Kruger National Park - Day 2

We headed out on our second safari day in Kruger with Sifiso. This time we were all inside a Pajero, so it was a bit tight and the windows in the back row didn’t open, which meant it was a bit more difficult to spot the animals from that position. This also meant that breaks were NECESSARY every couple of hours in order to maintain everyone’s sanity! The goal for the day was to spot a leopard. The morning was wearing on and we’d seen most of the typical park animals (zebra, elephant, impala, water-bucks, and giraffe). On one of the side roads we observed a male lion breathing heavily as he lay under a tree with a dead water buffalo several feet away from him – resting from his kill from the previous night. As we rolled down our window to observe and take pictures, the stench was unbelievable!

Lion on the right with a killed water buffalo on the left

Then, as we were driving along, all of a sudden G shouts, “STOP!” Sifiso backs up the vehicle and G is pointing and directing us from the back row of the car to look way across the dried up river bed onto the branches of a tree. We are all having a difficult time seeing anything in this tree as it is so far away, but then all of a sudden, sure enough, something jumps out of the tree and it is spotted! We are in awe that not only G somehow spotted this leopard so ridiculously far away, and also that we are actually getting to watch a leopard free in the wild! We track it as best we can and for many minutes thinking that maybe it is going to attack some nearby impala, but we ultimately lose it yet continue to marvel at the chance we had to watch it! Everyone is content now that we have completed seeing the Big 5! As we continue to drive and head towards our lunch destination, all of a sudden Sifiso slams on the breaks and shouts, “Leopard!” We look out the window to somehow realize that we’ve all missed seeing a leopard that was literally 15 feet from our vehicle, walking alongside it in the ditch! This is absolutely incredible and we are all snapping photos and predicting its next move as we slowly drive along following it. It seems unconcerned about being watched and being the highlight of our day!

Leopard in middle of shot - hard to see even when you know it's there

No zoom here - this guy walked right next to our car for a period of time - highlight of our day

We stop for lunch and a visit to the park store, and then continue on safari for the afternoon. We wrap up at our next accommodation about an hour before sunset. This place is a similar set up to the previous night, but they have a swimming pool that the kids enjoy for a few minutes before we grab a bite to eat. This camp offered a night safari that the guys were planning to go on, but at the last minute they allowed SJ to join even though she wasn’t quite old enough because no one else was on tour, so she and Mom were able to participate also. The sky was clear and we were treated to an amazing display of stars. It was our night safari guide’s first night safari, and our family were the only ones in the open aired vehicles, but we had several spot lights to shine as we drove and he did an excellent job of explaining everything that we were seeing.

Looking for animals at night is a completely different experience than being on a day safari. So our already weary eyes adjusted and instead of searching for animals, they strained for minuscule glowing dots. Most of our finds were hares and other small animals. However we did see an owl on the bridge and some hippos, water-bucks, and impala, with the highlight being a hyena! SJ and our middle son slept, but the rest of us looked hard the whole time! We were absolutely exhausted by the time we arrived back to our huts and crashed hard into bed after a long day.

Entire elephant family

Apparently they think horns give them the right of way

Panorama of river required because its so large (and dry presently)

Apparently lots of people scatter their ashes here

 

Kruger National Park

HIPPO!!

Sitting on the bridge as we drove across on night tour

Night tour hyena - only one we saw all week

Intense searching - G had great eyes

Not everyone survived the night tour