Hi! Remember me? I know it's been a *cough, cough* looooong time since my last post but I'm back. For now anyway. ;-)
I'd like to continue sharing with you photos from our incredible trip to South Africa. I still continue to be amazed at the fact that we actually went to Africa!
July 10-
Today we're driving into Kruger National Park in Debbie's van. For some reason I had it in my head that the only way to visit Kruger was through a special safari company and in safari trucks. NOT TRUE. It's like most national parks in the USA – you can drive on the roads in your own vehicle (you do have to pay an entrance fee). The one advantage to those safari trucks is that you're sitting up high- and you can see out above the tall grasses.
Debbie and Croydon have suggested we stop at rest stop in the park to cook and eat our breakfast there. Sounds like a great idea!
Oh, and Croydon has given us an incentive- the first person to spot a large animal (upon entering the park) gets 20 Rand (about $2). You're on!
Hey, girls! See anything yet???
Our first animal is a……..
GIRAFFE!!!!
Guess who spotted it first????
(me, me, me…that's who!)
Actually, there are TWO giraffes!
And what are those (below)? Impala??? There were LOTS of impala in the park. Debbie said that impala are the "McDonald's" of the park (as in fast food). Very funny!!!
Some small rodent-like animal (weasel???):
We stopped at a rest stop, picked a picnic table in the trees (the picnic grounds are fenced in for some protection from the wild animals) and started making breakfast:
Debbie and Croydon asked the groundskeeper at the rest area to loan them a propane powered grill (with a curved basin). Debbie brought along bacon, eggs and toast for our yummy breakfast.
While some of the adults were busy making breakfast happen the kids saw wart hogs off in the distance. Naturally they tried to creep up for a closer look at these funny looking beasts:
Walk slowly and quietly towards the family of warthogs (sure hope they won't charge at us!):
Everybody is helping crack eggs in for our scrambled eggs
Splat!
Mark, The Scramble Master:
"Ablution"???? What the heck is that? I'm guessing these are toilets but only because there is a "female ablution" and a "male ablution". What a weird word!
More warthogs running across our path:
A Kudu (Debbie told a funny story of how they got their name. I'm still laughing at that one. Not appropriate to share with children. 😉
ZEBRAS!!!!! The stripes make them nearly invisible with the trees, tall grass and brambles:
Watching animals come for a drink at one of the water holes:
A snoozing rhino (he was a little hard to see over the tall grass):
We sat and watched this big crocodile lumber slowly out of the water and up on to the rock. It looked like he had something in his mouth.:
I think this might be a yellow-billed hornbill (well, I DO know it's a bird; LOL!):
Another giraffe. I never get tired of looking at these tall beautiful creatures. Oh, did I tell you what Debbie's friend asked the girls to do on the first evening we arrived in SA? She told them they HAD to find and take photos of giraffes as they're her favorite animal. The girls were adamant that we take photos of all the giraffes because Fransie had told them to do so. (on a side note, I'm very grateful to Fransie for suggesting this as it kept my girls engaged and interested in sight-seeing from the car (spending hours and hours in the car driving can be boring…especially to kids).
We got actually get out of the car and explore this GIANT rock:
The kids and Mark spotted this tiny lizard through the brambles (can you see it?):
It felt nice to get out and stretch out our legs but it's time to get back in the car….
And see….
HIPPOS!!!!!
And this animal crossing the road in front of us:
We heard that you should NEVER open your windows or doors to monkeys…they apparently are quite naughty and will jump into your car if you let them.
Clever little monkeys!
Do you spy an animal off in the distance?
More animals…giraffes:
I sure love zebras. Debbie told us that they often travel with the giraffes. (apparently for protection)
The only thing we haven't seen yet (that I was hoping to see)…are elephants. It's nearly the end of the day and we have to be out of the park at a 5:30pm (gate closing).
Guess what? The elephants did make an appearance! (do you see it, off in the distance?)
The sun is going down. Time to drive out of the park:
One last look: a buffalo.
After a full day of driving we're not in the mood to do any cooking for supper tonight. Debbie and Croydon have suggested we eat a restaurant called Spur. It supposedly serves "American" food. Hmm….curious to find out what American food is!
Although the logo appears to be a Native American I didn't see any Native American dishes on the menu. Doesn't matter! The food was good and we didn't have to cook or clean up after ourselves…. 🙂Tomorrow we're heading back to Johannesburg via a short hike in Hazyview. Can't wait!