Blogs from Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga , South Africa, Africa

We started today at 4:30 for our final morning safari into Kruger National Park. Today's goal: rhinoceros and leopard. Today's actual hits included: elephants, hyena, cape turtle doves, emerald-spotted wood doves, duiker grey antelope, tawny eagle, battaliers, vultures, wild dogs, RHINOS on 3 occasions(!), vereaux eagle owl, warthogs, and LIONS(!). We saw so many impala (antelopes) they felt like part of the family. Though we never found the elusive leopard, today's "hunt" was very successful. The highlights were the rhinos and the pack of wild dogs. Our guide, Mary-Anne, was super excited to have found these two species for us. Though many attempts have been made to tame/domesticate the wild dogs, even those reared from birth, none have been successful. We should also mention that during our breakfast break at a picnic area, we were being ... read more

Picking up from where we left off... After finishing last night's blog, everyone put a few more logs and pieces of coal on their respective fires and made their way to bed. Just as he was about to fall asleep, Jake moved his leg and felt a soft, warm thing by his foot. Panicking that there was some sort of animal in his bed, he gave it a good kicking, only to find out it was a hot water bottle that someone on the hotel staff had put in as a warm-up. It was a moment of panic and a water bottle, not a wild beast. Today we started early, with breakfast at six and on the road to Kruger National Park around seven. The drive took roughly three hours including one pit stop along the ... read more

There was a quiet tap at the door just before 5.15am. It was time for coffee and the morning game drive. The young women from Singapore were heading away early this morning and didn’t have time to do the drive but the family from Texas were there all coated up ready to endure the cold. We were only a short distance from the lodge when we came across giraffes in several sizes all nonchantly grazing on the trees at their respective heights. As expected it was cold, very cold as we headed out towards the tar sealed road from the gatehouse and continued east towards the rising sun. The cold intensified as the land rover picked up speed and the wind chill tried to find any parts of our body that had even the smallest exposure ... read more

A Journey to South Africa By William Graham Poet, novelist and travel writer William Graham holds a BA and MA in English and a MS in Communication from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He lives in Stowe, Vermont. His most recent book is Border Crossings: Travel Essays and Poems. At five o’clock on an August afternoon at the Sabi Sand Game Reserve adjacent to Kruger National Park in South Africa, the southern hemisphere’s winter sun was dropping fast behind the trees. Long shadows fell across the dry savannah woodlands. From the shadows of the bush, our guide and his tracker noticed an African wild dog trotting warily. Then another and another appeared until there was a pack of four wild dogs, which had distinctive brown, black, yellow ... read more

Early early start without a safari drive. Heading to Kruger via Johannesburg and Hoedspruit. Pouring rain as we leave the hotel in Port Elizabeth. Arrive at the airport and have to say farewell to Nando (can you bea the drums Fernando) as he has to drive back to Cape Town empty after this. Lovely guy and a great driver - never felt in danger at all, and he could get the coach up and ripping pretty easily. Into the airport and check in - what a debacle. Supposedly all organised, but the tour director is flustered. Searching through his bag for the tickets, etc. finally it starts to happen. Eventually all checked in and through security to the departure lounge. Get on messenger and have a quick chat with Jessica and the kids. Nice to see ... read more