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So I totally forgot when I posted about days 1, 2, and 3 about probably my favorite sighting! It was day 3 (our second day in the park — but our first full day). We were told very specific directions outside of the Lower Sabie lodge to a leopard about 15 kilometers away. Supposedly he had been sitting in a tree for hours. Off we went. As the case goes with most leopard, this one was gone. The road where he was earlier had a few cars still trying to find him. No leopard. But there was something else. As we’re driving forward on a dirt road, we notice a car a few hundred meters up from us reversing. That’s always a good sign. We look out and see the one big cat that I didn’t see last time I went to Kruger. Cheetah.
I was absolutely thrilled! The cheetah was a ways out but was walking towards us! The cat ended up stopping right in front of our car (and at one point darted left and right for a rabbit — only to go back to this same spot). We just stared as long as it sat there. We were lucky as the sighting lasted a good five minutes. Absolutely beautiful animal.
So day 4 had us back at my favorite place on earth. The Olifants lodge. Olifants has a lookout from camp that looks like it is where life began. You can see elephant crossing, hippo laying, giraffe feeding… all while you eat your meal on the top of the little Olifants mountain. It’s truly the most serene place in the world.
Looking out from the lodge at a herd crossing the Olifants river.
We crossed the bridge on our way out in the morning — there’s almost always baboon nearby :)
The ground hornbill. I absolutely love these inquisitive little (or really big, I should say) guys. My hunch is that people feed them more than they ought to, given that they walk right up to your car door and look at you like you owe them something :) They are giant birds that look like they’d love to sit with you all day. They’re awesome.
We headed down to the Satara lodge — in hopes of seeing some lion — and passed tons of zebra along the way. How can you not love these guys!
A lone bull extremely close (and comfortable, I might add) to my open window. I’m used to Asian elephant with all the time I’ve spent over in Asia over the years. When I first saw African elephant it was almost like another species. They look like dinosaurs — they’re that massive. Elephant in general might be my favorite animal encounter in the bush.
Giraffe are everywhere out there! Such a sweet animal.
We saw ten times the warthog I saw last time. I love these ugly little guys. It’s like he’s staring right at me saying “whatcha gonna do, huh???”
The best part about Olifants is that you can be out on the bridge close to sunset and still make it in the gate. All of Kruger has the rule that you have to stay in your car. There’s a couple of spots in the 7500 square miles that you are allowed to get out — this bridge is one of them (it’s pretty long so it’s totally safe to get out on). Sunsets over the river from this place are my favorite in the world.
One of the prettiest birds in the world. The Lilac Breasted Roller. He got himself a nice little grasshopper :)
The best part about the Satara lodge? The resident Scops owl!!! This guy is actually smaller than my hand — no joke. I saw him last year and Garrett had really wanted to see him from seeing my pictures. I was so glad that he was there again! Garrett and I could have stared at him for hours. He sleeps right where everyone walks and doesn’t mind you getting a few feet away for a good picture. That’s a Kruger ambassador right there!
One of the sweetest things in the bush — zebra leaning on each other. You see it a ton but it’s hard to move past :)
Another thing we saw much more of on this trip was bird of prey. These are something I can’t get enough of. Here at home we have a couple red-tail hawks that live on our block. I’ve seen them my whole life but I’ll still stare at them for as long as they’re around. Needless to say, seeing huge eagles out in Africa was just amazing. We probably saw three or four eagles a day!
We were driving around Balule (I believe) and this little guy was getting some morning sun. On the opposite side of our car was a beautiful monitor doing the exact same thing. Being a reptile freak from early childhood, this was a real treat. This baby was about a meter long :)
On our way home for the night we passed yet another large herd of ellies. Probably 20 of them on both sides of us. These two little guys were playing together — pushing each other and taking from from the others mouth. It was adorable :)
Day six we saw a ton more — but I told myself that I would take my camera out only on rare occasions for this trip. I wanted to experience the animals as much as possible and shooting less helped me do that even more this time. We had two lion sightings during this time, as well! But I really wanted to take it in so no photos. Sorry!
These guys jumped on our car right when we pulled up! I’m pretty sure they’re used to people feeding them and expected we’d do the same ;)
Vultures are one of the most fascinating animals in the bush. I believe they have the most advanced immune system out of any animal in the world — with the ability to take on things like anthrax! They look kind of ugly, I suppose, but that just makes them more lovable to me ;)
Baby giraffe are way too cute!
This is actually a screen grab from my 5D Mark II video file. This little baby was sitting on top of and pushing its older sibling. Talk about watching something awesome!
I hope this is making you want to go on safari at the Kruger park! I already want to go back. I’ll see if I can finish up the trip later this week. Thanks for checking these out!
Bobby
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by Bobby Earle
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