In the Great Karoo, on the plains of Camdeboo, is the vast
27,000 ha Samara Private Game Reserve. Home to some rather interesting and
infrequently seen animals – for Lana and I, this was hopefully , to be an especially
memorable visit – we had heard so much about Samara.
Well let’s see what
happened ! Samara Private Game Reserve
with its 5 star Lodges is located some 30 kms south east of Graaf-Reinet and
250 kms, (or approximately an 2
hour 45 minute drive) from Port Elizabeth. Here, historically vast herds of Springbok and a wide diversity
of species roamed free – to be decimated by the 19th Centaury
hunters, compounded by the erection of
farm fencing. Well Samara is changing
that, expanding their farm size, removing the fences and returning the
indigenous wildlife to this fragile area.
Samara Private Game Reserve, is fortunate in having 4 of the
country’s 7 Biomes – on the slopes and upper plains of the surrounding hills
are the ‘Plateaux Grasslands’ which change to ‘Valley Bushveld / thicket’ as
one descends to the plains of Camdeboo. Here we find the ‘Savannah and Nama
Karoo’ biomes. It is this lower veld type that primarily led to the demise of
the indigenous wildlife, as sheep and even cattle were brought in and found to
thrive on the Karoo thickets, especially the sheep, giving ‘Karoo Lamb’ International recognition for its quality and unique flavour. One must
admire and appreciate the turnaround that Samara’s owners, Mark and Sarah
Tompkins have achieved in the past decade and a bit, with the reintroduction of
many wildlife species, back to their original habitat.
At Samara, it, in my opinion, is all about the wildlife. The land has been allowed to rest during the
past 12 years, but aeons of veld mismanagement, drought and overgrazing has
taken its toll and recovery is and will be slow. Not so slow though, is the transformation of decrepit
farms to an Internationally recognised excellent wildlife destination.
The relocation and reintroduction of species
endemic to the area, and in particular the Cheetah, with Samara’s offered game
experience with them, makes Samara a destination of choice. Here we have a
family of free ranging Cheetah, now totally independent of man, fending for
themselves in the bush , with guests having the opportunity to walk up
reasonably close to them, and share their lives, all be it for a brief moment.
This is not a petting zoo or quasi rehab centre, it’s the real thing, they are
living wild, but tolerate man in reasonably close proximity to a point. The Cheetah
are conducting life in the Karoo as their distant ancestors did. Acinonyx jubatus are classified as vulnerable. So often Cheetah, in the Private Game Reserves
have Lion as a cohabiter (well you have to have the Big 5 and lion is one of
them, seems to be a common trend) . What normally happens is that the lion kill
the Cheetah – well this does not happen at Samara thankfully, as there are no
Lion here.
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| The Aardvark we saw and followed |
Samara has another really incredible draw card, reasonably
regular daytime sightings (particularly in winter) of Aardvark , and some of
these sightings, with these animals seeming totally unconcerned with the
presence of those watching them in awe. It is with respect that one is able to
experience the foraging of so elusive and threatened an animal. The
Aardvark, Orycteropus afer is
classified as vulnerable. Destruction of
their habitat and persecution has reduced Aardvark numbers significantly. An
animal rarely seen in the warmer parts of South Africa, possibly as their ant
and termite prey are active all night, thus the Aardvark feed late at night,
whereas in the colder parts of the country such as the Karoo and at Samara, the
insect activity probably declines late evening, encouraging the Aardvark to
start their foraging earlier and are thus more visible.
Many of my
colleagues and friends have never seen an Aardvark, I have previously only seen
two and that was late at night and only briefly on each occasion. Let me tell you about this amazing wildlife
destination.
Lana and I had
driven up from the Port Elizabeth area, the road was good tar and we passed
over some rather scenic passes before entering the vast plains of the Great
Karoo. Samara is easily found nestled up against the Aasvoelberg with a good
dirt road right up to Samara’s Karoo Lodge where Lana and I were to spend the
next few days. An old farmhouse modified
to suite guests needs, was where we met the most friendly staff of Samara. Carien
welcomed us with warm towelets and a refreshing drink and introduced us to the hospitality
of the Karoo. What a lovely comfortable, homely Lodge.
Our ample suite with four-poster bed, was
free standing and a little way off in the Lodge grounds. We were warned to be
careful, as the Lodge is not fenced and there are animals on Samara that could
possibly be dangerous. Well there are Buffalo, Black and White Rhino and
Cheetah, so Ok to walk the Lodge grounds during the day, but a Ranger would
escort us from and to our Chalet at night.
We prepared
for the afternoon guided game drive, cameras and warm clothing, as this part
of the World can get quite chilly once the sun sets.
