Safari Time in Kruger Park, South Africa

Within 18 hours of arriving in Mozambique, Shirley whisked me away to Kruger Park, South Africa.  One tank of gas, 3.5 hours and $265 later, we were headed through Crocodile bridge to Camp Shawu www.shawucamp.com.  Camp Shawu was lovely.  We were given the best room at the lodge, probably because we were the coolest, prettiest and most fun….or we were the first to arrive for the day (The next couple arrived just before the game drive).

They let me in!

Crocodile Bridge

Camp Shawu, hut 2

Failed jumping photo.

Our bed was way too romantic for 18-hour acquaintances 

Our room, cabin 2, overlooked the middle of a watering hole that was the primary water source for hippos, elephants, zebras, crocs, rhinos, zebras, impalas and baboons.  We saw so many animals throughout the day that it was ridiculous.  The hippos were super chatty and called back and forth all day long.  There was even a big old hippo that was hanging out 50-100 meters from our balcony.

The lodge cooked us a lovely lunch of unidentified meat, rice and veggies, then we had an hour or so to rest prior to heading out on our evening game drive.

miscellaneous meat and veggies were delicious

Our game ranger was incredible.  Granted, it is his job to spot animals, but he seriously had eagle eyes.  He spotted animals from SO FAR AWAY, it was incredible, then chased them down in our Jeep.  He spotted and chased down 4 of the big 5 for us.  Rhinos, Lions, Elephants and Buffalo got ticked off our ‘must-see’ list, however we never did spot a leopard.  We also got to see hippos, eagles, vultures, lizards, turtles, crocs, impala, zebras, kudus, warthogs, wildebeests, and magnificent giraffes.

Emily and "Eagle eyes"

Emily and Shirley on our night dusk game drive

Dawn game drive

Breakfast, cookies and coffee with the zebras

Elephant dirt bath

Elephant

Why did the giraffe cross the road?

Pumbaas!  Warthogs

White Rhinos

A zeal of Zebras...

A bloat of hippopotami  

A heard of elephants at the watering hole

Hippopotamus pretending to be Jaws...

He was funny and obsessed with lions. He sought them out at every opportunity.  That first day, we saw a pride of female lions, then a second group of females with 6 1-month old cubs and three 4-month old lions.  The female lion was busy feeding all 6 cubs despite only having 4 teats.  We assumed 4 cubs were hers, 2 were another lion’s.  The other lion was disinterested in her cubs, possibly suffering from postpartum depression.  (When she returned, some cubs tried to feed on her and she pushed them away.)

Pardon me while I poop

Mother feedbag and delinquent sister

Interesting fact: A mother lion will kill any cubs that exceed the four that she can feed.  So, it was quite remarkable that this momma was caring for her sister’s cubs as well.  She was literally a feedbag.  It was very unusual, so we were told.

Since the mother lion was busy with 4 cubs on her at a time, the baby cubs wandered off toward our Jeep on several occasions.  They got within 10 feet, providing excellent photo ops.

Lion cubs eating sticks

Upon leaving that pride, we found the 3 teenage cubs playing in the tall grass.  When we drove up close, they started to show off.  One climbed a flimsy tree and we were sure he was stuck.  However, his silhouette looked marvelous with the setting sun in the background.

oh shit, stuck in a tree

We returned back to the lodge for a fish dinner and retreated to our cabin.  We had an early wake up call at 5:30 for the morning’s game drive.  We weren’t tired though, so we decided to sit on our porch and watch the shooting stars.  There were dozens of shooting stars and more stars in the sky than I had ever seen in my life.  The hippos must have been enjoying the stars too because they were quite chatty, calling back and forth between them all night long.  At one point, we heard a loud cry followed by several other calls.  We assumed there was an attack somewhere out in the darkness and Darwinism was in full effect.

Shirley looking for shooting stars on our night game drive

The next morning, I woke up to the tapping on the door from the lodge staff. I put on my slippers and headed out immediately to porch to see the hippos.  Can you think of a better way to wake up, really… to hippos? When I got out there, the giant hippo from 100 meters away was only 25 meters away on the beach….with a BABY HIPPO!  The cry we heard the night prior must have been her giving birth and all of the other hippos congratulating her.  Amazing!

She was very protective of her baby.  They entered the water shortly after sunrise and the baby swam in circles around her staying close.  There was a male hippo that kept a watchful eye on them as well as another hippo mom and a much older adolescent hippo.  Again, there was a lot of chatter and the momma hippo actually charged the other hippo a couple times.

Momma hippo and the newborn baby

We went to the lodge for breakfast and shared our story with the lodge workers and they informed us that there was no baby the previous day, so yes indeed, she must have given birth the night prior.  We were so excited.  We ate our eggs, toast and fruit and hopped in the Jeep for another game drive.  We were bound to find a leopard, but we didn’t.

We did see more lions though.  This time, we spotted a pride of 4 brothers, manes and all.  Our ranger got us within 8 feet of them.

Brother lions!

Interesting fact:  Male lions typically wouldn’t tolerate other males around.  Since these were 4 brothers, they tolerated each other, but one was clearly an alpha male and as long as the others’ knew their place against him, their pride would stay harmonious.

It was time for elephants, dammit.  Lions are incredible, but I’d seen 19 at this point, I wanted to see majestic elephants, since they are my favorite.   We learned that our ranger was afraid of elephants as he had almost had a car flipped by one.  We drove up on a pack of about 10 elephants.  There were old ones, adolescents, teenagers and babies. It was amazing.  They were actually on the other side of our watering hole.  We sat and watched as they threw dirt on themselves to cool off and then one of the teenagers spotted us and decided to have a little fun.  He charged our Jeep and got within 15-feet.  It was so scary, but amazing at the same time.  Our ranger informed us that he was a teenager and he was just playing.  If we had been in a smaller car and driven away, he would have chased us and possibly flipped us, but he wouldn’t actually charge a big vehicle like the Jeep.

Getting charged by an elephant

peace out, bro

We never did get to see a leopard, but we got so close to so many animals, it was worth it.  To see them walking, playing and strolling in their natural environment cannot be replicated by any zoo.  It was amazing and I felt completely fulfilled, with or without a leopard.

When we returned to the lodge, we ate and watched the hippos some more.  The male was getting closer and closer to the female and she charged him on several occasions….we just knew were going to see a hippo fight if we stayed long enough.  The lodge workers told us that the baby was likely a male and that the alpha male was likely trying to kill it so the mother was defending her baby fiercely. 

Sure enough, the hippo fight was on just before we were leaving.  It was brief, but momma actually took a swiping bite at the alpha male hippo.  Go momma!

If you ever have the opportunity to go to Kruger Park, I highly recommend it.  The safari was so affordable.  $265 per person for 2 nights, 4 meals and 2 game drives.  It was amazing and certainly worth it.  There are a million more animal photos, these are just some of the highlights....ENJOY!