Saturday - Day Off - Kruger National Park

4am and with the moon still in the sky we stirred from our beds and following a quick cup of tea, we made our way to the mini-bus with an air of excitement. We were off to Kruger Park for our "day off".

The journey took about 40 minutes and we were first into the queue to enter the park at 5.30am. As the sun started to rise we entered the park and within only a few minutes we were greeted by a pack of Hyenas, very close to the road. The cameras were out and rotation patterns worked out so that every one got chance to snap a few shots.

We were soon on our way and turned off the main road  towards the service area at Afsool. The road was long and rough and fairly stark of animals, but we did see giraffes and Zebra, just to wet our appetite.

We were just about to turn into the service area and we saw at the top of the hill a few cars stopped by the side of the road, this is always an indication of animals being "on view", so we rushed up the hill and watched a troop of water buffalo crossing the road in a neat straight line.

Arriving at Afsool we hired a barbeque and were soon cooking bacon and eggs for breakfast. The service centre served coffee and so breakfast was complete.



We now had the pleasure of a Tarmac road for the next leg of our journey north wards towards Skukuza visitor centre.  Not far up the road and we saw elephants, black rhino, and Impala, and Impala and more Impala. Suddenly there was a group of elephants in the distance and as we all tried to get a glimpse we, well some of us, caught a glimpse of a Leopard, unfortunately it wasn't waiting around and shrank back into bush. See if you can spot it in this picture!

As we continued northward, we had the opportunity to leave the Tarmac road and drive up a large rock formation and get out of the bus to enjoy the brilliant panoramic views.

After a time of group photo's, family photo's and just photos we were back on the road again and heading for the swimming pool at Skukuza. Yes you can swim in Kruger Park. The temperature outside was 27, but unlike the uk the air was very very fresh. The weather was hot, but the water was cold, very cold at first, but we all swam and enjoyed the peace and relaxation. We even had a cup of tea with our swim.

Time for an ice cream before we were back in the bus and heading for lake placid, I don't think it's quite called that but it certainly sounds like it. At Lake Panic there is a watering hole with an hide at the side of it and slits to look through. The water had several hippo's wallowing in whilst a heron and an egret looked on. A lone iguana wandered along the shore of the lake.

Our time in the park was coming to an end and we started to make our way back towards the Numbi gate where we had entered the park some 10 hours earlier. Our last view of the day was an elderly giraffe being illuminated by the setting sun strolling majestically through the brush parallel to the road. It had been a peaceful and relaxing day, the sun had shone and we had had time to have fun together as a team. As we left the park the sun was just going down behind the hills and the day was over.

Blogged by Chris