeping lions. Who says lions don't cuddle?
For our last dinner at Hamilton's and our last dinner in Kruger Park we had a very good gourmet dinner with a decent bottle of wine sitting out on the main deck. Springbok carpaccio and South African lamb.
We really enjoyed our time at Hamilton's. It was not cheap. I had booked it on sale 10 months out grabbing the only discounted listing on hotels.com for $455 pp per night. And that is cheap for the Kruger concessions. If you want to stay at Richard Branson's ritzy Ulusaba Rock Lodge the cheapest room rates start at R8900 pp pn or $741 CAN. And they gladly accept children! But 2 nights with 4 potential drives was enough because it is a packaged experience and it would have started to wear thin. We were very glad we saw both sides of Kruger. If we ever make it back, it would be public camps all the way.