The Safari

I am going to try to summarize our safari experience of three days into a single post.  Although my pictures were taken with a simple point and shoot, I hope you will like the photos and videos (if I find an Internet connection fast enough to upload them).

Our first safari experience was at Kruger National Park.  If you look on the map at the bottom of the blog, it is in the far northwest of the country, a 6 hour drive from Johanessburg. Our list of sightings over the next 3 days and proximity to the animals far exceeded my expectations.

Here are a few of the highlights:

- We saw 4 of "the big five" - Lions, Cape Buffalo, Rhino and Elepahnts on the first sunset safari.  Despite the very best effort of our guides, we did not see a Leopard.  Our hotel did have signs posted that there was a leopard sighting on the grounds and to stay off the ground level.

- On the way home to our hotel the first night, there were two male lions laying on the road.  We actually needed to take a different route back.

- in addition to the "big 4" we many zebras, giraffes, Impalas, Kudus, crocodiles, Hippo's, baboons, warthogs, vervet monkey's and more, all in their natural environment.

- Unusual sightings included a wild dogs,  hyenas, lions snacking on a Kudu and black rhino's crossing the road.

- We saw a lot of beautiful birds, unique to Africa.  Too many to even begin to mention

- The amazing thing was how often and how close we got to the animals.  We rode in open air and thankfully elevated vehicles.  Once we entered the park, we did not get out of our vehicles until safely out the gate.

As soon as possible, I will upload as many pictures and videos as possible.  For now, you will need to take my word for it that we had an absolutely amazing time.  The park we saw in South Africa is know for its ecological diversity instead of the grandeur of places like the Serengeti.   We were fortunate to see a great deal in the time we had available.  However, we are far from done with this adventure.