The Lion King

Getting up at 4:30am is always a struggle but after the excitement of the Lions and Rhino yesterday we all soon perked up and made our way to the safari jeep for our guided expedition. Although it was still completely dark you could already hear the chatter of nearby monkeys and birds waking up to the day ahead. It was also surprisingly cold – I was glad I remembered to bring my big hoody for warmth!

For the first hour or so we saw very little, it was still dark and all we had to scan the areas surrounding the roads were a couple of spotlights. All you could hope for was the reflection of a pair of eyes looking back at you. I was secretly hoping for the Leopard to finally make an appearance but the odds were incredibly low. We did manage to spot a Hyena and another Elephant up early so it wasn’t too bad in the dark.

The savannah really started to come alive as the sun inched its way above the horizon with the bright orange sun bringing a golden glow to everything it touched. As we slowly made our way down another quiet road we spotted a couple more White Rhino off in the distance. The beautiful beast have a strangle hold on our attention and no-one seems to notice what is lying on the road just basking in the early morning sunshine about 100m away. Even our guide is too busy explaining how rare the White Rhino is to realise that we have a Lioness waiting for us up ahead!

We slowly pull up alongside the female and soon realise she is accompanied by another Lioness perfectly camouflaged by the long grass next to the road. Both look amazing in the early morning sun and it is clear that they must have just got up also with the amount of huge yawns each one is taking! I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who suffers getting up early!

We take our time just sitting metres away from both creatures just watching every little movement and flap of their long tails. They stare back at us no doubt wondering what all the excited whispers and camera clicks are for. Before long they grow tired of us staring at them and decide it must be time to go off and grab a few Impala or maybe a Wildebeest for breakfast – there’s certainly no shortage of either in the Kruger!

The highlight of the afternoon was definitely when we sat watching a crocodile stalk a herd of Zebra as they tried to quench their thirst at the waterhole in the 40 degree heat. It felt like a scene out of Animal Planet as we waited holding our breath as the Croc inched closer and closer to the to the Zebra brave enough to take their eyes off the rippling water. I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to see the Crocodile make a kill or whether I wanted the ‘Barcode Horses’ to survive!

In the end the Crocodile gave himself away and frightened away the Zebra before he could get close enough to take a bite – he would have to go hungry for a few more hours at least.

The Kruger Park is a truly magical place; a real life Disneyland. The whole experience, from staying in the mud ‘Rondawel’ (huts) to watching the King of the Jungle munching on his Giraffe ribs, was truly a once in a lifetime experience. I would recommend it to anyone who has the chance to go and if you can spend a night or two in the park camps then that will only add to the experience!

Up tomorrow is the long drive down to Durban where hopefully I should be able to crack out my board shorts and get some surfing lessons in the Indian Ocean and turn my pasty white skin into a healthy bronze glow!

RMC x

The Hunt for the Big Five

Kruger Park, South Africa

The Big Five:

Lion, Rhino, Buffalo, Leopard & Elephant.

Getting to see the Big Five was the main aim when we entered the Kruger Park from the Phubeni Gate at 9am on Wednesday morning. Although, in all honesty I would have settled for any one of them! The temperature was already soaring into the mid-twenties by the time the permits were signed and we had passed through the gate into the biggest game reserve in Southern Africa. To put things into perspective, the Kruger is bigger than Wales. I figured spotting a Lion would be pretty much like trying to find a needle in a haystack!

It didn't take long for us to spot our first wildllife when we entered the park although I bet you couldn't guess what we saw first.....trundling alongside the car as approached the first bridge was a tiny tortoise. Not the most ferocious of animals but it got us excited for the 9hr trek which lay ahead!

It's hard to put into words just how vast the Kruger Park is. You can drive for hours without seeing another car or any animals of note. However, the most common animal that you do come across is the Impala or the Kudu which graze on the savannah or in the shade of the small trees near the roads. We were lucky enough to spot a few males tussling with their long lyre shaped horns to battle for the affection of the nearby females. I'm pretty sure they would have needed a few nurofen afterwards for the battering that they took that's for sure.

The first member of the Big Five that we managed to spot was not far off in the distance as we had originally expected to see them. Driving round a bend slowly I saw a small tree being violently shaken. Thinking that it was monkeys or a large bird we slowed down. Luckily for us it turned out to be a small Bull Elephant having a spot of breakfast! He couldn't have been more than 5 metres from our car and I swear he was even posing for us when we got our cameras out!

After spotting Nellie we managed to get ona bit of a hot-streal for spotting the mammals in the park. Now I would like to take some credit for this and say that it was down to our expertise and judgement but I am reliably infomed that it is pretty much all down to luck and good timing. I always have been lucky!!

Giraffe

Crocodiles

Zebra

Baboons

Warthogs (Aka Pumba)

Water Buffalo

Hippos

& Even More Elephants...

So by this point the day was starting to close in; we had spotted 2 of the Big Five and figured we had done pretty well on our first viit to te park. However, as we were starting to make our way to the Satara Basecamp for the night we came across thre cars parked up on the side of the road with camera lenses all pointed towards a tree teeming with vulures. This could mean only one thing....a Kill!

The first animal we saw was a beautiful lioness slowly making her way towards the car before she decided to curl up in the long grass for a quick nap. A few metres away we finally noticed the two large males feasting on the ribs od what looked like a small giraffe.

We sat watching the two males for at least an hour. I couldn't peel my eyes away from them whilst they we licking the meat off the bones using their big pink tongues or crushing the bones completely with their huge jaws. The surprising part was how completely at ease they were with their audience as they finished their dinner (or tea depending on where you're from!) just metres from my position in the front seat of the car.

As soon as we mentioned the word hyena in the car we suddenly noticed a single small hyena emerge from the undergrowth. Not one to miss out on a free meal he circled round the cars to try and spot an opening. Unfortunately with 3 Lions in the way the poor guy didn't stand a chance!

With the night closing in further still and our memory cards almost full we decided to make a late dash for the camp. Our spotting list had already been shortened, with only two more suspects on the list. The rare white Rhino and the shy and evasive Leopard. Surely tomorrow would not be as lucky as today?!

It turned out that there was still another shock in store for us before we got back to the camp. Just a couple of kilometres from the camp entrance my brother pointed to what looked like a large grey boulder in the distance. I would point out that over the previous 9hrs we had developed a skill which consisted of our eyes convincing our brains that everything rock we saw was an elephant or every log a lion. However, as we got closer I began to share my brother's excitement. Stood just 30 metres or so away was the rare white Rhino standing proudly on its own whilst muching on a late evening snack! We couldn't believe our luc*......skill!

So with 4/5 spotted after just one day surely the early morning safari tomorrow can't bring any more surprises? A 4:45am start won't be the most fun but I'll let you know if it was worth it tomorrow....

RMC x