The Big Five

KRUGER PARK--We just got back from our 3 day safari in Kruger Park. I drove (yes, I drove a manual car on the wrong side of the road) to and from Kruger from Joburg, so I'm pretty exhausted right now, but Sam insists that I write since it's fresh in our heads, including the memory of the bird which defecated ON my head :( Boo, but hey, it's good luck, right? Here's a long synopsis of our adventures:

Upon arriving in Kruger Park via the Numbi Gate, we spotted our first animal--the buffalo, which is one of the "Big Five". The Big Five are the buffalo, lion, rhino, leopard and elephant, and are categorized so not because of their size, but because they are the most dangerous, rarest animals in the park. Although not one of the Five (because it's not hunted), the hippo kills the most humans in Africa, and can charge at an exceptional speed on land. Just don't stand in the way of it and the water... Within a matter of minutes, we spotted our second of the Five, the rare black rhino, of which there are only a few hundred in the whole of Kruger (which spans 20,000 square kilometers!!!!) For those not on the metric system, 2.2 km = 1 mile. Two down, three to go...

Our next sightings were the impala, which we initially thought were the most elegant, graceful animals to watch (much like antelope and deer). But then we realized they're like the squirrels of Kruger. They're EVERYWHERE -- over 101,000 spread throughout. However, it's pretty awesome to see them prance around, as they can jump up to 3 meters high!! That's like, 9 feet. Hectic.

When we arrived at our camp, Skukuza, we were greeted by a band of crazy monkeys which attacked us. One almost jumped on Thabo's head, and another started screaming at us and flailing about in the trees above our hut in a very menacing way. As soon as the sun set, they left us alone. Pesky little guys.

Thabo BBQ'd (called a braai) lamb chops, chicken, and boerewors sausage along with vegetable skewers and corn--DELICIOUS--and for dessert we roasted marshmallows. As the night wore on we drank more and more until we thought we heard a women's choir singing African folk songs. Our ears were not deceiving us, though, and as we blindly made our way in the dark towards the music we stumbled upon the choir singing at a German private party (which we totally crashed). They invited us in, and we sang the South African National Anthem together until they started to sing the old anthem, at which point Thabo started to boo them. Who supports apartheid anyway?

The next morning Sam and I went on a morning bush walk at 5:30 AM. Because of the noise from the camp we first had to drive a half hour to our walking destination. As we neared our spot, we came across a sleepy leopard, number THREE on the Big Five, which was more curious than threatening. We stayed in the vehicle. Animals see vehicles and their passengers as one unit, so you can not have limbs dangling over the sides if you want to keep them. Interestingly enough the animals are not fazed by cars, but extremely skittish when it comes to humans on foot. So back to the leopard--I had a stare-down with it--you're never supposed to look away from a predator if you lock eyes. I'm going to start doing that with humans. I'll f-cking pounce on you if you dare look away. So anyway, the leopard was absolutely stunning, and we were extremely privileged to have come across it. Of the Five, it's probably the hardest to spot, as they're typically very shy and silent. The best time to look for most animals is in the morning, and it's definitely worth the effort of waking up early.

So next we got out of our vehicle and started our journey. We came across hyaena, zebra, giraffe, white rhino, kudu, and Elephant. FOUR down, one to go.

OK, very tired. To be continued tomorrow. Sorry for the baddest grammar and ramblings on.

Here are some pics of our adventure...

Enjoy. It's good to be back :)
Q