Kruger Times Three

Well it’s my third time in Kruger National Park here in South Africa this month. I was here with Heidi for 3 days, my mom for 4 days and now I am back by myself for 4 days to wrap up my 100 day 2010 safari in Africa. I was hoping that the old saying, ‘third time is a charm’ would come into effect for me.

Right off the bat it looked like it was going to be a lucky wildlife experience. I caught a glimpse of a rare sable antelope thru the trees. He stood staring at me, not sure whether to run or to keep on acting naturally. We faced-off for a fleeting minute before another car drove up breaking the fragile peace and sent the sable rushing deeper into the forest. Not only are they very endangered, but their timidness and choice of dense habitat makes the sable a rare find. It was extra special for me having grown up with sable out on St Catherines Island, which the Bronx Zoo used as an off site breeding program for rare and endangered animals. I have found that most of the animals on that island are some of the hardest to find here in Africa.

Later that day and on into the next I found myself in constant site of one rhino or another. Sometimes I saw up to 6 at once. It was just rhino luck since sometimes they can be very elusive for such big animals. It was pretty magnificent seeing a mother and baby rhino walking in front of huge granite dome. It provides quite the backdrop for a picture. I did see a cheetah as well on the morning drive but it was very, very far off. Thanks for letting me borrow the binoculars dad!

A close encounter with a male lion ended the day as I hit the sack early for my morning bush walk. I was up before my alarm after chatting with Heidi at 3am about Hawaii plans (its looking like a go). The guides for the bushwalk were late, then confused as they figured out they were supposed to pick up 4 people from the gate, then when we finally got to the starting point one guide found out his rifle was broken so had to drive all the way back to get a replacement. After all this we still managed to sneak up on a rhino. That makes 4 out of the big 5 that I have seen on foot in the bush. One of the other walkers spotted a yellow and black striped frog that looks a lot like a poisonous dart frog. A couple of wary giraffe rounded out the wildlife for the walk.

Then it got hot, and hasn’t cooled off yet. The African summer is here. Its around 100 degrees here in the park and the animals are just motionless in the shade of trees. They can’t do anything. The nocturnal animals still have it good, or at least I assume since we only saw genets and scrub hares on our night drive. It seemed every pair of eyes that I spotted turned out to be a genet; 6 in all!

This morning as usual I was out early, 5am and just in time to see 3 big male lions strutting away from the road. I drove on into a beautiful African sunrise and came across another big male lion lying on one of the side roads. It was just him and me, which is a rare experience here in Kruger so close to one of the main camps. I was surprised when after a while he looked over to a big bush off the road and another big male lion strutted out onto the road. Now I was alone with 2 big lions right outside my door. I moved on, leaving them lying in each others arms, and enjoyed some back roads as the sun and the heat continued to rise.

Maybe when I get back to New York and Vermont for new years it will be a little cooler…