Kruger National Part SAFARI

We were all a little nervous but soon realized that most of the roads were paved or good dirt roads in Krueger and Piet seemed to know the park very well. I didn't really know what to expect but was soon very excited as we spotted our first waterbuck, Impala, Nyla and and Elephant. Piet told us the safaris started off slow and then the sightings  just get better and better as we go.

Everyone was really excited as we spotted animal after animal. The four of us took on the challenge of spotting and did our Canadian name proud as we were the best spotters in the van.




Piet spotted the tortoise as it was crossing the road.  Normally if the tortoises are on the move it means it is going to rain.

 Joyce spotted a rhino laying under a tree. Piet told us to look for a rock under a tree and when we stopped and put the van in reverse to go take a look it was actually a huge boulder under a tree not a rock and then it lifted its head much to our surprise. It was amazing to see as it is one of the very few that still has its horn. The rhino horn is extremely valuable on the black market and has fallen prey to poachers to the point it is danger of being extinct. To help save the rhinos from poachers they have been removing the horn safely so the poachers won't kill the animal. Very sad so finding one with their horn in tact is a treat.

  We also spotted two Sables which are very rare to find, Piet was very excited as he hadn't seen one in a while and you don't usually find two together. They were very beautiful animals. We ended our first safari on a high as we felt we had seen way more animals than we had anticipated. We headed back to the lodge for lunch and then a few hours of spare time before we headed out again with our safari guide Jose.

The second safari started off slow as it was hot and the animals were resting and hard to find.

The first animal we spotted was this magnificent giraffe.  They are huge, but very graceful with their long legs and massive thighs.  It was right beside us on the road!  

 However as the afternoon sun started to go down we heard that there was a leopard in the area. We headed out to another area in hopes of finding him. No luck at our first stop but we received another tip and took a slight detour to see what we could find.  We turned off the main road and over the drainage ditch and Jose slowed the truck. Piet then heard the monkey warning calls which could mean the leopard was near.  We came up onto the ridge and I happened to look to the left and holy shit there he was. I yelled “stop” as softly as I could and then we backed up slowly. He was crouched along a crack in the rock.

  A few seconds later a second leopard walked from behind the bush right beside my side of the truck. Freaking amazing!  They told us they were most likely brothers who had been kicked out of the den by their mother and were approximately 18 months old. Usually leopards are solitary animals but due to their age they were still together. We sat quietly and watches these two magnificent animals for about 30 minutes. Both Piet and Jose were very impressed with our find as we were the only truck there.

 It was getting dark so we had to head back.

 As we were travelling along we came over a hill and wham, there were two very large male elephants. They walked past us one on each side as we sat there as quietly as possible. Suppressing your excitement is really really hard!

The sun was now setting and we experienced a fabulous South African sun set. By the time we got back to camp it was dark and our African Safari was off to an amazing beginning. (Can't say awesome or I will have to buy beer). Apparently we say this word way to often so we are attempting to break the habit. WOW we weren't sure how we were going to beat this day, but Piet told us we would.