Finished our amazing 4 day Safari in Kruger Park

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  Kruger National Park, South Africa
Saturday, March 15, 2008

(entered by Derek)

After wine till 1 am, we were up at 6am for our trip to Kruger National Park (http://www.krugerpark.co.za/).

Surprised to find out that it was over a 6 hour drive (with food stops) we arrived into the extremely hot Game Park.  We spent 4 amazing days with a great tour company, Bundo Safari, who pretty much had us fully booked with events.

Day 1:

Drive to Kruger Park.  We had the opportunity to see 3 of the "Big 5" (the 5 most deadly animals in the park, or hardest to kill........not sure exactly the reference.....but definitely not the biggest in size...they are the......Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Buffalo, and Rhino)- we ended up seeing all but the Leopard on our Safari (Hopefully this isn't foreshadowing that I'll never see a Leopard........My first Cypress Product code name :-)

Kruger Park - Elephant

. 

In this blog, we won't post any pictures of ourselves, as these animals are simply amazing.  And the file sizes of these images are so big, it takes an hour to post just a few images.

We arrived at our camp around 6 pm.  All the tents were setup, with spring beds and matresses...........the whole 9 yards..............and a fully catered dinner.  The hospitality is truly amazing in South Africa. 

That night we went on a night drive.    Picture 20 tourists in an open air jeep with 10,000,000 candlelight
flash lights scouring the terrain for Lions............that was us!  We found 4 adult Lions and 2 cubs.  I was less than 6 feet from two Lions that decide to mate infront of us.  I don't think the male liked my video footage.......as he almost charged the truck.  We quickly turned off the lights and promptly skirted down the road a few meters..............whew.

Day 2.

Up at 5am, and on the road by 5:30 for our morning "Game Ride" - drive to see the animals

Kruger Park - Giraffe's

.  The best time to see many of the animals is in the first 2 hours of daylight, and last 2 hours, as these 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"...........yes, walk through the South African bush with two guides with rifles..............in the open.................  We decided back in Cali that it was too
dangerous..............but....................when we got here, they said it was part of the Safari........so, we went.  It was great!!! The guides walked us safely through, and tought us all about the animals, plants, trees and their way of life in the bush.

Day 3.

Another 5am morning, and drive

Kruger Park - Hippo

.  Breakfast, another game drive and travel to a lodge. 

That morning, I was able to get some rare shots of the White Rhino (I now know the difference between the white and black Rhino...........from mouth shape, size and dung deposits...........).  Our German friend we were on the Safari with were fanatics with the camera, but on this mornings trek he decided for some silly reason to leave his camera back in the tent...........so he'll be getting my shot..........for a few hundred South African Rand :-)

We spent alot of time on bridges and around water holes looking for the elusive Hippos.  They spend 80% of their life under water and only come out for 3 hours a day to eat.  So the only shots we got were heads just out of water.........Steph got some pretty amazing shots.  We really missed her Digital SLR camera..........but we just couldn't lug it around with us for 3 months.  The 10X optical Zoom Point and Shoot was treating us well (Thanks Patrick Gai for the recommendation!!!).  I also borrowed a 40X pair of Binoculars from our Hostel man in Jo'burg.......(great guy!).......

In the afternoon, we went to a resort for lunch and a swim in the giant pools, under the cover of the most amazing mountains..............Which we later found out, weren't mountains at all, but the 3rd largest canyons in the world

Kruger Park - Rhino

!  We went on a 1.5 hour boat tour through the canyons, as they have been dammed and are filled with water from 2 separate rivers.  The views and photos are simply amazing.  Imagine the Grand Canyon (about half the size) but covered in trees, greenery and with water.  Awesome.

That night, we stayed at a 5 star Private Game Lodge.  White linen table cloths, and fully catered south african Bri (another name for Bar-be-que...like Asado in Argentina!!).

Day 4.

Most of this day was our return trip back to Jo'burg with a few stops along the way for some great vista points and shopping of the local South African trade.  (We picked up our nieces Erica & Helen some really cool toys!!!.........hopefully they won't weigh down our back-packs too much.  I resisted the urge to buy the 1/8th size John Deere tractor (carved from wood) for Noah Lunsford..............just no room...............sorry Noah!!!  Maybe if we find one in Capetown! and can ship it home......


Well, here are some of our pics from the Safari.  Another great adventure!!!!! 

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Kruger Park - Zebra

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