Blogs from Mpumalanga , South Africa, Africa - page 58

Gina and I just wanted to let everyone know we're alive and having a blast with our trip. We're currently on safari in South Africa and would encourage anyone who has ever contemplated going on safari to DO IT! We have a ton of photos and look forward to sharing them with you once we write about this portion of the trip. We are currently running a few weeks behind on the blog but are trying to write entries with what little downtime we encounter -- so we beg everyone's forgiveness and patience. We love and miss you all. g&g... read more

ANIMAL SPOTTINGS Morning Tour:  Hippopotamus (Near waterhole)  Cheetah (In grassy area)  Elephant  Cape Buffalo herd  Southern Giraffes (Mother and baby in the distance)  Burchell’s Zebras  Blue Wildebeest  Warthogs  Impala  Side Striped Jackals  Slender Mongoose  Small Spotted Genet  Barn Owl (Flew out of water tank) Evening Tour:  Hyenas at den with babies  Cape Buffalo  Black Breasted Snake Eagle  Waterbuck  Lesser Bushbaby  Baboons  Warthogs  Slender Mongoose  Bush Buck  Impalas  Scrub Hares ... read more

Kruger national park is a world famous game reserve, dear reader, and this impressively run park is north east of Jo'Burg. It features a huge variety of wildlife, often at very close quarters. Game spotting is one of the most enjoyable experiences in life, and if our encounters in the park are an accurate guide you won't be disappointed! We spent three days in the Kruger park, which is South Africa's most famous tourist attraction, and we left one of the world's oldest wildlife parks exhilarated by our viewing experiences. There are an incredible number of animals to spot, and it's a wonderful privilege to be in their world as nature intended. To recap from the previous journal, my American friend and I went through the formalities at the border crossing in Swaziland, then headed north ... read more

Leopard Hills is amazing. You can check it out at www.leopardhills.com. It is very beautiful and the staff is wonderful. You can work out in the gym overlooking the watering hole or have a massage in a glass room overlooking the entire valley. We also get cell service and the internet. Technology is amazing. We just returned from our morning safari (they set you up at 6:00 am with cozy blankets and hot water bottles to keep toasty. I would think it's about 55 to 60 degrees before the sunrises and it gets to about 80 to 85 in the afternoon. We have had perfect weather from the day we arrived in South Africa. Not too hot, nice cool breezes and white puffy clouds. Lucky us. This morning we tried to track a pride of ... read more

The day starts with a wake up call at 5:30 am. We have coffee/tea at 5:45 am overlooking the watering hole at camp. The monkeys are starting to surround us and challange us for the morning muffins - they are so cute but very persistant about the muffins! We leave camp at 6:00 with our hats, gloves and blankets. It's chillie before the sun comes up but not too cold. The mist is surrounding us and it's a view like no other when we spot two female lions, one giant male and four little cubs. Took tons on photos! We were then off to sneak up on a herd of elephants that must have numbered 60-80 and tons of little elephants....another 200 photos....we can't seem to stop ourselves. We saw African buffalo and the most ... read more