We hit the road first thing and headed to Kruger National Park. When we got to the park, we decided to do a quick game drive in the truck (we would have to stay on the paved roads). We saw buffalo, impalas, zebras and giraffes and got geared up for the following day’s safari we had booked.
We got to camp, pitched our two room suite (we pitched one tent to hold all of our stuff and the other to all sleep in since none of the three of us were brave enough to sleep alone). We had some wine and dinner by the campfire and played a game “Two Truths and a Lie” to get to know each other a bit. The American girls then headed to bed since we were scheduled to leave on safari at 5 a.m.
Our tent was near an electric fence to keep out the animals. As we were stumbling to our tent in the pitch black, we panicked because the fence started sparking. Oh no, what animal was trying to get over? We shined our lights on the fence and realized the fence was just sparking, no animals. As we tried to let this make us feel better, we asked each other “Wait, is that better?”
In the middle of the night it started to rain. We had been told there might be some showers but those were forecasted to end mid morning (bold statement based on nothing). So we headed off in rain gear on our safari. It rained off and on all morning but we saw some amazing things. I think the most unique thing we saw that morning was the pack of wild dogs. There are only 300 in the entire park (which is the size of Israel) and we saw dozens. We thought it was just a couple by the road but when the “top dog” became spooked and stood up, a PACK of wild dogs emerged from the woods. As we left lunch, it was POURING and so WINDY. We were still yet to see a lion or an elephant. And this gets less likely as the day goes on. But the crazy weather had the animals all confused so first we spotted elephants including a little baby elephant and THEN a male lion who was not that far from us hunting a herd of buffalo. All in all despite the crazy weather, we had an amazing day on safari.
We returned to camp to find our campsite essentially a river. Everything was soaked. Everyone sought refuge on the truck to hang out. This is the night that led the American girls to learn the word upgrade and we never looked back. We were scheduled to hit the road for Mozambique the next morning and as the three of us were rolling up a muddy wet tent while standing in a river of water, I was pretty positive you couldn’t pay me to sleep in that tent ever again.
Some pictures from the safari…..
