The lady in the Nkuhlu picinic area was the one who got us excited. We were doing a self-drive safari in KrugerNational Park which is a mind-bogglingly large park (over 400 kms long), and so whenever we could we asked others about the animals they'd spotted. In the picnic area, the lady with the spiky blond hair said in her Germanic accent, "Yes, we saw many animals. We saw a Leo-paard." She then gave us exact directions to spot the leopard 8 kms north of Nkuhlu, but of course we never did spot her leopard.
After taking a long detour to get some gas in the Skukuza camp, our car's tank and confidence restored, we took a side road, heading north towards the picnic area of Tshokwane, where our guidebook said the lions were.
It was a tar road in excellent condition, and we pretty much had the whole National Park to ourselves. Hardly anyone there at all, this being early December. We'd seen plenty of wildlife, and because of the big cats, the rule was to absolutely, positively never to get out of our vehicle. (Frommer's even had a graphic story of a seasoned ranger who got out to take a leak, and was killed by an animal before he could even zip up.)
With the windows open, I was driving at a slow pace, eyes scanning the branches of every passing tree hoping to catch sight of a leopard, the most elusive of the wildcats. And that's when I heard the flap-flap-flap. We knew what it was without even looking. We had a flat tire -- of all places, in a South African NP where the wild animals roamed.
I put on the flashers and we started to read the car's manual to see if the spare tire could somehow be fitted. (I was really scared of the animals and even considered driving the 20+ kms to civilization with the tire flat.)
In a minute, a car passed us, then reversed and the man (an American from his accent) asked if we'd called for help. "I don't have a cell phone," I said and neither did he. I told him that I was hoping to install the spare tire, and he offered to help. Given that we were in a no-getting-out zone, this was really a magnanimous offer. (I have since asked myself if I'd have offered to help if I came across a car with a flat tire in a game reserve.)
Just at that instant, a white truck drove up towards us from the opposite direction. "Good day," said the black man who was driving. "Do you have a spare tire?" I nodded yes. Without my even asking, the 3 occupants of the truck jumped down to help. All I had to do was remove our two suitcases from the boot so that they could get to the spare tire. They did everything else. These 3 worked with the efficiency of a race-car pit crew and they changed the tire in under three minutes, no exaggeration. It all happened so fast, I didn't even have time to register relief fully.
I gratefully started to shake the hands of the men. We were not sure if it was okay to offer them money. I took a currency note, folded it and tentatively handed it to the driver while shaking his hand. Thanks, thanks he said and they all drove off. From getting the flat tire to being back to driving took less than 10 minutes. I resolved to write this entry here to thank all these men who helped a stranger spontaneously. Also, this whole incident has now morphed into something that I quite enjoyed.
P.S. That same evening, as we were driving towards the Crocodile Bridge gate to leave Kruger NP, with our stay over, we did spot a leopard when it decided to cross the road right in front of our car.
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