Travelogue: Kruger National Park

Jess writes:

For those who may not know, Adam and I are on somewhat of a Peace Corps-imposed, mini-vacation during this site change period – that is, all our stuff is packed in the Huntington house, ready to be moved to the new house (location still not disclosed to us), but we are on the move… travelling for the next week and calling the many colorful backpackers of South Africa our temporary “homes”. Needless to say, we are doing our best to keep ourselves duly entertained, and with World Cup finals buzzing in the air, just about anywhere in South Africa is pretty entertaining! But, of course, we’re not stopping at World Cup! We have some great tours and trips planned for the next few days, with the first stop in our very own backyard… Kruger National Park!!

After living in Huntington for over three months and driving past the gates of Kruger on an almost daily basis, we finally got a taste of the other side… and it was AMAZING!!

We awoke at 4:30am this morning, in the chilly dorm room at Gecko Bushpackers, in Hazyview. Francis, the friendly Dutch owner of this great little backpacker, had booked us an early-morning departure for a full-day Kruger Game Drive (aka, “safari”), so as to take advantage of the park’s early risers. Once we were dressed for our outing, we bundled up under big blankets in the front seats of the open-air safari bakkie. Floyd, our wonderful safari driver, chatted happily with us as we took the oh-so-chilly drive to pick up the other safari riders (six total, including ourselves) and make our way to Phabeni Gate.

We entered the park just as the sun was rising over the acacia trees and the fog was lit up in the gullies – a truly beautiful introduction to the remarkable park! And though our toes were numb and our hands could barely escape from under covers to point out the sites, we were quickly greeted by our first Kruger park native – an enormous white rhino, nestled in tall African grasses, plodding heavily away from the ever-approaching cars! Our first sighting and it’s one of the BIG 5!! How incredible!!

Within only minutes, we spotted game animal number two – a half-hidden, female African elephant, staring silently through the trees with its deep, patient eyes. Her ears flapped noiselessly and in the slowest possible fashion, she lifted her trunk from grass to mouth and chewed, chewed, chewed. Another of the BIG 5 family!!!!

Around another bend, just as the sun was peeking over the boulder-covered mountains in the distance, another African elephant – this one a gigantic, 30 year old male – meandered causally across the road, only meters from the front of the bakkie! What a sight!!

And sightings number three and four of the BIG 5 family were only moments away…

Causing a safari traffic jam on the ridge of a hill before us was a small family of Cape Buffalo – their all-muscle bodies standing stubbornly in the thoroughfare, with great curved tusks faced threateningly at the vehicles’ tires. Without much fuss, however, they eventually continued their trek, disappearing into the bush… number three of the BIG 5 family!!

Then came the most exciting find of the day – BIG 5 member number four, and considered by most to be the most elusive of the entire pack… Floyd’s radio started cracking with rapid Tsonga and before we knew what was happening, we were making a detour down a dirt road and speeding up a different main road, not on our initial morning route. We pulled up to a ravine, flanked on both sides by several safari bakkies and a handful of private cars. All the engines were turned off, and an exciting silence hung in the air. With some help from our guide and fellow spotters, we were soon peering beyond the water to a large Leopard, asleep in fallen branches! Even though he was well-shaded, you could easily discern his rosette-speckled hide and the outline of a large – very large – paw, covering the animal’s boxy head! Though we missed his very recent climb down from the branches (we would have loved to see that!), we still enjoyed watching his great belly, rising and falling calmly against the leaves. What a magnificent creature – only a stone’s throw away, but entirely unfettered by his many spectators!!! Incredible!

And did I mention, this was all before 8:00am!!!

Time for breakfast… we were in need of a little sighting break already! Floyd drove us leisurely to Skukuza Rest Camp, where we indulged in delicious breakfast sandwiches and coffee (real coffee!). After taking in the views from the Skukuza overlook, we were back on the road and thoroughly enjoying the sun that was finally warming our seats!

For the next three hours, we travelled through truly incredible terrain: neverending, Serengeti-like plains, speckled with leafless, thorny sicle trees; lush, misty banks along the Sabie River, sprouting eight-foot cattail; and muddy, wide-open water holes, dotted with large, flat sun-rocks! And before lunchtime even arrived, we had witnessed myriad Kruger inhabitants come alive in the cool morning…

For half a kilometer we followed a leaping pack of Impala, criss-crossing the tar road and dashing between trees – their trade-mark “M”s marking their rumps, giving them the nickname of “The McDonalds of Kruger”, or as Floyd put it, “Fast Food for Lions”!

We were greeted road-side by one of Kruger’s “Ugly 5”: a pack of straggly-haired warthogs, rooting for weeds on the banks – their truly frightening tusks brushing away small rocks and twigs.

In a still pool, far off in the distance, we located two shiny-backed hippos – gigantic mouths breathing open above the water, tiny little ears flicking back and forth.

Lying lazily on sun-rocks, Floyd picked out a family of three Crocodiles in the midst of the quietly rushing river. Just alongside the jagged reptiles was an enormous Monitor Lizard with his stumpy, gray legs flopped haphazardly in every direction and his thick tail dipping down towards the water.

Above the ground, we spotted a variety of Kruger’s winged animals: a miniature owl, red-helmetted guinea fowl, cranes, white-backed vultures (ick!), and the most beautiful variety of other birds – black & white striped, yellow speckled, and one that was bright blue from beak to tail!!

Perhaps best of all on our morning outing were the numerous African Elephants that we found around every turn! We benefited greatly from a veterinarian that was a part of our tour, her specialty in, of course, elephants!! (Did you know that you can estimate an elephant’s age by the lines around their ear hole and determine whether they are right or left handed by comparing the length of their two tusks?? Awesome!) The most impressive sighting of the gigantic mammals involved a three-generation family of a dozen members, wading knee-deep in marshes, following in line and then dispersing to graze… I could have watched that group for the rest of the day!

And yet, there was an even more impressive herd to see before the afternoon arrived – over a hundred Cape Buffalo gathered at a waterhole, swatting flies and moving like a big black wave of skin and tusk!! Unbelievable!

Another stop at Skukuza for lunchtime snacks and some window-shopping at the Park Store and we were off for the second half of our safari drive…

Before heading to the higher altitudes of the park, we stopped briefly to muse at small family of Vervid Monkies, the father of which posed kindly for photos in a sturdy bush – how kind of him!

On our way into the rocky, upper plains, we saw plenty more African Elephants – one herd which crossed our path had more than four youngsters following (or rather wobbling) behind!

And not to be missed, between the mountain-high piles of boulders, we saw sporadic zebra with their starkly painted hides and funny little mohawks!

We ended our sightings with several large packs of Kudus and, just as we were heading back down to the gate, we spotted an elder Kudu – he had the most impressive, curled horns and a long, gray beard that Adam can only envy!!

And just as the late afternoon began to feel a little too similar to our chilly morning arrival, we were lowering the canopy sides, bundling under blankets once again, and heading out the Numbi Gate... many, many kilometers from where we had started almost twelve hours earlier. With tired eyes, wind-burned faces, and cramped shutter fingers (well, at least mine!), we drove through the local Shangaan villages and found our way back to Hazyview.

After saying our goodbyes to Floyd and our fellow travelers, we hauled our tired bodies into the Gecko common room, grabbed a drink, and plopped ourselves down on overstuffed beanbags for some well-timed World Cup quarter finals! Whew…!!!

And after that detailed recount… all I have left to say is:

“Dear Kruger, thanks for an experience and of course, the new memories! Sala kahle!”