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Published: April 17th 2007
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The drive from the gate of the Kruger Park to our camp at the Lower Sabi Campsite was nothing short of incredible! We saw lions, elephants, rhino and a leopard within 40 minutes of driving into the park - amazing!! Four of the Big 5 with a 3-4km stretch! We got to camp, settled in and then raced out for another drive, and sure enough we saw the last of the Big 5 within 5 minutes - a huge fat cape buffalo! We were both so stunned, 6 weeks on an african tour and we see the last of the big 5 on the last day - a few hours at Kruger and we saw them all!!
Kruger is a fantastic place, it's so vast and there are unbelievable amounts of animals around evry corner. It would take WEEKS to see the whole park with its huge variety of landscapes and flora and fauna - it is a place that has to be seen to be believed!
Lower Sabi became like a second home to us, we were made so incredibly welcome by the guys that Kristi had met on her last visit (Roy, Pieter, Irving and Jan)
- these guys are the types of people you count yourself lucky to have met! 😊 Our room was nice and cosy, but we spent most of our time either in the park or with the guys, usually at Pieters house. Pieter is a camp manager, Irving is a ranger, Roy is assistant manager at the gift shop and Jan is another guide/ranger. We met up with all on the first night for a quick catch up, then Irving invited us on a Morning Walk. This basically involoves driving right into the middle of the park somewhere (off the main roads - rangers only allowed on these tracks) and then going for a wander! Scary as hell as there is nothing between us and the animals - except of course Jan and Irving's huge-ass rifles! Was a very cool experience - we managed to spot a very rare black rhino and a pack of Wild Dogs - both of which are extremely difficlut to spot - due to their cautious natures. Had brunch beside a hippo pool, the scenery around this area was breathtaking - right near the mountainous border to Mozambique. Irving told us that heaps of Mozambiqans try
to cross the border into South Africa in this area, unfortunately for them there is a pride of man-eating lions who are responsible for greatly reducing the numbers who actually make it!!
We spent our time in the Kruger doing many game drives and then the evenings having braais/drinking sessions with the rangers and their friends - such good fun, great to relax and enjoy the surrounds. On our second night we had a big braai at the best lodge in the camp - which Pieter had comandeered for the occasion, we had a wicked night and returned home very drunk indeed - walking distance thank god!
Our best day by a mile however, was when Pieter and Roy invited us FISHING! I foolishly expected us to leave the park, but no, we simply drove into the middle of nowhere (couldn't have tourists seeing us!) and set up beside the river Sabie. We took Pieter's corolla, as his ute was getting fixed, and consequently almost got stuck in the mud/grass a few times - but made it in the end. Was a surreal experience - in the middle of a huge game park, here we are fishing in
the river, drinking beers and generally having a great time. We had to hide to avoid elephants several times - they got bloody close! Saw tonnes of giraffes and rhinos too. Roy (who may actually be insane) tried to, and suceeded in, hooking a massive crocodile on his puny little line - was hilarious watching this 10foot croc thrashing around on the line, before it bit through the line and took off - away from us thank god!
We spent much of the day fishing about 6 feet away from a group of 10-15 hippos, but we left them alone and vice-versa - did make Kristi and I a bit nervous though! Later in the arfternoon we moved spots to a faster flowing part of the river and had a swim! (dodgy eh?! - did I mention crocs and hippos!) At this spot we finally managed to catch some fish! Roy caught a nice 4kg cat-fish, then 2 minutes later Kristi caught a whopper! 6kg at least! Then 2 minutes after that I caught another catfish - about 4-5kg. It was such a great day, one of the best days of my life, no question. We eventually headed home,
stopping only so Pieter (who may also be insane) could jump out and chase some elephants - seriously. That night we watched the Storm demolish the Blues (oh the humility!) before having a last meal at Pieters house and watching some telly.
We had to get up early on the last day to begin our 5hr drive back to Johannesburg - to Maria and Ty's place. We were both gutted to leave the park, could easily have stayed there for months! We will most certainly go back one day though!
The drive was pleasant enough - the speed limits in SA are much higher than home, so we gave the Getz death - yippee! On arriving at Jo'burg airport we had to stop and get the Mighy Getz cleaned as it was in quite a state! Dropped it off at the airport and then Maria picked us up and we drove back to hers for our last few days in Africa 😞
The last few days in Jo'burg were great, spent lots of time with Maria and Ty, played with their new puppy Diesel, caught up on emails and tried to google flats in london!, explored the
city a bit, went out to dinner to a great Sushi Bar and of course Ocean Basket once more! We went to see 'The 300' which was very cool indeed and spent a lot of time blobbing around the house, watching DVDs, Kristi got her hair done - basically we did what we normally do at home - was a very pleasant way to unwind from the months spent on this fantastic continent. Maria even made her famous Maccaroni cheese one night - YUM!
Finally it was time to go to the airport and head off to London, where we would spend the next several months, broken up with trips across Europe and the middle east. It was a very sad farewell, Maria and Ty are such awesome people, who were so incredibly hospitable, we were gutted to be leaving - but eventually we made it onto the plane - next stop cold old London town!
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anonymous
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these are just so cool to read.