Stretching 360 kms north to south and an average of 65 kms in width, the Kruger National Park covers over 19,000 sq kms of bush in northeastern South Africa on the border with Mozambique. Named after Paul Kruger, the first president of the South African Republic, it is home to over 140 species of mammals including the Big 5: lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and water buffalo. To see all of the big 5 is considered a rare treat. we saw three; lots of elephants, lots of water buffalo and one lonely leopard. Some of our group of 12 saw all 5.
The numbers are somewhat dated as the last census was completed in 2011 but the impala are the most numerous at about 152,000. We would pass them grazing along the roadways in groups of 30-50. They would look up at the car as we passed. They possess such an aura of innocence on their cute little faces then reality come crashing in when you realize that they might possibly be dinner for a lion, leopard, or hyena by the end of the day.

We did a “self-drive” tour for about 12 hours. We were up Saturday morning at 5 for a quick breakfast of coffee, tea and “rusk” which is a dry biscotti like biscuit. Out the gate of the Skakuza camp at 6 we just wandered the roadways with our eyes peeled for game. We saw great herds of elephants, 15-20 grazing in a group. Herds of zebra too numerous to count and graceful giraffes feeding on the higher branches. We saw hippos in the water holes, kudus with beautiful spiral horns, blue wildebeests and mean, ugly looking warthogs. Less plentiful were the nyalas and the not so common, common duikers.

The Kruger is a birder’s paradise. From beautiful iridescent blue Cape starlings and lilac breasted rollers to helmeted Guinea fowl to white backed vultures, Marabou storks, Southern ground hornbills and the red faced bateleur. So many varieties and so little time. You could spend days doing this.
On Sunday we had a much needed sleep-in til 7:00 AM. Laundry day, lunch on the restaurant deck overlooking the elephants eating and splashing in the river and some afternoon pool time. At 4:30 we queued up and boarded an open air safari bus with 20 other game gazers and headed off for a sunset/night game tour.
We saw many of the same creatures on this drive as we did during the day. We say a few lone hyenas loping along beside the road. At one point one of them came very close to the bus and passed right across our path. Giraffes walking down the middle of the road and a family of warthogs, a mother and 5 piglets crossed the road in front of us and moved off into the bush. One brave little fellow stopped to stare at us to make sure we weren’t following. Close to the end of our drive we spotted a beautiful leopard resting in the grass very near the roadway. We sat quietly for a few minutes but it was obviously nervous and kept moving in the thick grass. That was the highlight of the evening drive. Continuing across the river there were 4 giant egrets, their bright white plumage standing out starkly again the dark foliage of the trees at the river’s edge..

We return to our camp where the rest of our group are just finishing up dinner. They had saved a portion for us so we chow down on salads, sausage and lamb chops with a birthday cake for dessert. We sang old rock and roll songs then rocked and rolled over to our rondoval and into bed.
Our time in the Kruger has been much too short but we have a schedule to adhere to. Next stop is a two day visit with the Rotary Club of Middleburg, just about 150 kms northeast of Johannesburg. Until then,