South Africa - Kruger National Park

---

One of our main purposes for visiting Africa was to see the wildlife. Kruger National Park (KNP) seemed to be the perfect destination. After Stellenbosch we headed back to Cape Town airport to catch a flight to Joburg. We did not intend to stay in Joburg but what we did not realize was that it would be a 6 hour drive just to get to the gates of KNP! It would take another hour within the park for us to get to our lodge, the Imbali lodge. KNP is huge- it's bigger than Israel!

We come into the park around 6 PM. Our lodge has sent a vehicle to pick us up. Within the one hour drive to the lodge we see buffaloes, elephants, Kudus (a largish deer type animal), Rhinos and most pleasant surprise of all, a Serval cat. Our guide tells us that we are very lucky to see this animal since they are nocturnal and extremely shy. The cat we see is not shy at all. We get some great pictures of it staring back at us, checking us out.

We see impalas everywhere. I think of what our driver told us about impalas. They have an M shaped mark on their hind quarters. Our drivers says it is Mc Donalds' of the bush since they are everywhere and every predator eats them.

We are at the lodge by 7:30. We quickly shower and go to dinner. Interestingly enough, we ride with another Kannada family that we had earlier seen in Cape Town. What are the chances?? A jeep full of Kannadigas in the middle of KNP!!! The lodge is in KNP. It has a short electrified fence around it and any animal can easily walk in. No gates!!! At night we were required to have an escort when walking around the lodge grounds. It's not like the escort carries a weapon or anything like that. But supposedly they are there so we don't overreact when we see something. They asked us not to run or scream if we see something, but Bindu says "I am sorry but if I see something I am going to scream, escort or no escort." Luckily we don't not have any "encounters".

At dinner the first night we are lucky enough to see a herd of elephants visit the water hole across from the lodge. We have dinner with the elephants. Maya is not paying attention to her meal.

The next morning we are asked to wake up at 5 AM for the morning safari. It is cool and the wind makes the open Jeep nippy. The viewing jeeps are not actually jeeps. Usually they are Land Rovers or Toyotas. They are completely open all around except for a canvas barricade that serves as a door. This adds a bit of adventure to the whole thing and it is a great viewing experience. The first excitement of the day is a leopard that is sitting up on a tree. Leopards are nocturnal hunters. They drag their kill up a tree to keep it from the hyenas and other scavengers. The one we see appears to be resting. No kill can be seen. Our guide gets a radio alert about a pride of lions. We abandon the leopard and go after the lions. We come up to a pride of lions resting right by the road. Looks like they had a kill the night before. With their bellies full they are puffing and panting hard. A lioness, probably the oldest female, is resting away from everyone else. We go past her. She looks at us with wide open eyes. I cannot not stare back without getting afraid. There is a great picture of this in the photo section of the blog. We finish the game drive and get back around 9:30 to the lodge. We rested in the afternoon since it was 42 degrees outside.

It was just the three of us in the Jeep for the evening game drive. We saw another pride of lions. One full grown male and two females were resting in the afternoon heat. They seemed disinterested in us as we drove past them. Later we ran into a buffalo that had been killed some time before, probably by this same pride. Not much of it was left. The bones had been picked clean and so were the eyes. Our guide tells us that there are scavengers that specialize in just eating eyes and the tongue. Ew!! Later we pieced together that this pride had two males and several females. Sometimes adult males form a partnership like this to form a pride. Sometimes they go it alone. The one near us roars to its partner. We hear a reply from the other somewhere near the water hole. We drive over to the water hole. There we see the water hole is almost dry. All the fish in the water have gathered together into a mass in a muddy death embrace. These are easy pickings for fish eagles which we see resting on tree tops nearby. We also see two elephants digging a hole with their front foot. Our guide tells us that Elephants are the only ones smart enough to dig holes to get water out. They benefit everyone else. The elephants suck water up in their trunks and then spray it into their mouth. The two drink their fill then its time for some playful jostling. Its only then we realize a lioness has been quietly watching all this nearby. After the play is done the elephants split up. One walks right by the lioness. Elephants are not afraid of a lone lionesses. In fact, the elephant mock charges the lioness making her get up and move just to show who is boss. This also helps the other animals of the jungle that want to get to the water, but cannot because of the lions.

