Kruger National Park

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After a trip to Frankie's Bar on Wednesday night we woke up early on Thursday morning to start our 9 hour drive up to the Kruger National Park in the north east of the country. It was a long journey covering long open roads that appeared endless at times and travelling through tiny villages. I also saw yet another side to South Africa that i haven't seen before. Large shanty towns lined some of the roads and I noticed a big move away from the arguably "western" style of living seen on the coast. We arrived at the gate to the game reserve late afternoon and before we had even signed in we saw a lioness and a heard of buffalo sat out on a field just by the entrance! Pretoriuskop was our home for the three nights and we stayed in a little hut with a bed and a snik...and that was it (check out facebook for all the photos). The gate to the game reserve opened at 5.30am each day so we started and drove around for about 3 hours, had a break for lunch, then went out again at 4 till 6. On the first day, we had only been out the gate for about 10 minutes and we had already seen elephants and an absolutly massive rhino! He was huge. We also took trips to Skukuza and Lower sabie; two other camps in the game reserve. The dust roads were the best because they took us right into the heart fo the park allowing us to get really close to a lot of animals (note the 'zebra crossing' photo!). my favourite sighting must be the photo with this entry...the elephant walking in front of the jeep...he was a big dude! There is so much wildlife in the park...we saw Elephants, Lions, Rhinos, Zebras, Impala, Giraffe, Monkeys, Baboons, Wild Dogs, Cheatas, Buffalo, Warthogs, Kingfisher Birds, Hippos, Crocodiles and a lot more! We had a braai each night and loads of meat....mabye too much! It was a great 3 days and seeing all the animals was really amazing: something i've always wanted to do. The drive back took a bit longer due to traffic but i drove the last 2 and a half hours back which was good. A big thank you must go to peter (Dan's uncle) who took us up to the park (it was like having our own expert tour guide) and a big thank you to all of Dan's family who have helped us out over the last two weeks: it has been great. Off to cape Town for the week now so will update after that!

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Photos

Kruger National Park
Elephant crossing!

Comments

[Papa G]

It was worth it.
Harry, All those hours you worked to get yourself there, whilst studying at the same time....Impressive. You've earnt this time and is great to see your updates; keep them coming. Huge thanks to Dave, Peter their family and friends for the support they given. Stay safe.