Charlotte (15), describes her visit to Djuma Game Reserve.

Hi

I came to visit Djuma for a long weekend in June 1999.  I was with my parents and some friends of my dad's from the company he was working with while we were in South Africa.  To go for a weekend in Djuma was a dream come true as I had always wanted to "go on safari" and Djuma was perfect.  We arrived after a long drive from Nelspruit at 5pm and went to Galago Camp where we met Ephram who would be our guide for the weekend.  Our friends hadn't arrived and as they rang to say they would be late, we all decided that My parents and I would go on a game drive with Ephram before the others arrived.  I was very excited as this was my very first game drive.  My mum had also never been on one where as my dad had been on several at various places in Africa.  So, we left the lodge and went out for what we didn't know then , would be an amazing experience that none of us would forget.  We had been driving for at least an hour and it had started getting dark so Aubrey got the big flood light to search with.  We went along one very long straight track and in the light of the torch we saw a pair of eyes glinting at us further along the track.  Ephram immediately got going and drove us up to where we had spotted the eyes.  The animal by this time had gone off the track to the left hand side, and so Ephram decided to follow it through the bush.  It was all very exciting and we only were told that we were following a lioness during the fast ride through the bush.  We eventually saw the lioness again and headed of in its direction, where a few minutes later we found ourselves surrounded by 7 or 8 lionesses, all covered in blood, having been feeding on a baby zebra whose mangled remains were in the teeth of on of the lionesses.    So there we were, sitting in an open top vehicle, surrounded by 7 lionesses all protecting what they were devouring.  It was very exciting and I was extremely scared!  We sat there for about 15minutes, with Aubrey panning the light to show us the different animals.  All I was worried about was that when the light was shining on one animal, the other 6 or 7 could have been doing anything!  After this unique experience, I felt that nothing else could be better, but there was more to come over the next 2 days. 

    On one game drive we saw a pack of wild dogs twice, within half an hour of each other, which was very interesting to see the characteristics of these dogs.  We also saw the big five-3 elephants, 4 leopards, plenty of buffalo, 1 rhino and those lionesses, as well as warthogs, many antelope, giraffe, zebra, many birds and wild cats.  We also had the opportunity to touch a black mamba.  

    We were on a game drive late one afternoon, and Ephram suddenly stopped the jeep, and explained to us that there was a black mamba lying on the ground about 6 meters ahead.  It was only when I was back in England that I found out how very dangerous these snakes can be.  Ephram was rightfully very cautious, and threw a stick at it to see if it reacted.  It squirmed slightly, but we found that it had been run over by a vehicle, which is an awful thing to happen.  It still had the grooves where the tyres had run over it.  Eventually, Ephram darted at it quickly with a knife, slit its head and leapt back.  The mamba squirmed again but after a few minutes of painful writhing, it was put out of its misery and it died.  Arthur (one of our friends with us) picked it up and we were able to see the 6ft monster and touch it.  To be able to say that you have touched a black mamba is very special!!

    I hope you can either post these experiences on the "lion's roar " posting board, or even on the Drumbeat section.  If u would like a photo of the black mamba, please email me and I will scan it in and send it to you.  Thank you for giving me one of the most memorable weekends of my life!!!

From

Charlotte (15) , Droitwich, England  

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