Big 5 Country - Kruger National Park
Trip Start
Oct 16, 2007
1
9
83
Trip End
May 09, 2008
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Kruger National Park,
South Africa
Sunday, November 4, 2007
We left Nelspruit on Sat at 4:30am and arrived at the Malelane gate on the south side of Kruger before it opened at 5:30am. Getting up at 3:30 sucked big time but Dave told us that the best time for game viewing is in the early morning or early evening as the animals avoid the unbearable heat in the middle of the day.
Although there's tons of wildlife in Kruger, and we started off in the lower part where most of the animals are concentrated, actually seeing them, especially the Big 5, still involves a lot of luck. The first half hour or so we saw nothing. We were a little antsy on not seeing anything but Dave reassured us the morning was still young.
There is a huge difference between knowing something and really seeing it. Sure we knew all about the animals in Kruger. Hey, we all have seen the Lion King, right? But driving slowly around a corner in the early morning sun and suddenly seeing a pair of rhinos is a truly remarkable experience. The two rhinos, totally unimpressed by our van, slowly moved through the bush. They treated us like we were just a tree or rock. Dave stopped the van and cut the engine. Only a few feet away, we could hear the bush cracking under their massive feet and even hear them breathing.
Entering Malelane gate in Dave's van
It was really amazing to be so close and it took awhile to realize that this is not a zoo. From here, things picked up and by 11am, we saw all of the Big 5. Everybody here talks about the Big 5. A term from the old hunting days, Big 5 refers to the 5 most dangerous animals to hunt: Elephant, buffalo, rhino, lion, and leopard.
At 11am we arrived at the Lower Sabie restcamp. It was already so hot and it was nice to sit on the deck in the shade overlooking the savannah and having lunch. After lunch, Dave took us to our cabins, which were quite decent - clean with A/C, which was perfect to escape the scorching heat in the middle of the day.
Around 3pm, we met up with park rangers Irwin and Butts for an afternoon game walk. We were especially looking forward to walking after being in a car for 5+ hours. We didn't expect to see the Big 5 on our walk as you cover a much smaller area on a walk, so your chances are slimmer than traveling by car.
But we had lots of luck on our walk as we got quite close to a few rhino, and saw them rub their muddy butts against a dead tree stump. Within a few minutes after the rhinos left the stump, we were able to get to that same spot and see the mud and ticks that the rhinos rubbed off. Towards the end of the walk, Irwin spotted a lion in the distance. We had to be so quiet as we walked, to not step on leaves and branches. With riffle in hand, Irwin signaled us when to wait, lay low, or to walk quickly sometimes walking like frogs so low to the ground, going from bush to bush to hide from the lion's view. We were all very sweaty and getting tired from the heat, walking hunched over, and from the sheer apprehension of being in the open plain with the only thing protecting us from the lion was our fearless guides with their guns. You could see the excitement in Irwin's eyes as his hunting instinct kicked in. We loved the passion and energy our guides had during the game walk - one of our best experiences so far.
In the evening, Dave cooked us a traditional S.A. Braai, or BBQ, which was fantastic. A Very good way to end a long day of game viewing and walking, and we slept very well that night.
The next morning we got up at 4am and were on the road by 4:20am to be one of the first ones at the gate when it opened. This day was even better for game viewing. The sheer volume of animals we saw were awesome in the morning - tons of giraffes, zebras, and buffalo. The low morning light was so great and Frank the photographer was very happy. We headed up north and exited the Orpen gate around 10am and said farewell to Kruger park.
Thanks to Dave for a most excellent overnight tour to Kruger. It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip so far
