Kruger Park

We arrived in Kruger at 13:30 (1:30 pm) on Friday.  We took a break at the Numbi gate (the western side of the park) and then planned for a 4 hour search for animals (by car).
  I will say up front that it was hard to accept the fact that I was in a place where all the animals were wild and free. As we drove the white vans down the paved roads searching for elephants,  giraffes, or the sacred lion  pack it seemed as though we were in a safari created by Disneyland. That is until I saw the first animal.
   Our first encounter was with a herd of Bushbuck. Somewhat like deer but they have white stripes along their sides and larger ears. We also saw a similar animal- the Impala. The Impala is incredibly sleek and has an incredible jumping ability. Like the deer in New Jersey, there are vast amounts of Bushbuck and Impala and thus we saw them often.
   As the eyes of the six people in the van were locked scanning out their windows our driver would always seem to be the one spotting the brilliantly camouflaged animals. Even an elephant was hidden as his trunk rose up out of the bush. A tremendous and beautiful animal. Then we saw a giraffe, just off the side of the road eating out of the nearby trees.
   In addition to the some 147 species of mammals, the park has some 114 types of reptiles (we saw a beautiful baby tortoise cross the road), 49 types of fish, 34 amphibians plus 507 types of birds.  The birds were absolutely incredible in color and size. I saw an African Fish Eagle, a grey Heron, a flock of Helmeted Guinea fowl (which I was told can be delicious to eat), some Warbles, an Egyptian Goose and so many more.
   The "big five" animals in the bush as designated by the South African government (they are pictured on the various denominations of the paper currency) are the rhinoceros, the buffalo (a slimmer, less hairy animal versus the American buffalo-this one has long curved horns and is said to be powerful enough to run through trees when stampeding), the lion, the elephant and the leopard.
  I saw 4 of the 5 (I saw the rump of a rhino, a lion who was barely visible atop a rock formation, a good herd of buffalo and several elephant including a whole family walking down the road). The leopard escaped me as it does most people though one Rutgers van group did spot one (I verified the pictures as proof).
   Friday night we all had dinner in the restaurant at one of the camp sites. The planned boma dinner was to be outside but rain spoiled our plans.  Walking back to my thatched roof hut (with all the modern conveniences) in the pitch black night I glanced up to the clearing sky and could not help standing there for some thirty minutes gazing at all the stars in the sky. I have seen a brilliant starry sky in Colorado but this was amazing. The brightness and volume of speckled light was hypnotic. It took the clouds rolling over them to get me looking away and onward to bed.
   Early to rise on Saturday as the gates to the camp site opened at 5:30 am. Noted as a great time to see the animals and a beautiful sunrise. Unfortunately the cloud cover kept the sunrise hidden and it also seemed to hide the animals. We toured the park for 4 hours and did not see as much as expected. Going back to the Disneyland comparison, it is quite a disappointment when you don't see the animals you expect or as many as your friends may have seen. Realizing the size of Kruger Park and the nature of wild animals seems to escape us as we are accustom to the convenience of a zoo or fulfilling our expectations by paying for them. 
   Two Spotted Hyenas walking along the road, a few giraffe, a herd of zebra, several Blue Wildebeest (or Gnus), Dwarf Mongoose and some playful Velvet Monkeys in a tree were seen in our morning tour.  As we looked over a vista that provided an appreciative view of the size and landscape of the park I can honestly say that by the time I left I was appreciative and in awe of the natural environment and wildness of these amazing animals.