Kruger National Park

The knock on the door came at 4.26am as a wake up call for our Kruger Safari. We were loaded onto our 10 seater Nissan 4WD at 5.15 and on our way in the dawn light. There was a fair amount of activity  in the Hazyview streets with people going to work and many gave us a wave as we passed on our way to Numbi Gate at the south west corner of the Park.

It is hard to comprehend the size of Kruger. Think Sydney to Port Macquarie and west from the Pacific Ocean to say Blacktown, some 20,000 square kilometres in area. We drove off the tar onto the dirt trails almost immediately and the animals kept appearing intermittently as we travelled. If you want an analogy, think about drifting down the channel at home fishing for flathead or any other kamikaze species. You watch the scenery go by for some time and then suddenly a run, and then the action starts. 

Our scenery was a combination of undulating hills, flat areas and a panorama at times that was quite awesome. Thorn bushes were quite predominant and the bigger trees were mainly Marula and Silver Cluster Leaf. The former has a fruit that is eaten by the animals when ripe. Older fruit ferments and some some animals have been known to become intoxicated after eating it.

We started the tour in overcast skies and about 15 minutes into the Park the heavens opened. It only lasted on and off for about an hour but luckily our guide ( Breton) had quality ponchos that helped keep us dry but most sitting on the outside had water running down to their seats. The result however was a freshening of the bush and the greens became quite vivid in places as I hope the photos show. I am going to let the photos show you what we saw in rough chronological order but it was an outstanding day and this was echoed by our guide who has been doing it for 19 years but had a rare thrill today.

At this point I need to acknowledge that Jill became the "cat" spotter. First up were the lions. 2 large males sitting beside the dirt road and blending in beautifully. She then followed this up with a distant Cheetah sighting. This had the guide in raptures. There are only 170 cheetahs in 20,000 sq kms and we saw 2 of them. He wanted to know her spotting experience and if she lived on a farm. We also made a dash to a reported leopard sighting but it had gone on arrival. 

The rhino photo below was taken as this big male was checking his territory. He put his head into the dung and came out with it above the horn. He then started spraying urine every 5 metres or so and it was reminiscent of a high pressure cleaner. Another interesting occurrence was with the cheetahs. One was sitting up on the rock watching 2 rhino nearby. Rhino have poor eyesight and they couldn't see the cheetah but they could smell it. They new it was a predator but didn't quite know what to do. In the finish they an away after some very skittish behavior.

What are the big 5 animals and why are they so called? They are the elephant, buffalo, lion leopard and rhino and I've often wondered why you leave out he hippo and giraffe. It goes back to hunting days and these 5 were the animals hunters perceived as most dangerous. We saw four of them today, and were quite happy to substitute the cheetah for the leopard. Over 100 kms of Park trails transversed and a brilliant day by any standards.