7/31/19
We took an Uber in the morning to the airport and then flew to Johannesburg. There we rented a car (it's cheap here at $15/day) and drove about 4 hours to Nelspruit. There we checked into our hostel. There was some confusion about the booking, but they had a room for us in the end. We went shopping and got a pizza for dinner
8/1/19
An early morning pick up for our Kruger National Park safari.We entered the park at the Numbi Gate at sunrise and met our guide, Shadrack. We had a full day game drive, stopping at Afsaal rest for breakfast (Bush Breakfast) and Berge-en-Dal camp for lunch. The lunch spot had a waterhole for wildlife. We shared a burger and had ice creams. We stayed the night at Pretoriuskop camp in a banda (rondavel) and had steak and chicken for dinner.
The game driving was great! In the afternoon, alone, we saw the Big 5 (leopard, lion, buffalo, elephant, and rhino). We saw a single male lion and also a group of sleeping lions. We also saw about 8 white rhinos. Lots and lots of elephants and giraffes as well as many buffalo and the noble Kudu (South African National Parks' symbol). We saw a couple of klipspringers on the rocks which were a cool sighting and also a spotted hyena. The best, however, was a pair of leopards walking through the bush! At night, we watched a nature documentary film about the park at a little outdoor theater at the camp.
8/2/19
Up before dawn for another full day game drive. We started out with a really awesome sighting of an African Wildcat with a tiny kitten. They look just like our old cat Buster-B. Then on the road between Skukuza camp and Lower Sabie camp, we saw SO many lions. Several different prides with cubs, some sitting nicely out in the open. We had brunch (eggs benedict and chai tea) at Lower Sabie camp, sitting out on the deck overlooking the river and looking at buffalo, waterbuck, and bushbuck. Near Lower Sabie camp was a really nice waterhole with SO many big crocs. Also hippos in the water and lots of zebra, impalas, and kudus drinking. Back on the Lower Sabie to Skukuza road, which follows along the Sabie River (and had tons of impala), we watched a failed attack by a lion on an impala.
Then later we watched two lionesses stalk impala. We got super close to them: one was a foot in front of the front bumper of our land cruiser. The stalking continued towards a rest stop, where we got out to pee, and we saw the impala flee at full speed and had the thrill of thinking the lions might come through the rest camp, but they didn't.
We saw many other animals during the day, with of course many elephants, giraffe, zebra, kudu, etc. At night we took a night drive in a national park truck. I don't think our camp is situated in a great game area, and on the night drive we only drove 1.5 hours out and 1.5 hours back at a super slow rate, so it wasn't super eventful. We did see a civet. The best was 6 or 7 very curious and very cute hyena cubs, who were not afraid at all and came right up to the truck. In fact the driver had to honk to scare them from biting the tires. Dinner was at the Wimpy's fast food inside the park at our camp: milkshake and ribs.
8/3/19
Another pre-dawn start. Joining us today were 2 other women, one from the UK (an avocado specialist) and one from Israel (traveling for 3 straight years). Pretty quickly into the game drive, we came upon 2 cheetah brothers. They were very cute--cuddling and licking each other. It was fun to stay with them awhile to watch them until they wandered off.
We also briefly saw 2 Wild Dogs (Painted Dogs). They were in an area where there was supposedly a den with 14 puppies, but when they all lie down in the bush, it's nearly impossible to see them. Another cool sighting was a family of hyenas chewing on the remains of an impala. They were very close to the road and included a couple of ~1 yr old puppies and 2 very tiny puppies (still black). We ate brunch at Skukuza (buffet). Humorously, there was a 1/2 marathon going on in that part of the park. We visited a couple of waterholes with quite a variety of wildlife. Again, there were elephants everywhere. We got stuck in a *huge* herd of buffalo leaving a waterhole.
We had an amazing time in Kruger! It definitely didn't disappoint. It was a great last safari send off before we headed home.
