Kruger Day 3
The day started off gray and rainy. There was one highlight though, as we were running around the camp, a group of South Africans having breakfast at the campsite stopped us and asked if we were the ones who were on the radio yesterday. See? Radio star. Told ya. Though the rain made the morning slightly warmer than the previous two, it was not really good for game viewing because our Kruger experts from the previous morning said that all the animals hide. No lion sightings yet but today more than made up for that with all the great stuff we saw. Lots of very close encounters today. While our drive from Shingwedzi to Letaba, our final rest camp in Kruger, was gray and cold, we got within four feet of a huge herd of Cape Buffalo. The experts that we didn't really need to be afraid of lions and leopards but we really needed to watch out for buffalo and elephants. Today we learned this lesson, but I'll get to that. So while driving by the Cape Buffalo, we were hoping they would not ram the rental car and we made it through the herd unscathed. I actually could have reached out the window and touched one, that's how close we were.
Once we made it to Letaba, we started to really see the changing landscape. The brush got more sparse and we started to see a litt
le bit more savannah and open areas. We also finally got to see two of the big rivers that go through Kruger, the Olifants and Letaba river. I get excited about water in Kruger because water means animals. Our guide on the Sunset drive last night told us that it had been an unusually wet season in Kruger and they had gotten more than 200cm over the average rainfall. Normally around this time the plants would be dry and the leaves would be down, but as it was, the leaves were turning, just like in fall. Also, the northern part of Kruger is in the Tropic of Capricorn, which I found it hard to believe because of how far south I perceive the country as being. Anyway, it has made for excellent weather during the day (save for that one rainy morning) and also cool nights where you can enjoy the trillions of stars that come out to say goodnight to you. I would say that the further south we got, the easier it was to see game because of the landscape. But the north was gorgeous, just harder to see things.
So after we stopped at Letaba, we checked out the map of the animal sightings for the day and planned to follow a long back road to the south where there were some purported lion sightings. We as we crossed a bridge just south of Letaba we saw a huge expansive river open up beneath us. It was this river we would drive right along on the back road. Once we got off the main road, the sightings really started. We followed one side road and got a great view of the Saddle-billed stork which Kruger is running a viewing contest for. We noted the location, time and got a few pictures of it and we're going to submit the photos to the contest as soon as we get internet. After that we were driving along the road and we got right next to a huge giraffe. But the real thrill of the day came just a few kilometers later when we encountered a herd of elephants crossing the road. We had seen on just to the right, and then further up the road we saw another one crossing the road. So we went up to get a closer look and we saw that the one elephant was going to stay in the middle of the road and walk for a while. What I didn't know is that this was the patriarch of the herd and he was scouting the route to make sure that it was clear and safe for the 12 elephants that came after him. We followed him at a good distance, keeping in mind that they could sit on our car and crush us ea
sily. Then when it looked like he had gone off to the side of the road, we went up closer. We had seen that his ears were flapping though, and this is a warning not to mess with the elephants. The Experts told us that this also usually means they are being protective and have babies with them. So I think we got a little too close. We had stopped for a second, then the elephant saw us and stopped. Then we crept forward a bit, the elephant turned a bit and started flapping his ears. He had seen us and identified us as a threat. Then he looked away, we crept up a bit more and this put Papa Elephant over the edge. He turned to face us and started running at us, flapping his ears. Fortunately, Mark was quick on the reverse pedal and we backed up quickly enough so that he didn't feel the need to trample us. We stayed well away from him after that. But we did stay in a spot with a good view of the road so that we could see Papa stand in the way of all comers to let all the rest of his extended family pass safely. We saw a long train of elephants, walking in a line down to the river to get an afternoon drink. There were two very small babies in tow as well, which put the elephant's aggression into perspective. It was an amazing, albeit a little scary, encounter. When they had all gotten down to the river we were finally able to proceed down the road and we saw the whole family squirting each other with water and the young ones taking a drink with their trunks. It was pretty amazing.
Further on down the road we saw a rhino, tons of zebra, no shortage of impalas or Steenboks, and we were hoping for a lion. We came across a safari vehicle full of people staring at nothing. We pulled up next to the guide and asked him what was happening and he said he could see the ear of a lion in the bush. We strained and strained but we couldn't see the "flicking ear" all the rest of the people said they saw. Fortunately, we didn't have to settle for just a flicking ear. But we had to wait until the next morning for that. Don't worry, it's coming.
We saw loads more elephants, zebra and impala. The elephant charge was the real coup of the day, and the rhino was also pretty interesting since we hadn't seen one yet. That night, after about 7 hours in the car and with neck strains all around from turning to see stuff and leaning out the window to take photos, we hit the restaurant at Letaba. It is owned by the same company that owns the restaurants at the other camps
we stayed at and thus,we have had the same thing for dinner all three nights. It's okay but the real story is the wine. I've gotten house red or whatever they are selling by the glass and it's been amazing every night. I'm not really sure if it's the same stuff every night, it always tastes a little different, but it's been so so good. I can't wait to visit the winelands in Cape Town this week! Pinotage, here I come. We watched the second half of the Ghana/Uruguay game but I was falling asleep and so I couldn't stay up for the extra time. The entire camp was gathered in the lodge watching the game so that was fun anyway. Everyone was cheering for Ghana. We are finding that there are not many black families here on vacation. It's almost all white Afrikaans families, which I found kind of interesting. There are almost no white people on staff unless they are the rangers though.
