Kruger National Park one day trip
A few weeks ago we decided to take a trip to the Kruger National Park and Game Reserve.
I must say that there really is no experience quite like it.
The abundance of wildlife is absolutely astonishing!
We got to the gates at 5:30am and waited for the park to open. (It is a good idea to do this because there are only a few cars allowed per gate each day)
When we eventually got into the park this is what we saw
This sunrise was the best kind of opening to a wonderful day.
As is usual for the kruger park, the impala (staple food of the carnivores) where abundant.
Our first sighting of the big 5 was two hippo's on the bank of the sabie river.
We never got a good look at these two though.
About 200 meters onward we came across this fellow sitting in a tree, and warming his blue "you know whats" in the mild winder sun. In Afrikaans this ape is called a blue ape, and I'm sure you can understand why.
Another few hundred meters and wee meet up with a family of wart hogs. We took a few pictures of them while the mother glared at us warily.
For the next 15 minutes we saw no animals larger than the bird below
And then the real bigboys came to play
Our first big sighting of the day where these two zebra's
The general rule of thumb is that when you start seeing Zebra's other big wildt is bound to follow.
And so it was...
We rounded another corner and we saw 6 Kudu females and one male right next to the road.
We stopped at a smaling watering hole and found a hippo lolling around in the water.
We left the hippo to its swimming and proceded on our trip.
What we saw next was truly spectacular and is a real find in any nature reserve.
Never in my life have I seen so many elephants together!
No trip to the kruger would be complete without seeing one of these fellows.
A word of warning: Close you windows when baboons are close, they will try and steal food from the car.
And then it was time to start heading for the park exit.
But wait!!! What is that!!
A Cheeta! No seven Cheetas! What a find!
The Cheeta's eventually moved on, and so did we, but not 300m furhter we spotted another of the big 5 a Rhinoceros!!!
Wee took our pictures of the rhino, and left quietly time was growing short and we had to be out of the park by 6 PM.
But not before we saw the most amazing and rare sight that Kruger can offer.
A female spotted Hyena with her litter. They where only about 2 meters from the road!
A very rare find indeed.
With a last farewell picture we said goodbye to the Kruger, and headed for the gate.
This trip will not be forgotten.
I must say that there really is no experience quite like it.
The abundance of wildlife is absolutely astonishing!
We got to the gates at 5:30am and waited for the park to open. (It is a good idea to do this because there are only a few cars allowed per gate each day)
When we eventually got into the park this is what we saw
This sunrise was the best kind of opening to a wonderful day.
As is usual for the kruger park, the impala (staple food of the carnivores) where abundant.
Our first sighting of the big 5 was two hippo's on the bank of the sabie river.
We never got a good look at these two though.
About 200 meters onward we came across this fellow sitting in a tree, and warming his blue "you know whats" in the mild winder sun. In Afrikaans this ape is called a blue ape, and I'm sure you can understand why.
Another few hundred meters and wee meet up with a family of wart hogs. We took a few pictures of them while the mother glared at us warily.
For the next 15 minutes we saw no animals larger than the bird below
And then the real bigboys came to play
Our first big sighting of the day where these two zebra's
The general rule of thumb is that when you start seeing Zebra's other big wildt is bound to follow.
And so it was...
We rounded another corner and we saw 6 Kudu females and one male right next to the road.
We stopped at a smaling watering hole and found a hippo lolling around in the water.
We left the hippo to its swimming and proceded on our trip.
What we saw next was truly spectacular and is a real find in any nature reserve.
Never in my life have I seen so many elephants together!
No trip to the kruger would be complete without seeing one of these fellows.
A word of warning: Close you windows when baboons are close, they will try and steal food from the car.
And then it was time to start heading for the park exit.
But wait!!! What is that!!
A Cheeta! No seven Cheetas! What a find!
The Cheeta's eventually moved on, and so did we, but not 300m furhter we spotted another of the big 5 a Rhinoceros!!!
Wee took our pictures of the rhino, and left quietly time was growing short and we had to be out of the park by 6 PM.
But not before we saw the most amazing and rare sight that Kruger can offer.
A female spotted Hyena with her litter. They where only about 2 meters from the road!
A very rare find indeed.
With a last farewell picture we said goodbye to the Kruger, and headed for the gate.
This trip will not be forgotten.
posted by McClaw at 10:36 AM
3 comments
