Kruger Days
We have come to the end of the week and looking back it was great to do what we’ve done. We have familiarized ourselves with the KNP and its environs. It’s a fantastic place to be able to visit. The wildlife is spectacular and we’ve had some fun, surreal and downright comical moments over the week. We finished off where we started on Sunday evening with a whistle stop trip back into the KNP for a couple of hours. We had been in town early in the morning and after a great lunch of Ostrich skewers and Strawberry Milkshakes we were all set for a nice evening. We had a local Shangaan lad with us and he sorted the gate administration stuff out in quick fashion and we were on our way.
As luck would have it we stopped close to the gate and saw a lone Cheetah stalking some Impala. Unfortunately the Cheetah had an audience of about 15 cars and she got pissed off with all the noise, engines running etc. It was nice to see my first Cheetah though and she looked really elegant in the setting sun. I’m sure she just waited for us to leave before she headed back in pursuit of her dinner.
The week started off well and we camped in a couple of different camps over the course of the week. I chose to sleep outside for a couple of those as I wanted to really experience the African night. The rest of the guys were in tents. It was cool to be out in the open with just the stars for company. I could hear all the animals during the night and I guess it’s the stereotypical African sounds that I heard but that didn’t diminish it. Picture the scene, being able to see the Milky Way and the Southern Star and all their friends after having a nice T-bone steak cooked on the Braai. All that and having a few tasty beverages to wash it down and then being able to hear Lions roaring and all of Africa’s other animals during the night. SAVAGE!
The next morning we had a great sighting of a Lion kill. I’ve included some cool pictures and hopefully I can work out this uploading thing and I can get some more sorted before long. That was so close to the road that I actually thought I was out in Kepak again with the smell. It was pretty powerful. The Lions in Kruger have started using the tarmac roads to catch their prey. In this case the unlucky victim was an adolescent Giraffe. The Lions just trip the Giraffe up on the roads and they’re not able to get back up! It was pretty awesome to be that close to the whole Pride. We continued on our way and sometimes you take it for granted just how lucky we are to be able to see what we see everyday.
There were lots of fun, slagging, friction and bundles of comical moments. The highlight for me was the Bull Elephant and the Micra incident. We had quite a few more though. I’m gonna try and upload the video at some stage for that though. It’s a classic! No broadband here though so we’ll see! We had the “Pedestrian bird,” incident. “Watch out for the pedestrian behind you,” says the passenger and the retort by the driver is “What kind of a bird is a Pedestrian bird?” We also spotted lots of “Leopard Logs,” and “Granite Rhino’s”! Too many more to be recounted here I’m afraid.
We stayed in a few places that can only be described as the nearest things to a hippy commune. We had Pancakes in the most famous “Pancake Town,” in South Africa. We did some rock climbing. We celebrated the eight of the eight 2008 at 8 minutes past eight and eight seconds. We had some nice drives and walks. Oh and to round things off nicely I did a tandem bungee jump as well! What a buzz and for those who are scared of heights I’ve included a few pictures. I am in the group mentioned by the way and I didn’t exactly like edging along that platform. The guy trying to encourage me to edge back and my partner in the jump, the aptly named “Birdman,” practically pulling me back with him! It was cool though and I think I’ll have another go at it sometime.
We’re back to school tomorrow though but to sum up not a bad week! Not a bad week at all………………
We have come to the end of the week and looking back it was great to do what we’ve done. We have familiarized ourselves with the KNP and its environs. It’s a fantastic place to be able to visit. The wildlife is spectacular and we’ve had some fun, surreal and downright comical moments over the week. We finished off where we started on Sunday evening with a whistle stop trip back into the KNP for a couple of hours. We had been in town early in the morning and after a great lunch of Ostrich skewers and Strawberry Milkshakes we were all set for a nice evening. We had a local Shangaan lad with us and he sorted the gate administration stuff out in quick fashion and we were on our way.
As luck would have it we stopped close to the gate and saw a lone Cheetah stalking some Impala. Unfortunately the Cheetah had an audience of about 15 cars and she got pissed off with all the noise, engines running etc. It was nice to see my first Cheetah though and she looked really elegant in the setting sun. I’m sure she just waited for us to leave before she headed back in pursuit of her dinner.
The week started off well and we camped in a couple of different camps over the course of the week. I chose to sleep outside for a couple of those as I wanted to really experience the African night. The rest of the guys were in tents. It was cool to be out in the open with just the stars for company. I could hear all the animals during the night and I guess it’s the stereotypical African sounds that I heard but that didn’t diminish it. Picture the scene, being able to see the Milky Way and the Southern Star and all their friends after having a nice T-bone steak cooked on the Braai. All that and having a few tasty beverages to wash it down and then being able to hear Lions roaring and all of Africa’s other animals during the night. SAVAGE!
The next morning we had a great sighting of a Lion kill. I’ve included some cool pictures and hopefully I can work out this uploading thing and I can get some more sorted before long. That was so close to the road that I actually thought I was out in Kepak again with the smell. It was pretty powerful. The Lions in Kruger have started using the tarmac roads to catch their prey. In this case the unlucky victim was an adolescent Giraffe. The Lions just trip the Giraffe up on the roads and they’re not able to get back up! It was pretty awesome to be that close to the whole Pride. We continued on our way and sometimes you take it for granted just how lucky we are to be able to see what we see everyday.
There were lots of fun, slagging, friction and bundles of comical moments. The highlight for me was the Bull Elephant and the Micra incident. We had quite a few more though. I’m gonna try and upload the video at some stage for that though. It’s a classic! No broadband here though so we’ll see! We had the “Pedestrian bird,” incident. “Watch out for the pedestrian behind you,” says the passenger and the retort by the driver is “What kind of a bird is a Pedestrian bird?” We also spotted lots of “Leopard Logs,” and “Granite Rhino’s”! Too many more to be recounted here I’m afraid.
We stayed in a few places that can only be described as the nearest things to a hippy commune. We had Pancakes in the most famous “Pancake Town,” in South Africa. We did some rock climbing. We celebrated the eight of the eight 2008 at 8 minutes past eight and eight seconds. We had some nice drives and walks. Oh and to round things off nicely I did a tandem bungee jump as well! What a buzz and for those who are scared of heights I’ve included a few pictures. I am in the group mentioned by the way and I didn’t exactly like edging along that platform. The guy trying to encourage me to edge back and my partner in the jump, the aptly named “Birdman,” practically pulling me back with him! It was cool though and I think I’ll have another go at it sometime.
We’re back to school tomorrow though but to sum up not a bad week! Not a bad week at all………………
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