Kruger National Park – an animal lovers paradise
I had not originally planned to visit Kruger as I had booked a safari in the Masai Mara in Kenya which had always been my dream destination. However, but after the attacks in Nairobi a few months ago and the Australian government’s advice that there was an ongoing threat to Westerners in the city, I decided to change my plans.
I am a resilient person and a seasoned traveler but I saw no point in putting myself at risk, particularly as I would be travelling on my own for that part of the trip. I had wanted to finish my African trip with a short safari, so I looked around for alternative locations. My flight to Madagascar had been via Johannesburg, so it made sense to book a safari in South Africa as it was on my route home anyway. So, here I am in Kruger National Park ready for the start of my three-day safari.
The group is very small, just four of us, our English guide Amanda, me and a lovely Indian couple from Canada (Indie and Nidhi) who are currently living in Cape Town. Like me it’s their first time in Kruger. Nidhi’s favourite animal is the elephant, so she desperately hopes to see some, and it is my dream to see a leopard in the wild. We appreciate that there is no guarantee that we will be lucky enough to encounter our favourite animals but we keep our fingers firmly crossed and hope to see as much wildlife as possible during our trip.
We have traveled four hours from Johannesburg this morning which has taken up most of the day, so it is already past 1pm when we arrive at our campsite. After a brief orientation from Amanda we check in to our cabins, drop our luggage, do a quick change and eat some lunch. We meet at 2pm to start our first expedition into the park, a short two-hour trip which will give us a feel for the area.
Our first safari
We climb up into the safari vehicle which will be our vantage point for the next few days and set off along the bumpy roads which form the backbone of the park.
Within a few minutes of entering the park we see two beautiful giraffes grazing by the side of the road, then some zebra and next a herd of antelope. We stop for a few minutes each time to enjoy these beautiful creatures and take photos and video. We could stay here all afternoon, but time is ticking on, so we head further into the park.
We round a bend and come almost head to head with a couple of cheeky hyenas who have decided to lie in the middle of the tarmac. They are enjoying the heat of the sun on the warm tarmac that they are not keen to move, so we wait patiently until they finally get up and saunter off. While we are waiting, we notice some movement low down at the side of the road and discover it is a group of little hyena cubs playing under the watchful, protective eyes of their mothers. Amanda tells us that it is quite common for hyenas to use the drainage ditches at the edges of the tarmacked roads as a den for their young. The cubs run, jump and play fight together practicing their hunting skills. It is a really beautiful sight, the cubs are so cute and their mothers so loving that I get a new perspective on these creatures which are often seen as the baddies of the animal kingdom.
After about fifteen minutes we leave the hyena pack behind and continue to a waterhole where Amanda is hoping that we will have the chance to see some hippos. The track stops a little way from the waterhole, and it is difficult to see any hippos, until Amanda points them out and passes us some binoculars. Suddenly they look like they are right next to us. These strange looking creatures so huge and lumbering although we have been warned that they are very dangerous if they decide to charge so we keep a wary eye and of course we stay inside our safari vehicle. We stay for about ten minutes watching the hippos and some zebra in the distance but then as dusk is approaching it’s time to head back to camp.
