Kruger National Park

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Rounding up the end of our venture we finally departed Cape Town after a week of beauty and headed through Johannesburg towards White River to reach our final destination...Kruger National Park.

Our hotel lay on the outskirts of this large National sanctuary in a town known as White River. Surrounding us? A whole lot of nothing.

We enjoyed a late dinner of local spreads and meats and readied ourselves for the 5am wake up call to board the bus into wilderness. We were awoken before sunrise and grabbed our gear to go. For not being much of a morning ray of sun, I was smiling and truly ecstatic. I had dreamed of the day I could encounter the wild at an arm's length.

As we passed nearby villages I was taken in by the locals walking the dusty roads towards the nearest bus stop a few miles down the road. Work must have been hours out of town. The weather was well into the 50's and I watched as they did this commute alone and barefoot.

We reached the park before sunrise and were placed into 5 different open safari jeeps holding 9 each. Before departing, we were warned to use the restroom as we would not be stopping for at least three hours unless there was an extreme emergency in which case we would have to resort to the bushes and maybe getting attacked by something with sharp teeth. Our guide, Kenneth (coolest dude alive), claimed that on that day we had a good chance of spotting the famous African Big Five: Elephants, Leopards, Buffalos, Rhinos and of course Lions. With the weather being cool and the brush still partially dried out from the past winter months, it would be easier to catch the animals out and about instead of hiding in the shade like they do in the summertime avoiding the heat.

Although we had been warned about massive animal migrations and the slim chance of spotting anything at all, it seemed pretty promising for the spring. As we entered the park, impalas were spotted every 10 feet as they grazed after hours of darkness. During daybreak, we were told that lions feed on the night’s kill, hyenas return to their dens, leopards are often active for the first few hours of daylight before finding a good branch to rest on, impala feel safe enough to move back into wooded areas, hippos return to rivers to socialize and digest their night’s food, and cheetahs hunt before the day’s heat sets in. Baboons supposedly wake up late (I was almost jealous).

As we ventured further in, a variety of birds were spotted alongside the road far above in the hovering trees. As the day deepened, we caught sight of everything from a large eagle spotted in the woodlands to geese and vultures preying on leftover carcasses.

As Kenneth explained the birds and their preying patterns we got our first sighting of the Big Five...a female elephant! She was beautiful. She stood alongside the roadway grazing and cautiously eyeing us as we called out to her to come closer. African elephants are the largest living terrestrial animal and are larger than Asian elephants. Aside from her size, she seemed so innocent and graceful. Apparently my observations were all in my head because Kenneth warned that they can become quite aggresive and warned me to remain inside the jeep as much as I wanted to jump out and climb her.

Not long after the hype of our large grey friend, we came across another sweet find...an African giraffe. My friend Carmen claims to look like one so this encounter was a magical experience for her as the two bonded over a long photo session. It was completely surreal to me to watch as this giraffe stood no further than 10 feet from us yet we were not in a zoo setting at all. My closest encounter with any animal has been at Busch Gardens in Tampa where one can peer through two-inch glass windows into the caged wild. As far as giraffes, they are known to reside in different countries in Africa but are now mostly found in East Africa and the northern parts of southern Africa, where they find refuge in national parks. Their distinctive orangish, rusty, or blackish coats are broken into patchworks by whitish outlines. As they age, their patches are said to darken.

We continued on and spotted herds of baboons (who must have finished snoozing their alarm) and had decided to lounge in branches above our heads or catch some of the beginning sun rays as day light came about. Monkies never seize to amaze me. They are so similar to us in the strangest ways as they climbed on one another, picking fleas off eachother's coats. Funny little characters. Kenneth warned that due to their constant exposure to human life, they have learned to open car doors and climb inside to seek food. During past safari excursions, they have jumped right onto the jeeps and snagged snacks out of people's hands. I listened and slowly hid my protein bar into my jacket pocket.

Shortly after our jungala experience we stopped for breakfast alongside a riverside cafe within the park. Apparently we had just missed a leopard pounce on a springbok calf. Pre-dawn and late night is when predators come out to hunt so it was amazing that this leopard had gotten a late start to her day.

After our little break we were ready to continue our search for the rest of the Big Five. It didnt take long before we got a call over the radio that a leopard had been spotted. We hauled ass down several dirt roads to catch up and passed several herds of hippos roaring their way through the river. They look like large rocks with tiny ears and I couldnt help but laugh at how birds actually have the guts to perch on their heads. Fierce little things.

We then came across our infamous leopard as she lay tranquily under a large tree just off the road. She didnt seemed at all phased that people were gathered in chaotic bunches to catch a view of her. She probably sat waiting her next piece of prey...us.

Shortly after we had the priviledge of seeing more giraffes graze and countless impala feed off the road. They are said to be the park's McDonalds because they in over-abundance. Lucky lions. But we didnt expect to see a breeding herd of elephants as they began crossing the road in front of our jeep. We sat in awe as a family of about nine adults and one baby elephant crossed the road about five feet away from our hood. With all the excitement in the air, the mother elephant (who led her baby across the street using her large trunk) suddenly became enraged. Probably feeling suddenly threatened by us, she came back out to the road and flared her ears. It was all good until she began roaring and scuffing her feet to charge at us! Problem was we couldnt exactly reverse anywhere because other jeeps had gathered behind us so we basically sat there until she started coming right at us. Kenneth kicked the jeep in gear and slowly moved over a few feet until she returned to the brush. The adrenaline rush was insane! As we captured a few more photos of the fam, the mother decided she had had enough of us and came back for more. This time she was on my side of the jeep and maybe ummm..10 feet away. "Kenneth, drive dude!" I yelled while taking my last shot of her monstruous body.

Wheeeew, this left us so pumped that every elephant we came across for the rest of the day was our dose of adrenaline. We attempted to amp them up by roaring at them or calling out to them...but nothing. The rest of our elephant meetings were civil and sweet. We even got to follow one down the road as she walked alongside our jeep until she decided she had something better to do and walked off.

Now we must have hit the jackpot on that day because we were one of the few groups that actually came across buffalo, rhino, and finally...female lions. There is only a 15% chance of spotting a male lion but we were lucky enough to at least capture sight of two female lionesses laying in the grass as the afternoon warmthened. Female lions are the pride's primary hunters. They often work together to prey upon antelopes, zebras, and other large animals of the open grasslands. Funny enough, further down the road we came across several zebras enjoying the savannah grass. I wondered how much longer their day at the park would last. These zebras were distinct in that their stripes were not as black as I had imagined them to be but more of a brownish color. Interestingly, zebra stripes are as individual as a human fingerprint. Keepin it real.

After a break for lunch and more encounters with hungry hippos and two more female lions, the night safari became an option. As you can imagine, there is more action at night in Kruger than during the day. Hunters take advantage of the darkness to stalk their prey, while grazers and browsers often feed actively at night because there is less energy loss than during the day. Although there is no guarantee of spotting anything at all once the sun sets, our group got to see a whole lot and recommended it to everyone. (Or make it a point to stay in the park and camp if animal life is your thing).

My sneak peek of Africa was amazing and marks the next chapter of a stellar decade. Although only a peek, its impact was unforgettable...

"On the end, on the back, flip crystal tracks
Method relax fast forward, play back
Electrofied, Elecro night
Eclectic undefined in the moonlight
Shine bright how you'd like
Broken faces empty spaces make ok
Let my mind open up to the skies and pray
Raindrops like spots windshield spray
Don't stop, don't yield knots in the stomach
Not one, when you drop in the storm

Said I rock when I rip it when I'm rollin' on clouds
Shout loud breathe in, won't you drown in the now"

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