Kruger National Park

I have not been able to update my blog the last few days because I have been traveling in an area of South Africa where it's tough to get internet access. Even when I pay a lot of money, the internet is so slow that I am unable to update my blog.
I am currently in a small town called Knysna, a few hours away from Cape Town.  I am approaching the end of my trip, believe it or not.  I still have to update several places that I have been to.  I will do that as soon as I get good internet connections in Cape Town.  It seems like a long time ago that I was on the safari at Kruger National Park.  But here is my update.

When someone said they are going on a safari in South Africa, it's usually to Kruger National Park. It's one of the largest game reserves in Africa, located in the northeast part of South Africa.  It is bigger than the country of Holland.  Most people start the safari from Johannesburg, which is about 6 hours away.  At Kruger, you can see all the animals but we are always reminded by our guides that there is no guarantee.  Of course, if you want to see all the animals, you can just go to the zoo.  But, seeing the wild animals in their natural habitat is such a special treat.

The goal of most safaris is to see the Big Five: elephants, lions, buffaloes, rhinos, and leopards.  We saw all except the leopard, which is a very elusive animal.  They usually hide up in the trees and more of a nocturnal animal.  Lions are also hard to find because they hide in the shade but we did see 2 packs of lions over 2 days.  This is also not the best time to see the animals because it's the rainy season.  The vegetation is taller and there are more water holes all over the park.  When it's dry (July and August), the grass is shorter and you can wait to see the animals at the few water holes around the park. Our guides take the wide animals very seriously.  They won't let us out of the vehicles unless they feel we are in a safe area.  I understand many people have done stupids things and have been attacked by some of the wild animals.  Besides the big animals, we also saw a lot of other animals like the impalas, giraffes, zebras, nyala, water bucks, etc.  Two days of driving around the park is truly a wonderful experience.

Poaching of Rhinos is a very serious problem

A couple of hornbills.

Nyala

Water Bucks

Tortoise

A rare white buffalo calf

Rhino horns are worth a lot in some Asian countries.

This buffalo is dangerous and ready to charge

Sunset at Kruger with the Drakensberg Mountains in the background

A couple of lions near a water hole

Can't tell you what this bird is

Lions lazing in the shade

Vulture waiting for dinner

Jackal

Lots of wine for dinner

L-R:  Martin (cook), Lloyd and Rowan (guides)

South Africa Braai (BBQ) - T-bone steak and sausage

Finally, as we wrapped up our 2 days of looking for wildlife in the park, we saw 2 giraffes as we exit the park.  Behind them was a beautiful African sunset.  I took several pictures of them silhouetted against the sunset and this is one of them.  What a way to end a safari!