South Africa

So, up we got at 5am, collected our packed breakfasts and headed off for our jeeps. The National Park, named after Paul Kruger, is huge - about the size of Wales, in fact - and home to an immense gathering of wildlife.

We were incredibly lucky really to spot elephants, wildebeest, buffalo, giraffes, impala and zebra at close quarters. But also (sadly out of range for pictures on my tablet)  a rhino with its baby, a hippo who kept us amused by bobbing his/her head in and put of the water, giving just enough time to get cameras out before disappearing back under the surface again and even a leopard resting up in a tree - a rare sighting apparently. (Just around the corner was the carcass of some unfortunate animal lodge in a tree which apparently is where leopards take their prey to stop the hyena stealing it.)  But the highlight of the day had to be a very handsome pair of lions curled up sleeping under a roadside tree totally oblivious to us all gawping. (You have to look closely at the final picture to just distinguish them!)

Today we were up at 5am for our second day's game drive which was even more rewarding than yesterday with several large family groups of elephants, giraffes and zebra. Also another pair of lions "chilling" right by the roadside. And then the driver got very excited because he spotted some footprints of a lioness and one of his colleagues driving by told him there'd been a sighting of one on the move. So he swung the Jeep round and followed his colleague to where 4 similar jeeps were stopped.  But it wasn't a lioness - we were treated to the unforgettable experience of a male leopard striding along the road before heading off into the grass and "marking" his territory! (He's there in the fourth  photo - honestly!) and on the way back to the lodge we came across this deceptively cuddly looking hyena curled up in the road and, a little later, a group of about a dozen zebra and 10 giraffe coming back up from the river to cross the road in front of us. 

When families of elephants cross the road, they do so in single file, making sure the smallest are in the middle and waiting for each to cross before the next one moves. They pay no regard to any traffic,(And to think some people complain about having to queue on arrival at club sites before moving forward!)

Sadly, tomorrow we leave the park and head back to Johannesburg  (Tshwane) to fly down to Port Elizabeth on the south coast and continue our tour from there. It's been an absolutely unforgettable two days here though.

Fabulous, totally fabulous.👍🏻 

Thanks for sharing, M.

Fantastic photos and sounds like a great trip M

Great to hear you've having a fantastic time and thanks for posting. Carry on enjoying yourself!

the Elephant  song from Jungle book came into my head while looking at those

Stunning photos and experience M, must be amazing seeing the wildlife up so close. Are they using proper Jeep jeeps?

Keep the photos coming please😁

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