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Published: November 1st 2006
Armed and Dangerous
2 Rangers and 2 Studs with GunsWow, seems like Kruger was months ago so we've gota dig deep in our memory banks for this Blog.
Currently in Vic Falls, Zambia after 7 days of Camping in Botswana, Namibia and Zambia so u'll be updated about that shortly.
Ok, Kruger Park,
We travelled to Nelspruit via the Baz Bus which was on the outskirts of the Park itself and were fortunate enough to stay in a hostel called 'Nelspruit Backpackers',where they run their own safari's from,we chose the 3 days,2 nights option,which involved staying in one of the camps inside the park in a 2 man tent, the tents were only 6ft long so when you are 6ft 3" it creates a bit of a problem!!
After we booked our Safari at the Hostel we were informed that a guide would be picking us up at 430am so we would have to be up at 4am, we started cracking up laughing and waited for the owner to join in with us.......................................he didn't. We're used to getting to bed at 4am not out of it at that unearthly hour of the morning but we soon realised we would have to get
Dumbo and Friends
Err, can we get past lads!! used to this.
Every morning in Kruger our Guide woke us up before sunrise as it is known to be the best time to spot the Animals, we wish we'd have known this before handing over 4000 Rand. Maybe just a night drive would have sufficed!!
It is unbelievably Cold first thing in the mornings inside the Park and when you are travelling in an open top vehicle at quite a speed it is 'kin FREEZING. We were all wrapped up in Sleeping Bags and hooded Jumpers for the first couple of hours but by midday it reached 40degrees so the Eskimo look didn't last for long.
Everyday was a set routine, it started with a Game Drive beginning at 5am and finishing at 10am where we returned to Camp for Brekkie. The reason for this is that during the hottest part of the day the Animals are at their least active because it is so damn hot.
After free time which was spent fighting for the nearest bit of Shade at Camp and Lunch at 1pm we would begin our second drive at 2pm, this would finish just before sundown at 6pm where again we'd
Leopard
Trust us, it's there somewhere return to Camp and stock up on Beer supplies for the Braai (BBQ) later in
the evening.
This all sounds a bit tedious but we would drive a different route around the Park on every journey and obviously experienced different sightings of Animals along the way.
When we arrived at the Park the first morning we met the rest of the group which consisted of seven other people from all corners of the Globe.
First of all we had a briefing about what lied ahead over the next three days, being all excited and constantly looking over our Guides shoulder to see if we could spot our first 'Lion Kill', he went on to explain that the only thing we could be sure of seeing are trees, grass and plants.
Oh, you really know how to 'piss on someones fire' mate!!!
So a few more minutes of Do's and Dont's which were going in one ear and out the other (bearing in mind it was 5am and we'd already been up 2 hours thanks to some excessive snoring in our hostel from some piss head Spanish P#ick) we borded our open top vehicle and off
Yum Yum
Jesty felt peckish halfway through the Drive we went.
Being slightly disheartened by no gaurantee's (excuse spelling if it's wrong) we sat back and glared deeply into the Bush for a Simba look-alike, because we were concentrating so hard to the sides of the road we wondered why the hell the truck had stopped sharply and nearly threw us onto the bonnet, we didn't have to wonder for too long. A glance at the Road ahead and we noticed four huge tree trunk type legs and after looking up and up and up we found out these tree trunks belonged to a huge Bull Elephant that was blocking our path just meters away from us.
Not a bad sighting considering we'd only just set off.
Within the first hour we'd seen 4 of the Big 5 with only a Leopard left to spot. Not bad going i'm sure u'll agree.
Over the following three days we saw everything we wanted to see except for a Cheetah but this is more rare than a Leopard sighting and we were very fortunate to have a Leopard that was more than happy to pose for us on our second day.
Overall we saw Lions, Leopard, Buffallo,
School in Huntington
Spot the odd one out Elephant, Rhino (white and Black), Giraffe, Hyena, Zebra, Warthogs (Pumba), Kudu, Baboons, Monkeys and many species of Antelope including 'Impala' that are pictured on SA's Lonely Planet front cover and believe us when we say if we see another Impala in the next 40 years of life it will be far to soon. They are just as commonas Cats and Dogs in England and our Guide decided to stop the truck at every single one zzzzzzzzzzZZZZ...........zzzzzzZZZZZZZ..............."Get on with it mate, our memory card ain't big enough for 50,000 frigging Deers".
