Monday February 2nd, 2026 Queen Anne, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Neil Wylie
Jan 10
4 min read

Updated: Feb 9

We’ve been looking forward to today for a long time as we are going on a safari and we have such fond memories of our last trip to South Africa when we did a 3 day safari near Krueger National Park.

Since 2021 the official name of the town is now Gqeberha a tribal name for the river that flows through the town (almost impossible to pronounce as it incorporates a “tongue click”), but everyone still uses its older name or P.E. for short. As we drove through Port Elizabeth, I was so glad we’d booked our safari, the place was a bit run down – well, a lot run down, even the tour guide who lived there was finding it hard to come up with any redeeming qualities of the town, it’s not the kind of place to just wander through. The main activity of the area seems to be exporting the various minerals that are mined nearby, primarily manganese ore as well as cars and car parts made locally. We saw a constant flow of open ore trucks rattling into the port pulling huge piles of black manganese. Another sign of the Chinese “belt and roads initiative”, every bulk carrier docked in the port was Chinese registered.

Heading east for about 90 minutes we came to Lalibella Game Reserve, one of several we passed along the way. I could see a collection of thatched roof buildings nestled around a small lake and, even from the bus, some zebras and a family of wart hogs.

After a short wait we boarded our open top safari vehicle, with 4 rows of 3 seats our previous experience told us to get the front row as it would be less bumpy. Our guide was a young man named Ruben and we quicky realized that, despite his apparent age, he was incredibly knowledgeable. As the cloud cover dissipated, the intense South African sun became prominent. I was appreciative of both my reliable hat and the high-factor sunscreen I had applied. Meanwhile, the airflow generated by the moving truck offered a welcome cooling effect.

Lalibella is vast covering 26,000 acres with no fences and a very active conservation program. Mostly we drove over established gravel tracks, but occasionally Ruben would veer off the track to track down the wildlife. With several trucks out on the reserve tracking the animals is aided by radio communication between the guides and soon we homed in on a lone bull elephant, a young male of 5 tons. The elephant was helping himself to a bush near an old quarry, he seemed completely at ease with our presence – it’s so amazing to be so close to such an immensely powerful animal. After a while the elephant wandered across the track and out onto the grassland where we could see him plucking grass with his trunk and then carefully shaking off all of the dirt before placing it in his mouth, it seemed like such a delicate move for something so immense.

As we continued through the reserve, we encountered multiple groups of white rhinoceroses, which, despite their name, are not actually white. Some were lazing about in the sun, but we also saw a large female with a young calf, every time Ruben maneuvered the truck to get a better look, the mother would place herself between us and the calf. Several of the rhinos had their main horn removed to combat poaching, though this still happens in other areas Ruben told us they had not had an issue with it for several years.

The radio cracked with news of a female lion; it turned out to be back at the old quarry where we saw the elephant. The lion had apparently just killed a male wart hog and dragged it up under a tree at the top of the quarry. At first, I could not make out the lion, despite accurate indications from Ruben – the combination of tree shade and the very effective camouflage made it hard to spot, despite being very close. Eventually I spotted her stretched out under the tree taking a breather after her efforts to “procure” her lunch. I could not make out the wart hog, Ruben said she was covering it with her front paws, but as we watched she would occasionally look down at us – completely at ease with our gawping at her.

Near a small lake there was a sizable herd of water buffalo, many with red-billed oxpecker birds on their back; these birds feed on parasites like ticks, lice, and flies from the buffalo’s hide, providing natural pest control. Lurking in water I could see the snouts of a couple of hippopotamuses, Ruben told us that these animals were the biggest danger to humans accounting for more kills than any other species in the bush. Watching over everything was a spectacular African fish eagle; though not closely related this bird looks a lot like an American bald eagle.

The blue crane is the national bird of South Africa, and we were very fortunate to see a beautiful pair of these birds on the edge of another small lake. Ruben had a recording of the call of the blue crane on his phone and as he played it the two birds in the lake immediately looked up, trying to locate the position others of their species and then returning the call, a loud chittering chirp. The bird kept looking at our vehicle expecting to see another blue crane but instead seeing a gaggle of smirking tourists.

After about 3 hours exploring the game reserve we returned to the lodge for an excellent buffet lunch, including many local African dishes. The meal was served in a large round room with a beautiful, thatched roof with wooden beams radiating out like the spokes of a wheel, the warm hum of conversation echoing gently around the space. Before reboarding the bus, we purchased 3 locally made African doll figures at the gift shop, a great memento of our wonderful day at Lalibella.