August 7, 2010

So far we have seen much of the South African wild. Kruger is a very large national park that focuses on conserving plant and wildlife and then making it accessible to visitors. There are many trails and roads where people can drive to experience the animals up close and personally. In order to make sure that we don’t run into danger in the dark or unintentionally run over a leopard, campers must return to the camp by sundown. Since the African sunset begins at 5:15 and all is dark by 6:00 pm, we have to return to the camp pretty early in the evening. It’s interesting because after we braai (grill) for dinner and sit around the fire, it’s dark and we get rather tired. Right about when we feel ready for bed, I’ll look at my watch and it’s only 8:30 pm. The sun rises around 5:30 am, so we have been adjusting to a different daylight schedule.

We have been staying in three different camps in Kruger and working our way north. Each camp has a unique flare to it; some are more luxurious and others are in the “bush.” Our first camp, Mopani, was the largest and sported many rondavels, a restaurant, little grocery and gift store, and a pool. On our last full day in the camp we discovered the pool and were craving some exercise and activity. It was a mildly warm day and we thought it would be wonderful to take a dip. The swim was exceptionally “refreshing” as South Africa is just coming out of winter. However, even though it was very cold, we withstood the temperature to enjoy the water.

Our second camp, Bataleur, was smaller with only 8 rondavels. It was more private with an outdoor kitchen, view of the bush, and many beautiful birds in the surrounding trees. Since our kitchen was outdoors, we had to watch out for the squirrels and birds stealing our food!

Our third and final camp was Sirheni. It had 15 rondavels and ours had a living room, outdoor dining room, and full kitchen. We were excited to have an oven instead of just a hot plate as in Bateleur. We had a beautiful view of the river and the fence was very close giving us a great view of the animals. I saw a buffalo very closely and my first South African snake.

It is has been exciting to see animals that I have only seen on television or in a zoo. We have seen a ton of elephants…literally. Yesterday, we saw a large herd running up a hill—I don’t know how a 2 ton mammal can run that fast! We have seen plenty of buffalo, giraffes, warthogs, kudu, impala, and we have also seen some rare things such as the endangered saddle-billed stork. This morning we saw our first male lions. Their faces are gentle and ferocious at the same time.

We have been spoiled by our stay in Kruger. As an example of the slower pace that we have adopted I will describe my day. Yesterday, we woke early, ate breakfast, and went for a morning drive at 8:00 am. We saw some lions and other animals. After that, we went back to the rondavel, ate lunch, and then I took a nap. Though my nap was interrupted by a trumpeting herd of elephant outside our rondavel, I felt very rested. As the others went for an afternoon drive, I read in the sun, walked around the camp, read on the porch overlooking the river with some tea, and then read in the bathtub. After my bath, the others returned and we made dinner, sat around the fire with chocolate and tea, then I read in bed, and went to sleep. It was a very harrowing and exhausting day.

Anyway, we have had a long day of driving today as we exited the park and are on our way to the east coast. We will visit the Indian Ocean, which I have heard is too cold to swim, but I think I’d still like to brave it.