Kruger National Park
Big White Hunter, Eray, armed with his camera
Sunday we left JoBurg at 7:30 a.m. and rode for 6 hours with a 1-hour lunch break to Kruger National Park, arriving at 3 p.m. We took an open safari truck ride and returned to the hotel at 6:30 p.m. for a buffet dinner. We saw the big five wild animals within the first hour of the safari (leopard, elephant, lion, buffalo, and rhino) and watched the sunset as we drove back to the hotel.
Water Buffalo
Mother & child
After dinner we just took a shower and went to bed to get ready for our 5 a.m. open truck safari the next day. I awoke at 4:30 a.m. and just made it to the last safari truck leaving (which happened to be the bird watching enthusiast).
Helmetted Guinea Fowl
At first I thought we would be disappointed by not being able to become a part of the wild animal watch, but we were treated to both worlds. We came to a stop and we all disembarked from the truck and walked into a narrow fenced pathway to a bird blind.
The bird blind was a real treat as it overlooked a body of water. Within 15 minutes we saw a hippo just sticking its head out of the water, then we saw its complete upper body.
Hippo relaxing in the water
During the drive we witnessed 12 lions feasting on a freshly killed zebra. There were seven adults and five cubs and at least five were already napping from a full belly. On our return to the hotel we followed a pack of wild African dogs, which are an extremely rare sighting as well as an endangered species.
Lions feeding on a zebra
We returned to the hotel just in time for the last call for breakfast being served. The afternoon was spent relaxing and doing laundry.
Impala
Wild African dog
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
i work for ph kruger gate you have my pic
Eray – amazing pictures. Looks like a very cool tour….
SSY
What great pictures Eray. I love the Elephant and her baby. It looks to me like you are traveling in style when you go into the wild. take a picture of the hotels you stay at I’ll bet they are beautiful?