We took an Uber in the morning to the airport and then flew to Johannesburg. There we rented a car (it's cheap here at $15/day) and drove about 4 hours to Nelspruit. There we checked into our hostel. There was some confusion about the booking, but they had a room for us in the end. We went shopping and got a pizza for dinner
8/1/19
An early morning pick up for our Kruger National Park safari.We entered the park at the Numbi Gate at sunrise and met our guide, Shadrack. We had a full day game drive, stopping at Afsaal rest for breakfast (Bush Breakfast) and Berge-en-Dal camp for lunch. The lunch spot had a waterhole for wildlife. We shared a burger and had ice creams. We stayed the night at Pretoriuskop camp in a banda (rondavel) and had steak and chicken for dinner.
The game driving was great! In the afternoon, alone, we saw the Big 5 (leopard, lion, buffalo, elephant, and rhino). We saw a single male lion and also a group of sleeping lions. We also saw about 8 white rhinos. Lots and lots of elephants and giraffes as well as many buffalo and the noble Kudu (South African National Parks' symbol). We saw a couple of klipspringers on the rocks which were a cool sighting and also a spotted hyena. The best, however, was a pair of leopards walking through the bush! At night, we watched a nature documentary film about the park at a little outdoor theater at the camp.
8/2/19
Up before dawn for another full day game drive. We started out with a really awesome sighting of an African Wildcat with a tiny kitten. They look just like our old cat Buster-B. Then on the road between Skukuza camp and Lower Sabie camp, we saw SO many lions. Several different prides with cubs, some sitting nicely out in the open. We had brunch (eggs benedict and chai tea) at Lower Sabie camp, sitting out on the deck overlooking the river and looking at buffalo, waterbuck, and bushbuck. Near Lower Sabie camp was a really nice waterhole with SO many big crocs. Also hippos in the water and lots of zebra, impalas, and kudus drinking. Back on the Lower Sabie to Skukuza road, which follows along the Sabie River (and had tons of impala), we watched a failed attack by a lion on an impala.
Then later we watched two lionesses stalk impala. We got super close to them: one was a foot in front of the front bumper of our land cruiser. The stalking continued towards a rest stop, where we got out to pee, and we saw the impala flee at full speed and had the thrill of thinking the lions might come through the rest camp, but they didn't.
We saw many other animals during the day, with of course many elephants, giraffe, zebra, kudu, etc. At night we took a night drive in a national park truck. I don't think our camp is situated in a great game area, and on the night drive we only drove 1.5 hours out and 1.5 hours back at a super slow rate, so it wasn't super eventful. We did see a civet. The best was 6 or 7 very curious and very cute hyena cubs, who were not afraid at all and came right up to the truck. In fact the driver had to honk to scare them from biting the tires. Dinner was at the Wimpy's fast food inside the park at our camp: milkshake and ribs.
8/3/19
Another pre-dawn start. Joining us today were 2 other women, one from the UK (an avocado specialist) and one from Israel (traveling for 3 straight years). Pretty quickly into the game drive, we came upon 2 cheetah brothers. They were very cute--cuddling and licking each other. It was fun to stay with them awhile to watch them until they wandered off.
We also briefly saw 2 Wild Dogs (Painted Dogs). They were in an area where there was supposedly a den with 14 puppies, but when they all lie down in the bush, it's nearly impossible to see them. Another cool sighting was a family of hyenas chewing on the remains of an impala. They were very close to the road and included a couple of ~1 yr old puppies and 2 very tiny puppies (still black). We ate brunch at Skukuza (buffet). Humorously, there was a 1/2 marathon going on in that part of the park. We visited a couple of waterholes with quite a variety of wildlife. Again, there were elephants everywhere. We got stuck in a *huge* herd of buffalo leaving a waterhole.
We had an amazing time in Kruger! It definitely didn't disappoint. It was a great last safari send off before we headed home.
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