Going to ... South Africa PART III

Feb 5, 2007

One thing we’ve discovered in the few days that we’ve been here is the remarkable changes in the weather that can take place in a moment’s notice. Even though suffering a ten year draught, the Lowveld is lush with vegetation that seems to hold water like a sponge. Under the heat of the South African sun, the water evaporates and rises up through the canyons and valleys of the escarpment, creating a mist zone, an area of fog and mist that hangs over the hills and valleys and creates dangerous conditions on the winding roads. Signs warn motorists of the danger of sudden fog that rolls in at a moment’s notice. The skies, which seem to extend to forever, can be clear and brilliantly blue and at the next turn there are heavy, dark thunderheads rolling in. In the distance, the rumbling of thunder and brilliant bolts of lightning piercing the ominous clouds.

On the night that we arrived in Kruger we took our first guided tour which began at 8:30 pm. Warned by the guide books to wear long sleeves and pants to avoid the possibility of malaria induced by mosquito bites,the heat was oppressive and we were drenched in sweat.(On later tours, we decided to abandon the long sleeves and pants and depended on mosquito reppelent instead). The guide bus pulled out and the breeze cooled us a bit. At the end of the two hour tour, the bus turned around to return to camp and suddenly, out of nowhere, a fierce wind began to blow across the veld and,in just a few minutes, the temperature had dropped precipitously to a cool and comfortable level. It then poured virtually the entire night and awaking the next morning, it was delightfully cool. Nevertheless, in just a few hours it turned blisteringly hot once again.

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That first nighttime safari was not a huge success but for one sighting of elephants grazing on tree leaves and shrubs on the side of the road. Many of the animals you want to see are nocturnal, so nighttime is the best time to see them. The bus rides slowly down the park roads. High-powered flashlights are mounted on the sides, shining outwards. Additional flashlights powered by the bus’ electric system are held by the riders and shone back and forth on both sides into the bush. The idea is to look for the reflections in the animals eyes, animals that would otherwise be invisible in the darkness of the tall grasses and trees. When eyes are sighted, the rider calls out for the driver to stop and an identification of the particular animal is attempted. The guides are very well informed and remarkably quick in their identification. They also fill in some other pertinent information about the animals we’ve sighted, such as their numbers in Kruger Park, their age span, weight, habits, etc.

We came upon the elephants without any warning and they were so close to the bus you could almost reach out and touch them – quite a remarkable sight.


Our safari bus drives up to several elephants grazing by the roadside. (Did you know you can click on any photo to see it larger? Then hit back to return to the post. - Matt)


A close look at a grazing elephant. He(she?) seemed to be interested in us - not in the least.

We very tired from the long day’s ride followed by the two hour safari. Despite the excitement of the evening ride, both Stacey and I kept dozing off as the rocking of the bus and the warm night air kept putting us to sleep. We returned to our lodging and fell quickly into a very sound sleep. We were to wake at 3:00 am (yes, you read that right!) for another safari – this one aptly named the Sunrise Safari. We hoped to see more animals this time around. And we sure did! Just check my next post for the exciting details (not to mention the photos).

In my next post, we get to see lots and lots of animals, birds, trees - that's why we came here.....stay tuned.