Day 5: Kruger Park and the Little Five

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Throughout the night, in our tents in the safety of the camp site within the Kruger, we could hear the snorting of the Hippo in the Sabie River. Occasionally too, we could hear the calling of the Hyena as they skirted the fence, looking for a way through to our food.

At 04h00, we heard another strange sound, rather like a vacuum cleaner, followed by deep, guttural sounds. For the next hour, it continued, with other campers becoming annoyed by the rudeness of these Afrikaners who were now arguing over who had bought an inferior air bed, one that had developed a hole. That hole might explain why they were losing so much sleep! They were using an electric pump in a vain attempt to keep sufficient air in the bed though I'm not sure why, as they all appeared to be up and arguing about it.

At 05h00, we too were (officially) up and after a cold wash and much mimicking of the “Vacuum Cleaner Bird”, were enjoying a short breakfast of Rooibos and Rusks. Already other campers were doing the same and some had even progressed on to the next step, which was to start moving their vehicles to the gate, which would open at 06h00.

Like sheep, we followed the same pattern and, after checking the camera equipment and filling the water bottles, we too passed through the camp gates and on to the start of another day's game viewing.

Shortly after leaving camp in the early dawn, we were rewarded by a herd of Giraffe enjoying their breakfast of Acacia leaves, their thick, leathery tongues making short work of stripping the leaves from amongst the vicious looking thorns. An alternative name for the Acacia is thus Camel Thorn.

Other sightings followed but then there was a lean spell. We drove along through the savannah in search of game or birds (or anything) and saw very little apart from families of Impala. Climbing up a rocky outcrop, we came upon the Mondozi rest area, with amazing views of the Crocodile River and so, given the opportunity to get out of the vehicle, we surveyed the surrounding land; we still saw nothing!

Onwards we went in search of game and, running parallel to the hill, we came across a herd of Elephant, maybe some 20 to 30 animals, silently moving through the bush. After watching them for 15 minutes or so, we too moved on and, rounding a corner, came upon a male Lion standing in the road, with a female laying down. A queue of traffic had formed coming towards us, but we were very fortunate to be the first vehicle on our side of the road. As we watched, there then followed an example of the continuance of the species, terminated by the tremendous sound of a very happy, roaring lion.

By now, we were beginning to feel hungry, having been up for almost 6 hours and so we made our way to a rest area, where Jerry cooked bacon, eggs and boerewors for us. Continuing our drive, we returned to camp after having been on the road for 8 hours.

The afternoon was a relaxing affair, with a little washing to be done and a visit to our very own watering hole for a bottle of beer and viewing of the Crocodile River. Hippos and Crocodiles shared the water whilst Soldier Birds rested on the sand banks, keeping an eye on the Crocodiles!

That evening, we assembled before dusk for a night drive where I was appointed Spotlight Monitor, a very important role as I, along with 3 others, was to scan the surrounding savannah for signs of life - not easy in the dark, from a moving vehicle!

Before the sun went down, we saw a couple of young bull elephants, magnificently bronzed in the setting sun, who decided to have a mock fight. We also glimpsed some White Rhino and, as the sun was setting, we were permitted out of the vehicle just to stretch our legs whilst our driver stood by with his loaded rifle.

By now, it was dark, the sun setting quickly at this latitude. Lights on, we scanned the landscape catching sight of lots of nothing. Eventually, I spotted a red eye and the driver sped forwards just in time to see a Bush Baby bound off a tree and into the thick undergrowth.

Nothing. Apart from moths. Nothing. Then an excited little voice from the front “there, in the road”. We all peered forwards, four spotlights searching for the wildlife due to be uncovered from its shroud of darkness. Was it a Rhino? No, wrong colour. Was it a lion? No, too small. What was it that was gaining the attention of so many. Whatever it was, we'd travelled half way around the world, from Holland, the UK, Australia, New Zealand (and some from South Africa) to be amazed by the sight of this African animal caught in the glare of our lights. Cameras to the ready, everyone craned to get a view - it was - yes, it was - hopping, its little white fluffy tail bouncing up and down in the light.

“Well done, lad. You've found our first proper sighting”. He sat down, very proud of himself although the rest of us had seen rabbits before!

The only other significant sighting, apart from a Roman Snail making its own epic journey across the road, was of a couple of porcupines.

Returning to camp, we enjoyed another of Jerry's meals and settled into our tents for our final night in Kruger, drifting off to the sounds of Hippo.

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