Kruger Part Deux

As Michelle mentioned, Kruger National Park exceeded our expectations. We both hoped to see animals but the sheer number of animals we saw was unbelievable. 

Lilac Breasted-Roller

Southern Ground Hornbill

Yellow billed Hornbill. Loved these guys, not skittish and a great scowl.

So. Many. Guinea Fowl.

I learned that baboons freak me out. The way they look at you, as if daring you to do something is unnerving.

You wanna start something?

Vervet Monkeys are baboons super chill relative

Kruger Park is very large, about the size of Belgium and we only saw a small part of it. In the centre area where we were it had several different eco zones like scrubby, wetlands and open savannah so we had a really good representation of the park.

Life Pro-tip

Kudu. This may not actually be a kudu but we took to calling all 4 legged deer-like horned animals, that are larger than impalas, Kudu. We both realized we would make terrible zoologists.

Speaking of Impalas....

And all the animals were SO CLOSE.

It's difficult not to be in awe when a giraffe crosses the road right in front of you.

Steenbok are small deer like animals that aren't kudu.

Zebras. But I didn't have to tell you that did I?

Giraffes have incredibly hard palates as the trees they graze from have 4 inch long thorns on them.

Savannah that just goes on forever.

Just before sunrise, leaving the park to continue our journey. Look closely, there is a leopard on the road on the left side. He was the last animal we saw as we left the park. We felt great about all the animals we were fortunate enough to have seen. 

Kruger National Park: A wild experience

It is difficult to put into words the awe inspiring feeling you get when faced with a wild Africa animal. No fence. No zoo warden. No warning signs. Whether it is a gnarly faced wart hog or a huge tusked elephant, it does not compare to any discovery channel documentary or zoo experience.

Warthog: One of the "Ugly Five"

 The difference, I believe, is the luck involved. The animals in Kruger are completely wild, you drive along dirt roads for hours, watching, hoping, and then, all of a sudden a 3 meter high mammoth of an elephant pushes his gigantic head out from the trees just feet from the car you are sitting in. With excitement you grab your camera, marvel, not knowing what will happen next. That is the beauty of the safari. You never know what you will see. And at a park like Kruger, you will see a lot. 

 At Kruger National Park anyone can drive there own safari. We spent three nights in the park, camping in campsites surrounded with electric fences and barbed wire. Baboons however were still rampant through some of the parks.

 The first animal we came across was the ostrich

You can tell it's an ostrich by how it is.

If you look closely you can see a zebra hiding in the grass 

We spent two days driving the park. And we put in work! from 6:00 am, when the gates opened, until 5:30 pm when they closed, we were out driving the park. And it was worth it. 

Ignore that zebra butt in the background 

In the Safari world there is the concept of "The Big Five": Lion, Elephant, Buffalo, Leopard and Rhino. We were lucky enough to see all of these animals (though only a quick glimpse of a rhino, I'll be honest it might have been a big grey rock but don't tell Dad)

I'm not sure why the buffalo is part of the big five...I'm pretty sure it's just a cow...

 Baboons are the bane of my existence in Africa. Signs are everywhere in South Africa to not feed the baboons. Who ever started feeding baboons in the first place and warranted a sign like that?! Needless to say, this is the one cute photo I have of the baboons. I don't want to start spreading too much monkey hate. 

One of the highlights of the trip was seeing a Leopard (one of the hardest animals to spot of the big five), drag a dead impala across the road in front of us and into the trees. 

We never saw a pride of lions as we hoped. But this lioness was basking in the sun and scaring off warthogs.

 The Crocs (below) were always hard to spot.

These hyena pups were adorable. Saw them for the first time at the end of our trip. 

After two days in Kruger we were overwhelmed with how much we saw. By the second day we were laughing because we were actually getting a bit sick of zebras. There were huge herds of up to a hundred, they were getting in the way of the other wild life! 

Kruger was magnificent because you never knew what would happen next. You could go for an hour and not see anything, and then all of a sudden a giraffe and her baby pokes her head out from a tree and runs in front of you. Those are unforgettable moments. Kruger was an unforgettable experience. 

I kissed a Hippo

I kissed a hippo and I liked it. In fact, it was quite possibly my favourite travel experiences of all time.

