Our Trip to Kruger National Park (she said)

8 Jan 2012 by

A ‘mega-herd’ of Cape Buffalo approaches

If you are lucky enough to visit South Africa, you will be even luckier if you meet the Van Putten family. Fortunately, we have a history of good luck over smarts, planning or skill!

Over lunch with the Van Puttens, we mention we could not find a Kruger safari package priced under $500/person per day, sadly out of our budget. Matriarch Sonja informs us that those prices are for tourists and that she will arrange a trip. We immediately begin planning an impromptu trip with Sonja’s oldest daughter, Jessica, who offers to act as our tour guide.  She’s either brave or foolish; she’s only known us a few hours! Sonja immediately calls the park reservation office and greets the staff by name. She learns that the park is fully booked because of a national holiday. No problem. Within 12 hours, Sonja secures us reservations for the following three nights. Our total costs will run less than $100/person per day. We love the locals’ discount!

We all pile into our rented car and head to Kruger

The next morning, we get up early, pack hurriedly and rent a car. When we arrive at the Van Putten house, we discover Jessica has neatly packed an amazing assortment of food. VanPutten family tradition dictates that a Kruger breakfast must consist of twice-baked South African bread pieces called rusks dipped in Milo or tea followed by biltong, a flavorful South African dried beef, and dried peaches. In camp at night, we’ll braai (South African for bbq, a true art form and national obsession), eating our meat and baked potatoes along with a big, green salad outside under the African sky.

Now, there’s something different and special about Kruger and I although I’ve been told the rules, I don’t really process it until we arrive. YOU CAN’T GET OUT OF YOUR CAR – EVER!!! In Kruger, people are in cages while animals roam freely. Disembarking from a car is permitted only in camps protected by barbed wire, electric fences and electric cattle grates. Otherwise, visitors might fall victim to an angry hippo or elephant, baboon mischief, or fall prey to lions, leopards or wild dogs. Rangers strictly enforce these rules. I don’t see a single person disobey. Of course, I also see a giant crocodile less than two feet from our car!

No zoom needed … why you don’t leave your car!

Kruger’s camps close PROMPTLY at dusk when the predators wake up. All visitors must report to camp before closing time. But during the day, visitors can travel freely.  Each day, we drive with all the windows open in order to better hear the animals, seeing an enormous assortment of animals right from the roadway.

Back up now!

Thanks to Jessica’s good eyes and years of experience in the park along with Sonja’s advice via mobile phone, we spot elephants, zebra, giraffe, rhinos, hippos, crocs, many antelope and deer along with a staggering assortment of birds, an unexpected and wonderful highlight. We see six different species of eagles along with a stunning array of other birds including storks, weaver birds and herons. Jessica also prompts us to back away/wait/drive on when encountering elephants, buffalo or rhinos on the roadways — important information for us North Americans!

Elephant watching quickly becomes a favorite hobby. Their interaction with the environment clearly demonstrates their intelligence. I learn elephants need years of practice to use their trunks dexterously. We witness a very young elephant grab a clump of grass with her trunk, accidentally pulling up a large clod of dirt with it. She struggles to remove the dirt by shaking the clump and clumsily using her front foot to scrape at the clod of earth. Next, she actually pounds the clump against her forehead (!) with no success. Giving up, she puts the grass, along with the dirt, into her mouth. Several seconds later, she spits the dirt back out!

Favorite Animal Photos from Kruger

We had too many adventures for a single blog post. I’ve dreamed of a trip like this since I was young and experienced overwhelming emotions at the natural beauty of the African savannah. Seeing majestic animals moving freely through their natural habitat felt rare and precious. In the deepest sense of the word, it was awesome.

We really want to thank the Van Putten family, particularly Jessica!  We couldn’t have had a better guide. We were so fortunate to visit Kruger National Park with a local who knows it so well.

Thanks for helping me cross that one off my bucket list, Jess!

 

 

 

Comments
Comments Off on Our Trip to Kruger National Park (she said)
Categories
South Africa, The Adventures of Kent and Heather
Tags
, ,
Comments rss Comments rss
Trackback Trackback