Then to High-tea, on the
lovely wide veranda. Really delectable savoury options, loads of cheeses and desserts – the individual small milk tarts
were particularly good.
We were fortunate to have a vehicle to ourselves,
Tendai was to be our guide for the
next few days. All aboard at 15h30 and
we drove a short distance from the Lodge, seeing a herd of Red Hartebeest before Tendai
stopped, clambered out of the vehicle and used a radio scanner to see if he
could locate the cheetah, which he had seen in the area earlier that day. A
faint signal! We took to the broken terrain on foot, cameras at the ready. Down into a dry river course, no signal. On we trudged, the signal
strengthened. Anticipation on high.
Eventually we were way out in the veld, when off to our left our guide
pointed out Mum Cheetah and her two sub adult cubs.
We slowly walked over to the
edge of their ‘comfort zone’ and stopped, cherishing the moment. What amazing
an experience this was. Here we were out in the wilds on foot with three fair
sized Cheetah lazing in the shade of a karoo shrub, right there in front of us.
The cameras were clicking away nicely as the trio started to move about a bit, from
one shady retreat to another. We followed, careful not to get too close and
upset the trust that the Rangers had built up between themselves and these wild
animals.
Eventually it
was time to leave, in the very far distance I could just make out the vehicle,
but it was with an elated gate that we returned to our transport – now that was
something really special of a game sighting encounter. Almost unique in game
Lodge activities here in South Africa.
Samara you have something exceptional in this particular wildlife
experience !
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| Jeremy photographing Cheetah out in the wilds of Samara |
Well what
could cap this? We proceeded on our game drive and saw quite a rich diversity
of species. Eland, Kudu, Red Hartebeest, Duiker, Oryx, Yellow Mongoose and Zebra.
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| Eland cow |
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| Gemsbok or Cape Oryx |
We also saw one of
the World’s heaviest flying birds, a Kori Bustard (can weigh just over 12kg) proudly
striding through the scrub. Then Tendai stopped the vehicle – AARDVARK he pointed, smiled, then clambered from the
vehicle and suggested we join him in seeing if we could get closer to it, it
was quite mobile. Now the Aardvark is
quite a wary little fella and with those extended ears and being sensitive to
ground vibrations, he was soon aware of our poor endeavours at creeping closer,
as we stumbled over the rather rocky scrubby ground. We were not able to
approach too close although we followed it for ages, as it sniffed one
potential underground termite source
after another.
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| Our rather shy special Aardvark |
Tendai suggested he returns to collect the vehicle and Lana and I continued to follow as
speedily as our stubbed toes and twisted ankles would allow.. It then entered a
fairly eroded open sandy area and started digging. Had it found a food
source? By the volume of soil being
excavated I thought not and decided to approach closer – the digging was like a
mini-eruption as the red soil spewed from the orifice of a fast deepening
crater and we watched as the thick tail and furiously working back legs
disappeared from sight. I would imagine the sand being forcibly thrust out of the hole, would be an
excellent deterrent, flying in the face of some potential predator. Our Aardvark sighting had come to an end.
Quite a spectacular one too.
Almost
unbelievable, two incredible lifetime wildlife experiences in one afternoon! By
now the sun was starting to settle in the west behind the Aasvoelberg and
Tengerai stopped again, clambered from the vehicle and suggested we join him in
a drink – a celebratory sundowner. There was quite a warm glow from Lana and I,
complementing that of the fiery orb in the sky.
A magnificent
‘bar roll’ was unfurled and the ice chest opened.
So many options on offer! Lana
and I settled for a Sauvignon Blanc wine and our Ranger a coke. Cheers !!
Biltong and nuts, then back to the Lodge in the dark. In the spotlight Scrub
Hare, Jackal, Spotted Eagle Owl and then the delightful, lamp lit Karoo Lodge.
We returned
to our room to find a prepared bubble bath. What a pleasure, as we shed the
grime, freshening up on the Charlotte Rhys soaps and changed for dinner. Our
Ranger escorted us back to the main building and dinner. The other guests were a largish foreign group, who
really could not converse in English, so we were offered a private dinner in
one of the anterooms. Beautiful silver and crystal gleaming in front of a
glowing fire, we ate fine fare to the accompaniment of the odd glass of wine or
two.
What a day !
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| Private dinner |
Good morning. A 06h30
arrival for the usual drinks and rusks. Today we were going to summit the
plateau and enjoy the scenic splendours and wildlife on high. Although not much
could beat the high of yesterday.
En route to
the valley that afforded easier access to the tops of the surrounding hills, we
found three Cheetah out on an early morning hunt, striding purposefully through the Karoo thickets. We admired them
for a while, then let them be.
