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

Well thanks all for your patience. We only had WI-FI our 1st nite. None the next 5. Did we see animals? HELL YA!!! All but Chetta and Wild Dog. Thousands of Bush Bucks and Impalas (all cat food). Zebras (150+), Elephants (100+), Lions (5+), Leopard (1 in a tree devouring a Bush Buck, a VERY rare tourist experience), Rhinos (3), Hippopotamus (12+), Heyena (2), Wharthogs (15+), Wildebeasts (60+), At least 40 different amazingly colorful bird species. (Marked off birds we saw from color bird guide. Lots of babbons and monkeys. All and all our greatest travel experience to date. We fly to Victoria Falls Zimbabwe tomorrow.... read more

4:30 am wake up call. Ouch. But the best time to see wildlife is in the morning so I went with it. Our game drive this morning lasted until 9 am. We saw zebra, giraffe, kudu and much more. The most impressive thing by far was seeing a bunch of lions sleeping next to and eating a buffalo it had killed the night before. I think there were 9 lions altogether. Some had blood still on their mouths. A few were eating while many were sleeping. Parts of the buffalo had clearly been eaten already. It was really amazing to see. Our guide said that the lions would stay with a kill like that for 2 to 3 days. In the early afternoon we had some free time so I wandered around the grounds of the ... read more

Our first night was spent in the South African capital, Pretoria. It was certainly living up to its other name of 'Jacaranda City'. The city was ablaze with brightly coloured blue/purple flowering Jacaranda trees lining the streets and parks - what a spectacular sight. A short city tour took in the Voortrekkers Monument and Museum - a large rectangular brown stone edifice. The interesting story of the 'Great Trek' of the Boar Pioneers in the 1830's was depicted in tapestries, stone relief carvings and original artefacts including a Boer Ox-wagon. A giant statue of Nelson Mandela was found in front of the Government Union Building overlooking the city. Colonial-style buildings were also seen in the city centre, in Church Square, along with a silver-coloured statue of former President Paul Kruger. A long trip across flat and ... read more

"A white rhino butted head first into a land cruiser today," our on-site reporter told us. "The short-sighted male believed the vehicle was a rival blocking him from his two lady friends, so tried to tip it over by hooking his horn underneath the bonnet. The land cruiser remained upright, and the rhino moved around it and ambled peacefully away. Neither animal nor people were hurt." It was exciting, though. This was our first full day at Naledi Bushcamp in Balule Nature Reserve. For geography and logistics buffs, Balule is on the outer western edge of Greater Kruger National Park. The advantages of being in a nature reserve rather than in the national park proper are: fewer jeeps on the trails (5 at the most rather than 30 or more) fewer people: only those staying in ... read more

Two fantastic days in Kruger National Park staying at Tinga and Narina Lodge. Our group was split between the two lodges and we stayed at Narina. From the time we arrived it was fantastic. We were greeted with a refreshing towel and iced tea and shown our room. Each room is separated by a boardwalk and it is easy to feel that you are the only ones there. Each room has a balcony , splash pool and outdoor shower as well as an indoor bathroom, bed, lounge and all the usual facilities. No matter where you are, you can see the scenery outside. We were collected for the first game drive, six to a vehicle and introduced to our driver Alfred and spotter Lucas. Took a while to see our first animals, but as the drive ... read more