Cruise Port 5 – Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Imbuliso (Greetings), once again!
Today is April 24th, 2023, and we will be in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The tour we have planned is to visit the Pumba Game Reserve where they claim to have the Big 5 of elephants, rhinos, buffalo, lions, and leopards. They also have the few white lion breeding program in the world, attempting to save the white lion from extinction.
We are greeted coming toward the port by the pilot boat. The man in the middle below soon pulls himself up with two ropes.
We enter Port Elizabeth’s harbor – it is still not quite daylight, and the sky is a little hazy with moisture. But the waterfront is enchanting! Another story a little later…
The ship approaches our berth at the dock. The fluttering sign on the fence reads “Nelson Mandela Bay – Welcome”. This is a far cry from the nice Nelson Mandela Cruise Terminal we had in Durban! The lots are lined with cars and vans! We learn these are all being exported!
After a lot of delays at the port due to rain and problems getting Steve Selka off the ship we are finally aboard our bus and heading out of Port Elizabeth.
The city is very proud of the Campanile. This is a memorial tower that has a 23-bell carillon that sings out every hour. The largest bell checks in at 3 tons! We learn the local government has decided to rename Port Elizabeth to have the original name it had before it was named Port Elizabeth. The “new” old name is Gqueberha (pronounced [click]eh-bear-ha). It’s a Xhosa name. And another note – Nelson Mandela was born and raised near here – he was also Xhosa!
After an hour and a half drive we arrive at Pumba a half hour late due to the problems getting off the ship. But we arrive!
Our group is loaded onto three Land Rovers. I manage to get Steve Selka set for the front seat next to the driver since he can’t climb the peg steps to get into the rear seats.
We meet our driver and tour guide for Pumba Game Reserve. Meet Mze! (pronounced “mm-zee”)
Here is a shot of one of the other Land Rovers. This is different from our in that ours has side panels that drop down to expose flip-out steps. This one below has fixed steps around the wheel fender. All in all, the ride in the Land Rover is a dream compared to the nearly-rock-hard seats in the trucks we had yesterday at Tala Game Reserve! The Land Rover seats are cushy!
Our view in the Land Rover is better than the Tala truck, too! We don’t have to look over the truck’s cab – we are clear to the front!
We begin our journey! Pumba Game Reserve has 6,500 hectares (over 16,000 acres) of land – much larger than Tala’s 6,000 acres.
Our first encounter is a group of bachelor blaesbok antelope hanging out with several zebra. Mze explains the male blaesbok were kicked out of the herd when the dominant male took control. The bachelors will eventually try to get their own females to form their own groups.
We come across a female impala chewing on an acacia tree. She isn’t startled by us at all!
Another zebra closer to the road is found. A female impala is in the background.
A warthog family comes in to view. Here is daddy and a little ‘un.
Two more warthogs join the group. These appear to be younger males.
We interrupt a large group of female impalas as they cross the road. One turns to glare while the others scurry away.
Then we find a male impala – he doesn’t appear to be in charge of the pack of females we just saw.
Suddenly a group of guinea fowl run out of the bushes and start heading down the road in front of us! Would you believe a group of guinea fowl is called a “confusion”? So I amend my statement to properly say – Suddenly a confusion of guinea fowl run out of the bushes and start heading down the road in front of us! “Confusion” works!
Suddenly the people in back seat urgently call on Mze to stop – there are elephants in the trees on the left! We find holes in the bushes and trees to see, and there are about six elephants and it appears the larger elephants are trying to guard the smaller elephants. Sand start flying in the air as they apply their “sunscreen”!
I finally catch a glimpse of this young male through a gap in the bushes.
Then we find the giraffes! I really like this shot I captured!
Another creature runs into the road in front of us. We follow it about a quarter mile before it turns to face us. We see it is a black-backed jackal!
We find a family of baboons crossing the grassy plain below us. This is the big guy!
On the other end of the simian tree from the baboon is this little guy! It is a velvet monkey!
We find a confusion of wildebeest (yes, a group of wildebeest is also called a confusion). And one is a gnu because it is blue!
Finally we see a leopard! Yes, really! OK, a leopard tortoise. This is another creature that decides to enter the road in front of us! After he realizes we are right behind him he turns right into the grasses.
Then comes the biggest surprise of all – lions! This big male is laying belly up, like he just had a big meal and needs to rest!
He finally wakes and rolls upright. Handsome beast!
After a while he decides we are too close. He walks away about 15 feet and lays down again.
He has two female companions, one of which is a rare white lion! You may recall I mentioned Pumba Game Reserve has a white lion breeding program. The white color of fur is a recessive gene, so if a white female mates with a tawny male, chances are very high all of the offspring will be tawny. That’s what has been happening for a long time so the white lion number were severely down. Pumba Game Reserve started with two mating pairs and the lions are doing well here!
Next we head to a fenced area where cheetahs are being introduced into the Reserve. We are fortunate to see all four cheetahs they have. This one is laying down but poking its head through a bush!
This cheetah is the only one that stayed in the open. Beautiful lines! Look how long those legs and the tail are!
We head to the watering hole, and find most of the hippos piled up on the shore. It is an overcast day so they don’t feel threatened by the sun.
A mom and her baby are playing in the lake!
It’s time to head back to the lodge. We see another herd of bachelor blaesbok, but these are hanging with warthogs, so it is not clear if these are the same bachelors we saw earlier.
But the warthog starts to give us attitude!
Then an impala starts snorting at us! He’s trying to assert his ownership of this area!
Up the hill along the treeline we find the giraffes. They, too, are hanging out with several warthogs!
Then I find this one giraffe on a ridgeline contemplating the view. I really like this picture, too!
We encounter these two zebras nuzzling each other in a very sweet way!
This land is incredible! It has a lot of variety in a relatively small area (relative to the rest of Africa!). All of the animals appear to be very healthy! This is lovely territory, but it is huge for a day of searching! We didn’t see rhinos, buffalo, or leopards today. But that’s OK – we saw a lot!
A few hours later we are back on board the Sojourn. Sunset proves to be very pretty again, over the sea of export cars!
OK, now I owe you a story. Remember that photo of the Port Elizabeth waterfront? When we arrive back on board the ship Captain K makes an announcement that we need to be very cautious when going ashore. A dozen passengers went on a walking tour sponsored by the ship, called a tour by a local. The local guide took the group down a street they should not have gone, and six men, three with guns and three with knives confronted the group. Long story short, most of them lost their passports, wallets, cameras, backpacks, watches, wedding rings and other jewelry, and one woman ended up with multiple bruises and cuts and a broken wrist. This is in that lovely waterfront area I showed you at the beginning of this post. Unemployment is high here, 40%! So if you come to visit, be careful!
We say usale kakhule to Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)!
Next port, Cape Town!