Later we tell our guide we would like to see a hippo. He drives us over to another water hole. This one seems full of water. The evening sun casts a golden hue on the water hole. We stop and have some tea and cookies. Lovely! We are waiting for a large buffalo herd we had seen earlier heading towards the water but before that we see an elephant herd come into the water. The little ones are excited and they jump right in while the matriarch waits cautiously at the water's edge scanning the surroundings for danger. They drink and play. I get good pictures. Still no sign of the buffalo herd. The elephants leave and it is only then we see the buffalo herd. May be they were waiting in line at the bush till the elephants were done. How considerate!!!! They must teach this to everyone in India. The buffalo herd keeps coming and coming. I start to count them but Maya is protesting "Pappa, you can't count them, stop." I count up to 200 and give up.

We later drive to another water hole. We see a Rhino up close. He does not even look up. We move on and notice a lioness drinking water further down. She seems sickly. Her bones are showing and she is alone. She seems thirsty and drinks and drinks. Our guide tells us that she probably has foot and mouth disease by eating an infected buffalo. She probably won't make it. Hyenas hate lions and if they see a weak one like this they attack. We head back to the lodge.

The next game drive was in the morning. This time we focus on smaller animals. We see our family favorite, the Steenbok. They mate for life and only stay in pairs. If they lose their mate they stay alone. We see mongooses scurrying in and out of their hole. The dwarf variety we see are small but our guide tells us that they still kill big snakes. I get down to investigate a big anthill. They are everywhere in the park. Some are as tall as a one story building. We head back to the lodge for breakfast. It is turning out to be a hot day so we decide to skip the afternoon game drive. We sleep, read and sleep only to wake up for afternoon tea. We get dressed up for dinner. I had ordered ostrich for dinner and I am anxious to see what it tastes like. When dinner arrives I am not happy with my ostrich. It's tough red meat. I end up eating Maya's chicken. She is happy to oblige.

It was extremely hot. Summer is the time for rains in the jungle. They had not had rains at all this summer (since August). All day, Bindu had been praying for rain. It finally comes in a downpour including golf ball sized hail. The parched earth sucks up the water. We witnessed the first rains of the season!!!! In the morning there are very few signs of the downpour. I go on a morning drive party out of curiosity to see the effects of the rain but its uneventful. No major sightings. Later that day we pack and leave for Joburg.

It was a fascinating trip. After seeing so many Natl Geographic specials, it was a dream come true to see KNP. We stayed three nights but a two night stay which gives you three game drives is more than enough.

---

Photos

Bush fire on the way to Kruger
We were not prepared for the 6 hr Kruger from Jo'burg

Kruger Nat'l Park
Kudu which was later on our menu but we passed.

Warthogs
Pumba's relatives

Rhino
First we see one then the whole family.

Borewell water tank
These are here to supply water to artificial water holes

Serval cat
Our guide said we were lucky to see this nocturnal cat. He/she did not seem shy at all. He stared back at us. I took the picture with a flash and the spot light was on.

Serval cat
Not so shy.

Morning safari
Bright and early at 5:30 AM. Bindu sat this one out.

Leopard
Up in a tree

Comments

[Rindi]

WOW
Ok now I definitely want to go to Africa

[Dan Bell]

Being Lunch
Amazing place! That was the first place I ever felt like I was on the menu. We heard a story there about a group of eight Africans who were walking south through Krueger to Jo'burg to find work. They all ran up a tree to save themselves from passing lions. One by one, as the lions got hungry, they would climb the tree, pull one person down, and eat them. While they were eating the seventh one, the eight person ran away. Apparently, lions are lazy, so you can walk right by them when they have a kill. Only one needed to die, and the other seven could have walked away. But they just didn't know. The moral of the story, if you don't have a gun, is to be the highest person in the tree, and to walk away as life eats your friends.