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| Sibella - she has been an excellent mum |
We saw
numerous Kudu, Hartebeest and some Eland
on the way, but none presented good photo opportunities, quite skittish is the
general game here. Samara have cut a
road into the side of the mountain, this
rather scenic access brought us to the Rooigrass (Themeda triandra grass)
plains (plateau) above.
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| Mountain Zebra |
Mountain Zebra, Eland, Black Wildebeest and Oryx (Gemsbok)
were thriving and at home here, we could not get too close, but with the open
grasslands with small herds scattered, this must surely be so much like it was
here before man and his rifle created havoc to the then numerous herds. Now all
we need is for the lower reaches of Samara to have really large herds of
Springbok.
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| Black Wildebeest AKA White-tailed Gnu |
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| Eland |
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| Cape Oryx AKA Gemsbok |
We did not find, but I
believe Mountain Reedbuck, Klipspringer and Grey Rhebuck are also to be seen at these elevated
altitudes. And elevated it is, Tendai stopped the vehicle, clambered out and
suggested we join him. We followed as he led us through some bush and then down
a slope to a massive rock platform hanging over the edge, once vertigo was
sorted, I gazed on the most wonderful panorama. The Plains of Camdeboo
stretching out forever and the Aasvoelberg
off to our right, all in shades of browns, blue and grey, with a splash of green
here and there, spectacular!
Some solar
panels were powering a bore-hole pump
deep in the earth with the pipe meandering snakelike to a pan some distance
away. I wondered what would happen to the plastic pipe should there be a veld
fire. Well apparently due to the type of veld and paucity of cover, fires don’t
really get going in this region. Time for a coffee stop and at another view-site up on high!
Over a
rise and a large herd of Eland, knees clicking, came by, what elegant looking
antelope and so huge. I guess these are pretty safe from Cheetah, just too
large to be prey.
Giraffe, Ground Squirrel, Rock hyrax
and a large troop of Baboon were added to our species list as we wended our way
back to the luxury of Karoo Lodge, time to relax and then to high tea.
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| Ground Squirrel |
Actually there was a fair bit of action
around the Lodge, baboon hoping for a window to be carelessly left ajar,
numerous birds in the Karee bos and close to the Lodge, a well reeded dam was
host to a variety of waterfowl such as African Spoonbill, Egyptian Goose,
Little Grebe, South African Shelduck and Little Egret. I could have spent time
there but the delicious cuisine of High Tea called. High tea was
interrupted slightly in that two large exhibitionist Leopard tortoise were mating on the lawn, much to the delight of the
foreign guests.
We explored
other areas of Samara on the subsequent game drives, adding Ludwig’s Bustard to
our life list and a special sighting of some 25 Blue Crane – our National Bird,
all gathered fairly close in some sort of meeting, another species on the Red
Data list classified as vulnerable, that Samara has space for. Then on the last
morning game drive, another lifer for Lana, when Tendai stopped the vehicle,
clambered out and suggested we join him in walking over to a Porcupine, hiding
in and amongst the Karoo shrubs. It thought we couldn’t see it, but sharp-eyed Tendai
had and what a sighting, early morning, out in the open and close too. We crept
up to it, but Porky decided that it should retreat and made a break for it. It loped away,
spines bristling and rattling, probably trying to find a convenient Aardvark
hole – we were in the way for it to retreat to the one it had just left.
We left our prickly sighting to its breakfast as we headed for ours. Another species to add, a pair of Steenbuck. What a set of horns this little guy had.
Coffee, rusks
and Amarula, sigh ! standing out there on the Plains of Camdeboo for our morning
drive comfort stop, the mountains at my back and the wide open space ahead.
Clear blue skies, early sun casting its special warm glow to the scene, my
eyes follow a Greater Kestrel hovering above searching for prey, and then a
cloud of dust in the distance slowly approaches. My mind wanders and thousands
upon thousands of Springbok in their striped tan and white livery came foraging
by. Some pronking in that stiff-legged, arched back fashion with long white
mane displayed from that secretive pouch
on their backs, Antidorcas marsupialis, marsupium - pouch. One is allowed to dream a bit and my
dream could be that of the owners of Samara, the Tompkins, that one day vast
herds of Springbuck, would be returned to this so special a place.
May I be so bold
as to suggest that one should read Eve Palmers “The Plains of Camdeboo”
The Karoo is a vast semi-desert region that extends across
parts of the Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This
environmentally important area is the largest ecosystem in the country and is
abundant in wildlife, vegetation, and ancient history. “The Plains of Camdeboo”
is a celebration of this remarkable landscape. At first encounter, the Karoo
may seem arid, desolate and unforgiving, but to those who know it, it is a land
of secret beauty and infinite variety. Samara is joyfully so much a part of it.
Photographs by Jeremy and Lana Williamson
