It was time for our final safari before leaving Kruger Park tomorrow. This was to be a sunset safari, quite a nice way to finish our last day. We met our tour guide, Soul, at the reception, along with the other guests, and set off to find the animals at their watering holes. Soul was our best guide yet. Personable and witty, with eyes like an eagle and a superb knowledge of where the animals were to be found, he seemed to go out of his way to give us something extra. Before the three hours were over (5:30 to 8:30 pm) we had seen lions, a tree snake, a huge herd of some 300 buffalo, hundreds of impala, jackals and hippos and numerous birds.
Soul was the best guide we had during our stay at Kruger. With an eagle eye he spotted animals hiding in the darkness and took us to places the other guides had not.
A blackbacked jackal eyes our bus with curiosity.
A dead Marula tree is silhouetted against the sunset of the African veld.
Hippos skinny-dipping at the ol' watering hole as the sun sets.
This was the highlight of our sunset ride - Soul had driven to a remote area where he suspected he'd find lions sleeping in the tall, cool grass ... and he was right. They didn't seem to be bothered by the people in a noisy mini-bus gawking at them.
We hope we didn't disturb your beauty rest.
We had dinner on returning to the camp and then headed off to sleep. Tomorrow we would be leaving Kruger and starting on our two-day car trip back to the airport at Johannesberg. From there we would fly on a small Mango Airlines jet to Cape Town and part II of our South African Journey.
One final view of the animals of Kruger would be ours on the way out of the park. And it was, perhaps, the most exciting of all. As we drove toward the gate an hour away, we passed many animals grazing: some impala (which are ubiquitous), zebra, warthogs and then, suddenly, a family of elephants crossing the road right in front of us, baby and all. First, a huge bull appeared who seemed to be checking out the road for the others, standing there and looking both ways to make sure the crossing was safe. Then the others followed, as if on a signal from him, and made their way across. What a sight to behold!
Getting ready to leave Kruger: our rondawel hut was right next to Peter and Lori's.
A few more zebras, sighted on the way to the gate.
This huge bull stepped out on to the road and, we could swear, was checking the way for safety, before the others followed.
Now some more elephants followed him.
And finally, the whole family made their way across. Wow!
A famous, old baobob tree. The baobab is found in the savannas of Africa and India, mostly around the equator. It can grow up to 75 feet tall and can live for several thousand years. It towers over its neighboring flora and is seen mostly in the northern parts of Kruger. This one was in the south, near where we stayed, and is famous for its age and size.
A closeup of the trunk. One botanist described it thusly: "If I were to describe the baobab, I would say that it looks like it has been picked out of the ground and stuffed back in upside-down. The trunk would be the tap-root, and the branches the finer capillary roots."
Peter was driving and I asked him to stop so I could get one more shot of this beautiful dead leadwood tree against the South African sky.
We spent only two days in Kruger National Park but arriving in South Africa seemed far in the past and, because our days were so full, saying farewell to Kruger was like leaving an old friend. Now we were headed through beautiful scenery, once again, as we made our way to the resort town of Graskop. More about that and our arrival in Cape Town in my next post. A bientot!
1 comment:
Awesome!!
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