September 24, 2025

September 24, 2025

Happy Shaka Zulu (Heritage) Day! We are celebrating the holiday the way the locals do and going to Kruger National Park in South Africa. The animals rise early so we do too. We are out the door well before 6am with our boxed breakfast. A half hour later we load onto our game drive jeeps. There is a long line to get into Kruger. Our guide has priority and we drive right past them through the Phabeni Gate. It is overcast with a little breeze. I am enjoying the refreshing weather.

We see lots of animals including African Elephants, Cape Buffalo, a few Wildebeests (Gnus), and even a Hyena pup. But mostly we see Impala. They are everywhere in great quantity. Aimee is especially happy that we see lots of Giraffes just off the road using their long tongues to reach the leaves and bark of trees like we experienced in Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

Twice we even encountered these long-legged creatures ambling across the park road. I think they should rename this animal reserve, "Giraffic Park".

We also saw lots of Zebra today. They were closer, in bigger herds and not hiding behind trees. We also watched them crossing the road.

We pretty much have seen most of the African Safari animals now except the Big Cats. Leopards are nocturnal and exceedingly rare, but I thought for sure we would easily see Lions. The big predators are not as common as portrayed on nature shows. I need to pull a big favor from my lucky charm. But she is a big scaredy cat. We are continually switching seats so I am facing the animals. Against her better judgement she worked her magic and we ran into a traffic jam. That is a sign of something big. We spot a Lioness in the distance. She slowly paces pretty close to our jeep giving Aimee a fright. Fortunately she turns around. She is in heat and not thinking of eating.

Soon a big male Lion saunters over. She circles him and he consents. The act is over in seconds just like on National Geographic. They were discreet and did the act in the tall grass far from my camera.

We have been heading east the entire morning. Our breakfast stop at Tshokwane Picnic Area is only seven miles from the Mozambique border. From here we turn and head back west. 

In addition to animal sightings, we run across lots of birds including several Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills. We even saw one feeding at a termite mound.

We later saw its larger and rarer cousin, the Southern Ground Hornbill. These long-lived birds are enormous and hunt mostly on the ground.

We also saw many other birds, including the Helmeted Guineafowl, an African Fish Eagle, and a Lilac-breasted Roller. The last one is nicknamed the Rainbow bird for its many colors.

Shortly afterwards we meet a big bull elephant and Aimee videos him crossing the road right behind our jeep. In mid-crossing he suddenly turns and stares us in the face. Aimee jumps off her seat and dives to the floor. We get a laugh watching her actions on the video replay.

We are headed to the Skukuza camp for lunch. But we are stymied a few miles short of that destination by a large herd of Cape Buffalo who think we can wait for our food.

We are delayed again by a human traffic jam. Lions again! Four females are hunting Buffalo across the river. We watch through binoculars.

We eat at the campground buffet. It is pretty good for being in the middle of the African bush. The camp is filled with South Africans wearing special symbols of their heritage and enjoying free entry to Kruger. The restaurant has a terrace overlooking the Sabie River. Just like on National Geographic, there is a herd of African Elephants lounging riverside. What an awesome view.

In the distance we see an old railroad bridge. This train line used to connect interior gold fields with a port to the east. The railroad introduced a tourism stop at this bridge for game viewing. It was so popular that it led to the establishment of Kruger National Park in 1926. The train was shut down fifty years ago. In 2020 a luxury hotel was opened atop the bridge with the old rail cars as 31 hotel rooms. Unfortunately it is quite expensive but would be a cool experience if we return.

We mostly speed back to the exit. It has gotten warmer and the animals are on siesta. We make one last stop at Nyamundwa. This shallow watering hole has some boulders in the middle. We know now that these are Hippopotami that are sleeping. Behind them are two Saddle-billed Storks. On the shore near us is a hovering Pied Kingfisher and an Egyptian Goose with a bunch of little goslings in tow.

Back at our hotel we have a BBQ buffet outdoors to celebrate the South African holiday. Our guide is wearing his traditional Leopard skin headdress.