Makalali Lodge Kruger National Park

... but the likelihood of that happening is rather slim. So, after strapping everything into the tiny car and Trig using his 4th Kendal scouts knot tying skills to hold the boot down us three lads, Trigger and Kerryn set off northeast to the gateway to the Kruger national park. As i mentioned in the earlier blog, my guts have been slightly erratic in their functioning, and a snotty, disgusting burger at wimpy halfway into the journey sent ...

... a river running through Kruger. At some point we could see a large group of Elephants crossing the river in the distance. The group was much larger than anything you would encounter in a zoo or artificial animal park. And the animals were much more relaxed and at ease as well, little ones playing a little in the water. Some of the older ones cleaning themselves with showers of sand and water and some others standing guard over the entire ...

... as we did we noticed that the lions had moved....they were walking on the road.....7 lions!!! The whole pride on the road! There were females, adolescent males and one adult male! They walked for a bit and then just laid there for ages while we all took many many many photos. When I was finished with the photo ops I just looked at them. These magnificent creatures about 10 feet from me. We checked each other out. It was just amazing. We finally had to leave ...

... to kill - they didnt do very well as they were pawing and picking the poor thing. Funny thing is we saw all that before six in the morning! The average time for our alarms while at the park was 4.00am. We left on Saturday and on the way out saw two hyenas having a munch on a freshly killed impala- they were disturbingly creepy creatures and they eat everything - one minute the head was there, the next one of them had its head down the ...

... there for a month or more. I had to stay in a tent for one night because the next day we had to go to KRUGER PARK to go on a safari.  We had a little meeting about what we are going to do for the next month.  We went to bed quite soon after dinner and I was bloody knackered! 4/11 - We woke up at 7 to go to Kruger Park; we had to take a small bag so it would fit in the bus. It was about 5 hours journey.  We had two people who also wanted to ...

Part 2 While watching the lions indulge in adult activities and feed on a dead zebra was an undoubted highlight, probably the most memorable experience of our time in Kruger occurred during our stay at Olifants rest camp. We'd been out for most of the day watching a pride of lions laze about near Satara and had finally taken the long drive north to Olifants... the afternoon was setting in and at a junction a short distance before our ...

... game drives we were to take. The afternoon was spent enjoying our surroundings of Lower Sabi in our accomodation of rustic rondavels and settling into africa bush life. The accomodation site was shared with loads of monkeys who were always busy causing havoc and generally being nosey. The afternoon and evening allowed for further game drives on Day 1 and the evening one was ...

... are the coolest times of the day, and hunting times (because of low visibility). We were able to catch some amazing pictures of Giraffes, Zebras, Monkeys..........so many photos. (We have already filled up 5 Gigs of our 12 Gig SD cards on our Camera, and we are only 1/3rd done our trip!!). After another amazing breakfast, another ride, a lunch and drive to another camping site. Before we left, our travel agent in California recommended the "Game Walk ...

You might have been wondering where the big five and the million stars come into this epic that is making War and Peace look like a light read. For the National Geographic fans you probably already know this but the big five were the five most sought after trophy animals in Africa. The line up includes the lion, the leopard, the elephant, the rhinoceros and the cape buffalo. I'm betting not too many guessed that last one. However, the day before we ...

... the next day. Whatever happened, we had to get to Kruger before nightfall. Infact, we had to get there before 5pm, the winter closing time for the gate. The cell phone rang. It was Martin. He was coming to get us, bringing a second car for us to use, and one to tow the original back. What a star! All that remained was to stay where we were. Like we had any choice! The boys picked up stones and started to aim at the road sign 200m away. Clonk. Clonk. Clonk. I ...