We won't send you to sleep with all the sightings and to be quite honest we can't be arsed to write about them, but one that really stood out and opened our eyes up to just how 'Shit-Scary' nature could be was when we found ourselves in between a Herd of 100 Elephants ranging from tiny new-borns to fully grown Matriarcs (leaders of the herd, for all those of you that don't eat the National Geographic for Breakfast unlike Daz).
At first sight it was Jaw-dropping but it didn't take us long to remember the Elephants were the most feared Animal in Kruger by the Guides and the sweat pouring down his face was enough for us to look at each other with a nervous frown.
The Road was blocked in every direction and because of the Babys in the Herd some of the adults started to show signs of aggression.
When an Elephant stares you in the face and pins their ears back it's getting ready to charge, this happened a couple of times but our Guide had been working in the park since 1989 so one almighty rev of the engine and the Elephant went back to it's business (Thankyou Lord)!
Finally a gap appeared in the road ahead and we started to edge our way forward, still crapping ouselves we were taking a few last minute snaps when an almighty Shreek and snapping of Branches from our left hand side, one look by the guide and from averaging 5mph his foot was flat to the floor and we were outa there, PHEW. One of those situations where we can laugh about it now if you know what we mean.
Another way to experience Kruger was to partake in a 'Morning Walk'.
This all sounded a bit familiar to Sandiles walks in St Lucia but luckily the Rangers we were with were Armed and hadn't been up drinking Cocktails to the wee small hours.
It was only us two and a father and son from Scotland that had the balls to do this but with two Rangers it made us feel at ease, slightly!!
It was only when we started to hear the Rangers stories over Breakfast that we realised just how vunerable we were. Having to shoot dead an elephant that was attacking one of their guests was just one of them.
It lasted 4 hours and was exactly how it sounds, walking in the morning but without the safety of a vehicle to make those quick get aways.
Fortunately or Unfortunaletly whichever way u look at it we only saw Elephants and Rhino but was still a wkd experience as we didn't know what was lurking behind each Bush we came across.
On our second day our Guide asked us if we'd be interested in visiting the Village where he and his Family lived,which was outside the park,we were 'all animaled out' at this point so we agreed and jumped in the truck and off we went.
We arrived at a place called 'Huntington' which sounded scarily familar to home but there were no 15 year olds pushing Prams with peroxide hair and no needles hanging out of teenage boys. (no offence Elaine, Elliott and Boag, lets pretend you live in Hartford).
The Truck pulled up at the local School where the kids were about 3-4 years old, as soon as we pulled in the Gate the Kids ran screaming and shouting to the assembly Hall saying "THE WHITE PEOPLE ARE HERE, THE WHITE PEOPLE ARE HERE" not in English obviously.
The place was really 'poor' and the School ran off donations so it was more of a Charity organisation than a compulsory School to attend. The idea was to give Children a chance to learn and keep them off the streets causing trouble.
All the Children sat in the Hall as the nine of us were introduced to the School, how surreal was this, Bob Geldof eat your heart out!!
We were treated to a few small Nursery Rhymes and were given a few minutes to play with
the Children in the Playground.
Picture the scene, what the hell do you do and say when you are swamped by Kids all wanting to touch your Camera and pull your Hair.
We decided that the only way around this was to introduce a game of 'gimme 5's' and a few photo shots.
Next stop was into the Village after leaving a donation to the school and our contact details so the kids could send us Xmas cards etc. and were treated to a display of dancing form local children who had all lost their parents due to Aids.
This was quite an experience but also an eye-opener to what life is really like in the small poor parts of Africa.
To summarise Kruger was another tick against the 'Things to do before we die' list but is quite hard to write a Blog for as most of the experience was for personal gain so we apologise if this entry didn't live up to expectations.
But on a good note, we've just had the best 7 days ever on the Overland Truck Trip so the next Blogs guna be a Smash Hit.
Watch this Space.
Flying to OZ in a couple of days and although looking forward to that,we'd have been more than happy travelling Africa for the whole year..................till next time....................................... take care of yourselves, and each other. (Jerry Springer 1996)
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Sharon
non-member comment
AArrrrh Sir Bob
As always, very entertaining, you have seen so much in such a short period of time. I'm a bit worred that the normality of Australia is going to bore you two!!So, I guess I'm picking you up? Err, what time and where would be good? Please ??!!! Our airports are not just some tin hut on a runway!Get in touch ...soon! Sharon x