Blogs from Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga , South Africa, Africa - page 26

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Hi all....apologies in advance, this will be my shortest blog ever but under some time constraints (i.e. cost 2 pounds for half hour). Just a quick one to say that I have arrived in South Africa safely, am loving Kruger park and have been offered a job as a game ranger here. We've seen so much! Tracey's wedding was lovely. I will attempt to load the 30,000 photos taken over the last few days on here. If not, I'll find someway for you to view them. Anyway more soon, thanks to everyone who has sent me messages, particularly Ruth who seems to be blogging my trip in her own inimitable way - love you! xxxxx ... read more


So Kruger NP is everything you think it is... bushlands, dried up rivers in the African Winter, an abundance of wildlife, tourists, ( but you don't see them, since the Park is bigger than the Netherlands, and they put a daily limit on the number of cars allowed into the Park) and did i say an abundance of wildlife... just spectacular to see herd after herd of Elephant , journeys of Giraffe gracefully towering over the bushlands, lazily grazing , hippos cooling of in the few rivers that have not totally dried up in the winter months, lions, whose roars are an amzing sound before you fall aslepp at night, the majestic Rhinos who way about 4 tons, and who nevertheless can be so super fast, that you don't want to be chased by one of ... read more
Giraffe-
Hippos
Rhinos- crossing the road at sunset


After the success of Makalali we decided to put our tracking/game finding skills to the test and try our luck in Kruger National Park, some 70 km to the east of Hoedspurit. Kruger encompasses an enormous area of land averaging 65km across and 350 km long with further private game reserves located around its borders. The terrain ranges from open Savannah to thick bush and from completely flat to mountainous with a series of major rivers running through it.. Navigation around the park is via a network of good tarmac roads with further dirt tracks branching off into the more remote areas. While you can take organsied Safari drives at the different camps located around the park, for the most part, people, just drive around and see what they bump into. After 4 weeks at Makalali ... read more
Hyaena
Lion
Zebra


After arriving in Jo'burg...rented a car and got out of there!! Heading for the Blyde River canyon we had an overnight stop in Nelspruit. There I went crazy because I read someting about doing nice activities here....like rockclimbing kloofing (canyoning) and tubing..... Convinced my girlfriend to go there and we were alread in the canyon by the afternoon. Our kloofing trip was a bit dissapointing...we found out kloofing here is'the same as canyoning in the Alpes.... The Tubing trip the next day sure made up for it.....Awesome experience and great fun. A couple of active days in Sabie and an Japanese photo shooting day wile driving along the Blyde River canyon, and it was time to move to KRUGER!! KRUGER is ANIMALS. what a great place, suddenly a rhino around the corner or a crossing Elephant! ... read more
Happy at the blyde canyon
Sunrise giraffe
just another postcard


Day 2, Nicole and I decided we were going to do a self-drive through the park while half the group went on their morning guided drive. We went and parked the car in line at 5am, bribed the gate guard to watch our car, then ran back to have breakfast and get our stuff together for the day. We were the second car through the gate when it opened at 6am, and third in line to pay. Britt, another girl in our group, caught up with us at the gate, and by then the line was about 100 people long. Again, we exerted the power of bribery on the gate attendant to secure Britt’s entrance into the park without standing in line. It’s amazing how much the term “money talks” really applies in this country. ... read more
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Well, I returned from my weekend on safari with all limbs intact, and no lion bite-sized chunks taken out of me. It was really an amazing weekend, and I’m not sure that I can describe it all, but we’ll see how far I get. This is a story of the wilderness, of driving on the left-hand side of the road, and of the sunset drive from hell. There were twelve of us UF students that decided to go on the safari. We arrived in Joburg on Thursday afternoon, and split up into our respective cars. I was in a car with my friends Nicole, Josh and Katie (who is also my roommate), and we were pretty lucky since I remembered to bring my FM Transmitter for my Ipod. So we had some rockin tunes. It was ... read more
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i arrived at Johannesburg airport on Sunday 8th July, where i was 'meant' to be greeted with someone holding one of those embarrasing signs saying my name... 'meant' being the operative word! after an hour of waiting, hoping that the driver was just running late, i went to the information counter, who transferred my enquiry to the police, and before i knew it i was being escorted through the airport by 3 police to find me a reliable driver to take me to my hostel. yes, my driver had forgotten me. Excellent start! Prior to leaving home, most of you would know that i booked an 8 day Safari trek through Kruger National Park, where i was in hope of seeing the big cats in the wild. In my very informative brochure, it not only suggests ... read more
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We awoke this morning in beautiful Akeru lodge at around 6AM and proceeded to the open air 4x4. The sun was still down and the air was still very cold. As soon as we left the lodge, Sam (our tracker) spotted rhino tracks. A rhino had just passed our lodge during the night. We spend a few minutes tracking the rhino - including some time when we dropped Sam off on his own on foot - but the tracks led to an area we could not enter. However, the first character we ran across was none other than Max. Max was still in musth, but seemed much happier to ignore us and munch on his tree (see picture). Danika even grew to like Max, quite a feat considering her considerable distrust of him from the ... read more
What's for breakfast?
A face only a mother could love!


We opened the day in Satara camp with some bird spotting, where we found a pearl spotted owl, a african hoopoe (supposedly the stinkiest bird of all), and a crested barbet. We are not bird people, but there is something about seeing such colorful birds in such proximity that makes you appreciate the variety and abundance out there. The morning drive from Satara out of the park was a little slow (please note how seeing a herd of impala on your first day can be the most exciting day of your life, but by a few days later it just becomes routine. Stupid Americans...). We spotted a very large herd of buffalo, some zebras, and a few giraffes. However, just 3.5 hours after leaving Satara, we fell straight into a little piece of heaven. We ... read more
Lilac-breasted roller
Rockfig the Leopard
Sundowners


Bring it on. After an early morning breakfast we said goodbye to the hippos and headed out to Kruger Park, only 5 minutes down the road. We entered Kruger via the Paul Kruger enterance and before we even entered the park we spotted animal tracks in the river. It is winter in South Africa and all of the rivers in the park are completely dry. Needless to say we made a bathroom stop at the enterance for fear of what would be awaiting us outside if nature called before we reached our camp. Needless to say nature was waiting for us at the bathrooms where a few warthogs were happily awaiting our arrival. On to the park - with our feet barely through the gate we encountered our first herd of Impalas crossing the road. ... read more
Hippos sun bathing
Not a dodo




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