Kruger with Adrian 0906

We were fortunate to have ten days to travel when Adrian came to visit us in Africa. So September 1 - 3, 2006, we drove back
to Kruger National Park. This trip with Adrian was a wonderful and different experience from our first time in Kruger.



(Top L) Adrian stands next to a Euphorbia tree near the Crocodile Bridge entrance to Kruger National Park, South Africa . On our 1st game drive of this trip, (Above L) we saw a rhino preparing for battle, sharpening his horn and using mud to make his skin flexible. (Above R) We spy a mommy giraffe hiding her calf from us. There was no point to including the picture of the 2 civets which we barely glimpsed except to catch their green-yellow eyes in the hand-held lights. (Top R) Wendy poses in the bunk room of the US$17 per person hostel outside Kruger's Crocodile Gate. One night was definitely enough!


(Top L) A young bull elephant emerges onto the road to greet us as we pass by and (Above L) a Blue Wildebeest (looks like a gray-striped Gnu to me) ignores us. (Above R) We catch a full view of the elusive but elegant Waterbok (telltale rim of white on the rump as though he sat on a newly painted toilet seat). It took almost 4 hours to drive across Kruger from the Southeast corner to the north and west, out of the park then into the private Sabi Sands Game Preserve to Nottens Bush Camp (Top R), the last 40 miles on bumpy dirt roads. It was really worth the wait!


Nottens Bush Camp was truly, fantastically memorable. One of the weekend highlights was the outdoor shower ((Top L) where we could not only wash off the grime of the hostel from the night before, but enjoy animals walking by. (Above L) If you look carefully through the left bathroom window, you can see Rick outdoors shaving. After a delightful mid-afternoon tea, Adrian literally climbed onto our Land Rover (Above R) as we start the sunset game drive. Of course, we stopped for proper "sundowners" (Top R) as the sun set over the Sabi Sands before we re-started our game drive. We returned to camp for a gourmet outdoor barbecue or "braai" by a fireplace, listening to the nocturnal birds and animals.


At 5:30 the next morning we were awakened before sunrise for a spot of tea before we headed out for the game drive, then stopped (Top L) for another cup of tea after the sun came up. We had seen many animals on both drives, but the most amazing experience came 2 hours into the morning game drive when the tracker and driver followed a trail of dung piles to a herd of about 50 Cape Buffalo, 1 of the African Big 5. If you look closely (Above L) you can see the tracker's leg on the left just a few feet ahead of where Elsie is telling Lucille to move quickly out of the road. Then (Above R) Ed is telling Joe to lift up his head to pose. (Top R) The rest of the Cape Buffalo are relaxing and ignoring us.


After an exhilarating up-close-and-personal experience with the Cape Buffalo, we returned to Nottens (Top L) for a proper English breakfast on the veranda. We took a brief game walk then sadly packed up and drove back through Kruger to Swaziland. If you wonder how hard it is to spot game, (Above L) try to tell the kudu horns from tree branches. Even the female kudu (Above R) has a hard time finding the male. And the zebra can barely tell each other apart (Top R).