South Africa and Swaziland, Christmas 2006

Kruger Park

Kruger Park

We headed into Hoedspruit to stock up on wine, food and snacks, then on to the Orpen Gate and into the Kruger. It was interesting to see the reactions of the people who had never been before, as they found the fact you can self-drive in the Kruger to be a very peculiar concept.

On another incredibly hot day, we drove from Orpen to Skukuza, a drive of around 6 hours. We saw lots of animals, including rhino, elephant, buck, buffalo, wildebeest, etc. Arrived at Skukuza and were assigned to our rondavels.

The following morning the rest of the group headed out on a game walk, while I headed out with the tour leader for a game drive (there were only seven places available on the game walk). The drive was good, we saw loads of animals, including a female leopard standing right next to the road for a few moments. We were also mock charged by a really tiny baby elephant, who panicked when we didn’t move and scuttled off into the bushes.

Headed back for breakfast, then another game drive later in the morning. Of course, there was very little about due to the heat, and the gravel roads were enormous amounts of juddering fun in a truck! Had lunch at a picnic spot, then set off again – tempers were fraying a little as the tour leader wasn’t able to hear us so everyone had to scream at the top of their lungs to get him to stop when we saw anything, and sometimes he had heard and just didn’t respond, so people would yell louder, and then he would get cross. Got back to the camp at 4, then headed back out at 5 for sundowners at a hide – very hot and very busy in the hide

Headed out at 5am the next day, packing up all our stuff, as we weren’t coming back to camp. We drove to Lower Sabie, seeing a lioness with two very young cubs, and an elephant male in musth sauntering along the road, on the way. We had a quick breakfast at Lower Sabie, then set off for Satara. A great morning for game viewing, as the day was overcast and much cooler than before, so more animals were around. We saw rhino, giraffe, buffalo, elephant, zebra, wildebeest, etc.