Open Air Safari - Day 1

We met our safari guide at 6:00 and loaded into a large open-aired vehicle with bagged breakfast in hand and set out towards Kruger National Park. We were all very excited for this day and were not quite sure what to expect other than Dad, who had been on a safari with a World Vision trip in 2007.

Heading out on Safari!!

Rules are good

While unfortunately our safari guide turned out to be more of a driver than an educator, and somehow our private tour included picking up some random Irish lady mid-morning, we made the best of this awesome opportunity!

We were amazed at how well the animals were camouflaged in their environment and how the area wasn’t as dry as we’d expected. There was so much land to search and it was such a different experience than any animal activity we’d been a part of. It was slow in that we didn’t see animal after animal, yet our driver drove at a decent speed so that our eyes had to scan quickly. Everyone was focused, and we laughed as in a way it was what we imagined playing a life-sized game of “Where’s Waldo?” might be like. It was definitely not leopards jumping out of trees and lions prowling around the side of our vehicle as in some of the safari hunting video games we’ve played! The first animal we spotted was a female kudu, followed be a giraffe, some water buffalo, zebras, impalas and a male kuddu in the tall grass. Then we stopped for some coffee, which we realized was a brilliant thing to do every few hours as the caffeine and break was needed after the intense and constant searching.

Kudu

Dad & kids with giraffe

Crew in front of a water buffalo

Rhinos off in the distance - these the only ones we never really saw up close

When our vehicle started out again, we were surprised by a large African elephant that was right next to the road! We all marveled at it’s large ears and how beautiful and different they were from the elephants we’d been able to spend the day with in Thailand. As we drove, there were animal droppings all over the road and so we could definitely tell there was a lot of action going on around us. The main roads in the park are paved and there are some side roads that are dirt. There are a few places that allow you to "alite", or get out of your vehicle, but if it is not a designated spot, then you are to remain in your vehicle at all times. When we observed the animals, they mostly seemed indifferent to us, they wouldn’t necessarily run away, some would in fact wander their way across the road in front of us clearly aware that they had the right of way, and some would just continue with their grazing. We enjoyed seeing warthogs, white rhinoceroses, water-bucks, wildebeests, bush-backs, leopard tortoises, dung beetles, and the following birds: a starling, Southern ground hornbill, maraboustork, lowry, and currant.

African elephant

EASY Big fella!

It's true - everyone poops!  Here there are things growing out of it!

We pulled off on a dirt road and found a group of male lions lying under some trees. Dad stood up in our vehicle to take a picture and the lion rose and roared at him, this was a bit frightening and the irish lady threw out an F-bomb! Another interesting animal we observed was a Verve Monkey which the guys thought was quite interesting because of the color of it’s genitalia which was bright blue.

#LAZYLIONS

Boys in front of lions

Dad in front of lions

Verve monkey

All in all, we were absolutely thrilled with our first safari day. When on safari here, much emphasis is given to spotting the "Big 5" which are the elephant, water buffalo, rhinoceros, lion and leopard. These are considered the most dangerous of the animals in the park. We were happy to have spotted 4 of the 5 on our first day and were told that the leopard is often the most difficult to find.

Our favorite animals from the day are:

• Dad - herd of elephants
• Mom – zebras
• Oldest son - lion and elephant
• Middle son - lion, elephants, and zebra, 
• G - lion, elephant, and rhinos
• SJ - zebra

We reconnected with our guide who showed us the small huts we were staying in inside the park and then we went for a delicious and decent steak dinner on a deck overlooking a river where the animals could roam. Unfortunately the bugs were so awful we ended up having to move inside, but it was still pretty crazy to think we were eating outside in the middle of Kruger National Park. So, of course, instead of accepting a ride back to our accommodations from our driver, we chose to walk, which honestly was a bit unnerving as it was extremely dark, we could hear the monkeys and baboons in the trees above us, and we realized as the world went black that we weren’t 100% confident which direction we were headed in! Thankfully we made it back safely and slept well!  A very successful first day.

Wildebeest

Warthog

Water buffalo

Water-buck

Water-buck

 

Southern Ground  Hornbill

Lilac-breasted roller

Elephant Crossing

Look at those ears!

Completely dry river bed