So our day ended with a great story and total exhaustion. But the best sighting was yet to come.
Once we made it to Letaba, we started to really see the changing landscape. The brush got more sparse and we started to see a litt
le bit more savannah and open areas. We also finally got to see two of the big rivers that go through Kruger, the Olifants and Letaba river. I get excited about water in Kruger because water means animals. Our guide on the Sunset drive last night told us that it had been an unusually wet season in Kruger and they had gotten more than 200cm over the average rainfall. Normally around this time the plants would be dry and the leaves would be down, but as it was, the leaves were turning, just like in fall. Also, the northern part of Kruger is in the Tropic of Capricorn, which I found it hard to believe because of how far south I perceive the country as being. Anyway, it has made for excellent weather during the day (save for that one rainy morning) and also cool nights where you can enjoy the trillions of stars that come out to say goodnight to you. I would say that the further south we got, the easier it was to see game because of the landscape. But the north was gorgeous, just harder to see things.So after we stopped at Letaba, we checked out the map of the animal sightings for the day and planned to follow a long back road to the south where there were some purported lion sightings. We as we crossed a bridge just south of Letaba we saw a huge expansive river open up beneath us. It was this river we would drive right along on the back road. Once we got off the main road, the sightings really started. We followed one side road and got a great view of the Saddle-billed stork which Kruger is running a viewing contest for. We noted the location, time and got a few pictures of it and we're going to submit the photos to the contest as soon as we get internet. After that we were driving along the road and we got right next to a huge giraffe. But the real thrill of the day came just a few kilometers later when we encountered a herd of elephants crossing the road. We had seen on just to the right, and then further up the road we saw another one crossing the road. So we went up to get a closer look and we saw that the one elephant was going to stay in the middle of the road and walk for a while. What I didn't know is that this was the patriarch of the herd and he was scouting the route to make sure that it was clear and safe for the 12 elephants that came after him. We followed him at a good distance, keeping in mind that they could sit on our car and crush us ea
sily. Then when it looked like he had gone off to the side of the road, we went up closer. We had seen that his ears were flapping though, and this is a warning not to mess with the elephants. The Experts told us that this also usually means they are being protective and have babies with them. So I think we got a little too close. We had stopped for a second, then the elephant saw us and stopped. Then we crept forward a bit, the elephant turned a bit and started flapping his ears. He had seen us and identified us as a threat. Then he looked away, we crept up a bit more and this put Papa Elephant over the edge. He turned to face us and started running at us, flapping his ears. Fortunately, Mark was quick on the reverse pedal and we backed up quickly enough so that he didn't feel the need to trample us. We stayed well away from him after that. But we did stay in a spot with a good view of the road so that we could see Papa stand in the way of all comers to let all the rest of his extended family pass safely. We saw a long train of elephants, walking in a line down to the river to get an afternoon drink. There were two very small babies in tow as well, which put the elephant's aggression into perspective. It was an amazing, albeit a little scary, encounter. When they had all gotten down to the river we were finally able to proceed down the road and we saw the whole family squirting each other with water and the young ones taking a drink with their trunks. It was pretty amazing.Further on down the road we saw a rhino, tons of zebra, no shortage of impalas or Steenboks, and we were hoping for a lion. We came across a safari vehicle full of people staring at nothing. We pulled up next to the guide and asked him what was happening and he said he could see the ear of a lion in the bush. We strained and strained but we couldn't see the "flicking ear" all the rest of the people said they saw. Fortunately, we didn't have to settle for just a flicking ear. But we had to wait until the next morning for that. Don't worry, it's coming.
We saw loads more elephants, zebra and impala. The elephant charge was the real coup of the day, and the rhino was also pretty interesting since we hadn't seen one yet. That night, after about 7 hours in the car and with neck strains all around from turning to see stuff and leaning out the window to take photos, we hit the restaurant at Letaba. It is owned by the same company that owns the restaurants at the other camps
we stayed at and thus,we have had the same thing for dinner all three nights. It's okay but the real story is the wine. I've gotten house red or whatever they are selling by the glass and it's been amazing every night. I'm not really sure if it's the same stuff every night, it always tastes a little different, but it's been so so good. I can't wait to visit the winelands in Cape Town this week! Pinotage, here I come. We watched the second half of the Ghana/Uruguay game but I was falling asleep and so I couldn't stay up for the extra time. The entire camp was gathered in the lodge watching the game so that was fun anyway. Everyone was cheering for Ghana. We are finding that there are not many black families here on vacation. It's almost all white Afrikaans families, which I found kind of interesting. There are almost no white people on staff unless they are the rangers though.So our day ended with a great story and total exhaustion. But the best sighting was yet to come.
Comments