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Crocodile River
Kruger Park, SA Today is our last day at Humala, but we are going on a field trip to Kruger Park rather than on safari. Wake-up call at 4 am! No time for coffee today. We bundle ourselves into the land rovers for the 45-minute trip to the gate. It is really dark and cold.
At the Songimvelo gate, we are met by our old friend Bakkies, and we transfer to his van. It is a 3-hour drive to Kruger, which lies in the east. Bakkies stops halfway for a pit stop and buys us all a cappuccino from the gas station convenience store. He then produces box lunches for us to eat in the car, consisting of a wrap, chips, a banana and an apple. Food by this time is greatly appreciated.
The land around us consists of rolling hills, with mountains in the distance. The climate here is warmer, and it is clearly a major farming area. Besides the crops I have previously mentioned, we see large fields of sugar cane and macadamia nuts.
Kruger is an enormous wildlife reserve created back in 1926. It was South Africa's first national park. It is narrow east-west (65k) and long north-south
Impala
Kruger Park, SA (360k). We are visiting the southernmost part of the park.
We arrive at Kruger via a bridge over the Crocodile River. As advertised, there are several of the large reptiles lazing on the rocks below. The protocol at Kruger dictates that you must not get out of your car. This makes sense, as there are big cats and other dangerous animals roaming free.
Bakkies drives us around the park. The area is mostly flat and the roads are paved. Huge termite mounds can be seen on both sides of the road. All seven of us in the van keenly scan the surrounding area for signs of movement and call out when we think we might have spotted something interesting. Impala are very common here and soon, as pretty as they are, we are simply ignoring them. We also spot a group of warthogs. All of them are named Pumbaa.
Kruger is well known for its elephants and we are hoping to see some. We turn a corner and come face-to-face with an enormous tusker who is just emerging from the trees to cross the road. And he is followed by at least six other elephants, including a
baby being hurried along by her mother. Fantastic experience.
We continue on, seeing more impala and wart hogs. In the absence of new animals on the ground, Bakkies points out several interesting birds along the road, including hornbills, banana birds and a red-necked vulture. Some of the trees have enormous communal nests of weaver birds. We have an excellent view of a kudu pair, who seem to like posing for us. And, of course, there are giraffes.
As we cross a stream, I spot an large lizard (a monitor, I believe) emerging from the water. For some reason, it slithers directly towards us and I get some great photos. It's definitely the largest lizard I have seen outside of a zoo.
We continue on. More elephants, giraffes, wildebeest, impala, a troup of baboons. We're starting to think we've seen it all when we stumble upon two ostriches, who glare at us balefully as only ostriches can. Around the next turn is a solitary zebra. But the best is yet to come. We spot a rhino in the bush to one side, ambling this way. Bakkies cuts the motor and we watch with bated breath as the colossus
approaches. It's another white rhino. This one has a complete horn, which is quite impressive. It doesn't seem to know we are here and we have the opportunity for some great photos.
It is disappointing not to have seen lions or other big cats, but this kind of expedition is a crap shoot; you can never predict what animals will deign to grace visitors with their presence.
We have lunch at a restaurant in the park. The rustling in the surrounding trees is produced by monkeys, waiting for someone to abandon a table with food on it. I have to admit that most of us, including me, opt for a hamburger, although I select a lamb burger with feta, so somewhat exotic.
Long ride home, both in the van and the land rover. It has been a great day but we are thoroughly tired of being cooped up in the van.
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