Kruger National Park - The Big Five

January 01-08, 2019

The Big Five are elephants, African buffalo, rhinoceros, lions, and leopards. Originally the term came from big game hunters because they were the most difficult to hunt. Now hunting is out but finding and watching them in the wild is in.

Elephants

We saw lots of elephants every day. They are easy to spot because of their size. They also have no fear of vehicles. If they want the cross the road, stand in the road, eat the shrubs next to the road, they do and no one stops them. Who wants to argue with an elephant.

African Buffalo

You also see a lot of these guys. They are not the most photogenic.

Rhinoceros

These are white rhinos. They are big and fast. I would not want to be in their path if something irritated them. These look quite content, but we did see a safari vehicle that must have had a rhino encounter. It certainly needed some body work.

Lions

Lions are hard to spot if your the first one on the scene, but otherwise if a lot of cars are parked on the side of the road, lions could be near. The second day in the park we saw 6 females very close to the road. The third day we were having lunch and a lion came very near the van. The fourth day we saw a male and female lion near the road.

Leopards

Leopards are also hard to spot, but on our last four days in the park we saw one each day. One was just outside the gate of our camp site. When someone sees a leopard, the largest traffic jam occurs. The road is completely blocked and everyone is asking where is he? It is crazy. Three times we arrived just when one was spotted close to the road so we got front row seats.

Leopard watching an elephant passing through.

Kruger National Park

January 01-08, 2019

Kruger National Park is a must see if you are in South Africa. The camp sites are good. The restaurants are good with great wild life viewing while dinning. Both the paved and dirt roads are good and there are lots of them. All you have to do is drive around and you will see an amazing amount of animals. I don't know if we were exceptionally lucky or if everyone has the same experience.

I am going to do 4 posts just so I can show a small glimpse of what we saw.

View of the Letaba River.

African Fish-Eagle

Hippopotamus looking at a crocodile. You can just see it in the lower right corner.

African Black Crake

Mahonie Loop near Punda Maria Rest Camp. We spent our first 3 nights at Punda Maria. Most of our first sightings were in the northern part of the park.

Southern African Tree Squirrel

3 Cheetahs on the hunt for dinner.

Plains Zebra

Very pretty baby Plains zebra.

South African giraffe on the move.

South African giraffe taking a break.

One of the dirt roads in the park.

Impala - they are every where.

Nyala

Greater Kudu

We have crossed the Tropic of Capricorn a couple of times, but this time is was marked. Nice to know where you are.

Mathekenyane overlook.

Chacma Baboon

Leopard Tortoise

Blyde River Canyon area

December 29 - 31, 2019

We drove the very scenic route through the Blyde River Canyon area. There are lots of waterfalls and the canyon is the 3rd largest in the world. The road climbs up into the mountains then follows the canyon edge. There are lots of pull outs with fabulous views of the canyon. The day we arrived in Graskop, the beginning of the scenic drive for us, was very foggy. You could only see a small part of the road, nothing else. The following two days cleared up and we were able to enjoy the views. We lucked out.

View of Graskop Gorge from our camp site.

Panorama Rest Camp - The lush landscape in our rest camp.

Vincent Van-go parked up for the night.

Panorama Falls - It has a zip line and a bungee jump at the top of the falls.

The Big Swing - The bungee jump from the top of the falls is 68 meters. 

The road to Bridal Veil Falls.

Bridal Veil Falls

The lower half of Bridal Veil Falls is just mist.

Lone Creek Falls

Berlin Falls

All of the falls and viewpoints had souvenir venders. They had nice stuff for sale, but we did not buy because there is no room in the van. The cloth for sale was always hanging, blowing in the wind. Always temping, but I still have not bought any.

Pathway out to Lowveld View.

View of Blyde River Canyon from Lowveld View.

Three Rondawels View

Another canyon view from our camp site.

Frangipani trees

Frangipani blooms