Advertisement
Published: March 22nd 2007
King of the Jungle
The lions are moving at night so it was tough to get good pictures. Saw 5 males and 2 females...close! Kruger National Park: Wild and Wonderful March 16-22, 2007
Two huge male lions lay sprawled in the middle of the road, just as the sun was setting. The larger of the two, lifted his shaggy maned head, opened the biggest jaws I had ever seen and roared…then roared again. Flashbulbs fired from several safari tour trucks, but we just looked at each other in our little red Chevy rental car (a piece of junk!)…we needed to get by them and back to the Paul Kruger gate before 6, and that was 10 minutes ago! The roaring lion ceased, lay his head down on the pavement, and we reluctantly (and carefully) drove around him and onward.
Kruger National Park is unlike any other park we have ever been to, and it was a destination for us at the very early stages of planning this trip. It has not disappointed us.
There are many ways the park is unique, not the least among them is roaring/sleeping lions on the road. The park is 20 000 sq km in size (about the size of Wales) and while there are many ways to see the park, unlike our other destinations, walking is
Burchell's Bush Lodge Chalet
A beautiful peaceful place to spend a week...and just minutes to the Paul Kruger gate. not one of them. In fact, even if the temperatures of between 35 and 40+ were not a deterrent to walking, there are strict rules that you cannot even get out of your car, anywhere but at the few designated ‘camps’ within the park boundaries.
We stayed in Burchell’s Bush Lodge, just at the doorstep of the Paul Kruger gate. It was a week of timeshare we traded into and we were delighted with it. Our one bedroom full kitchen chalet had air con (thank goodness) and full amenities. It was set in the most tranquil bush setting, and we often saw monkeys, various antelope and beautiful birds as we sat on our patio/barbecue area. We were definitely not roughing it.
Each day we drove ourselves into the park and simply drove around the myriad of roads, game spotting. We also did three paid safari drives, booked through the National Park staff (at a fraction of the cost of the ones offered through the private firms). There was a slow easy rhythm to the days, the driving speed being an average of 20 km /hr in the park, and the non driving time being spent relaxing, working on
Safari Truck
Hec was ready and waiting...and it was only 4:30 a.m.! Our night drives had bigger vehicles and each time we went we saw different things. Booked through the park staff. the photos, reading or resting. The pace of Africa here is slow, and punctuated with moments of excitement like the roaring lions, or the day we say the leopard ambling along the roadside beside us, or the time a huge herd of more than 30 elephants crossed the road directly in front of our car, or the first sighting of a baby zebra, or the awesome sight of a giant giraffe, kneeling to drink at one of the scarce water holes. Many of these sightings were when we were just driving ourselves around. Others were part of the early morning guided drive (pick up at 4:30 am!!!) which began in total darkness and allowed us to watch the park slowly come to life, or on the night drives when huge spotlights were used from the safari vehicles to spot the ‘eyes’ in the darkness.
Our guide on two trips was Shadrak, the most knowledgeable and affable guide we could have hoped for. He spotted things we would have missed, and then he delighted in sharing his extensive knowledge about the mating habits, gestation periods, and unique attributes of the species. He knew not only about the big game, but
Elephants coming at you!
This was the most numerous of the Big 5...and we saw dozens of them. about the snakes (we saw a Mozambique spitting Cobra, a python and an eagle snake…thankfully from the vehicle only!), the small species and all the local birds! (Hec was in heaven). He told us happily that he works 26 days of the month, and that he loves his job! It shows and we felt lucky to have him share his world with us.
Hector and I agreed that despite my usual tendency to be long winded in these blog entries, the best way to share our Kruger experience is through fewer words and more pictures. We leave Kruger tomorrow, moving on to the Drakensburg Mountain Range and the small country of Lesotho. We hope to return one day and perhaps share this incredible piece of nature with our children and grandchildren.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.127s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0823s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Carlene Merrick
non-member comment
Loved All the pictures
Well, now that I have to run home and change my underwear!! Your lion story was scary.... I personally wouldn't have ventured around the furry ferocious fellas!!! Or FFF as I like to call them.... but bravery was not in my ancestory ....... I thought you knew that!! hee hee... I just loved all the photos and I can't believe that you were so lucky to see all these beautiful creatures!!!!! Amazing adventures and stories!! xx