Schotia Wildlife Reserve, South Africa

Today was the arrival at the Schotia Wildlife Reserve in South Africa where I will be spending ten days of spending time with and filming the wildlife to make my documentary short.

Bush Camp at Schotia Game Reserve, South Africa

Guests are allowed to stay here in a small hotel like area in the safe zone. There are different building with different amenities included, I don't really know any of them because I got to stay at Bush Camp. Literally, two cabins in a bush. I was told that at first they didn't have the bush labeled,  and it looked like every other bush on the reserve so the interns previously would always get lost trying to find it. I definitely appreciated the sign.

Giraffe interrupted from eating

Bush Camp is in the 'safe zone' of the reserve where the animals that roam free are not ones that can readily eat you. When I wake up, outside my door I get to see rhinos, giraffes, warthogs, wildebeest, zebras, and more.

The fence that crosses into the 'danger zone' is not too far from Bush Camp. There are things like jackals, elephants, crocodiles, hippos, lions, and more. The pride has a total of nine lions, three females and five males. The big daddy male is easy to hear roaring during the night, that was probably one of the coolest things to hear in the wild.

Crocodile ready for action!

Upon arrival, we were informed that a hyena had broken into the reserve, probably using a warthog hole underneath the fence since warthogs tend to dig and escape in and out. They only see it once and a while, but with nine lions to contend with for feeding purposes, I don't think I'd stick around too much if I were a hyena myself.

The highlight of the first night was being stalked and surrounded by the nine lions. The five of us were in an open land rover with our guide, while other tourists have closed land rovers. So the young males and especially the young female that was born without an ear found us especially entertaining and worth pursuing. The first time we saw the lions they came up to our land rover quite inquisitive but Leandi, our guide, revved the engine which seemed to scare them off a little bit. 

Afternoon snooze after catching and eating an impala

The second time we saw them, though, they were much more daring and we actually got surrounded by five or six of the young lions wanting to 'play.' The young female without an ear took a small leap at the car, but not enough to get onto it or get any of us. It was quite terrifying and excited all at once, but since I didn't die it makes for one great story. Leandi didn't stick around or rev the engine after that, she just slammed down the gas out of there. It was exhilarating even more so that the pride continue to follow us in a stalking matter until we were out of the danger zone for the night. It was crazy! If you go to South Africa and want to stay somewhere awesome with game drives and such, I definitely suggest staying at the Schotia Game Reserve.

Sunset at Schotia

"Adventure is out there." Go find it!

The One and Only,
Carly K.