Visiting Jessica the hippo was one of those things on our list that we hemmed and hawed about. We were afraid that the experience, advertised as a chance to pet and feed the world famous 'wild' hippo who lives with people, would be touristy and underwhelming. In the end we left the place agreeing that we would have easily paid triple the 10 dollar fee (each) to have had the experience.

As we parked in the driveway of the property and got out, we first got to see a baby male hippo that (like Jessica) had been rescued in a recent flood. Reaching over the 3 foot high, definitely not hippo proof, fence we stroked the one tonne creature behind the ears and even drew dads name in the film of mud covering its body. Two things I never thought I'd do.

Then came Jessica. Tonie, the man who had found the, then newborn, baby hippo washed up in a flood 18 years ago, gave us some background information; Jessica truly is wild, but chooses each night to come home and sleep in the garage on a mattress.

 We then brought two plastic coke bottles of sweet tea with sippy lids, and a bucket of dried corn down to a raft floating right next to the swimming hippo. She came up to our platform, I stroked her bristly nose, and she expectantly opened her mouth allowing me to shovel a handful of corn into her foot-wide jaw.

Next came the sweet tea which she guzzled down with gusto. But before she was done, I had enough time to lean forward and plant a big kiss on her huge wet nose. The same nose that roofed the foot long tusks (teeth?) that fight off crocodiles. It's incredible that these one and a half tonne animals kill more people then any other African mammal. And here I was stroking its leathery nose and running my fingers on its hard bumpy lip. 

After the whole excursion we watched Jessica do a terrific job of scaring away crocs (we didn't see any crocs so I assumed she was doing a good job), and chatted with Tonie about his experience of South Africa. All in all it was an unforgettable, once in a lifetime experience that I'm so thankful we took a chance on.

The view from God's (Basement) Window

Our 1st venture off asphalt on the way to Blyde River Canyon

We left our campsite at Indabushe and headed for the Panorama Route along the Blyde River Canyon. Our first stop was at the highly anticipated God's Window viewpoint. I had read about this before we left and was really looking forward to it. Now, if you're going to name a place "God's Window" the view better be pretty freakin' spectacular. I'm talking puffy clouds, dolphins, and unicorns barfing rainbows or something. Well, in fact the view was....nice. I'm pretty sure this wouldn't be the view from God's upper floor balcony window or anything. This would more likely be the view from a lower floor utility closet window or something. Anyway, on to the Three Rondavels. 

Michelle got tired of Rick's use of the windshield wipers and took over driving duties for awhile

our first perspective of the Three Rondavels. South Africa is seriously beautiful.

A rondavel is a traditional African building. Round and typically with a thatched roof. The viewpoint looks like three rondavels stacked up against the mountain, hence the name. This really was quite impressive. A small entry fee and we followed the trail to the view point. Blyde River Canyon is billed as the largest (deepest?) green canyon in the world. And it really is fantastic. All you can do is sit and stare at the view and try to etch it into your memory. Pictures don't do the view justice. It is just so LARGE and grand. You don't want to leave, you just have a feeling of wanting to be immersed in the landscape. And then a tour bus shows up, spews out a bunch of noisy tourists and you get the hell outta there.

The 2nd perspective of the Three Rondavels from the resort. We had the view to ourselves and no tourist buses!

We camped at Blyde River Canyon Resort. This is a large resort with private cabins, conference centre, gym, activities etc. etc  and tucked away in one little corner 14 fully serviced campsites. As this was the winter season there were no other campers and we had our choice of spots.  The resort also had a spectacular view of the canyon and the three rondavels We lingered at the viewpoint for an hour trying to take it all in.

Our camping was in tents. Also, we avoided card games the whole time in africa. Why? Too many cheetahs! 

This being South Africa the campsite was in impeccable condition. As dusk arrived somebody came along and turned on all the little patio lights. For some reason ours was the only one that didn't work. No matter, in no time at all an electrician showed up to diagnose the problem. We had finished dinner and invited him for a beer. Super friendly guy and we eventually piled into his truck, back to his place, for a tour of his "chalet" on the grounds of the resort. He dropped us off about an hour later and we fell fast asleep. 

Night comes early in South Africa and we often were cooking to the light of our headlamps

 Monkeys! Vervet monkeys in the campground the next morning. We had missed them the night before but they were swinging in the trees, chattering, eyeing us suspiciously and, I'm sure, looking for a handout. 

Vervet monkeys, superior in every way to the large, scarier, more aggressive baboon cousins