Kruger, again

I gave Lisa less than a day to recover from her 30-plus hour milkrun around the world (Kelown-Vancouver-San Franciso-Washington-Accra-Johannesburg) before whisking her off for a short trip to Kruger. It was less than two months ago that I was there last, but it’s a different place now that we’re into the rainy season. In my earlier blog post I mentioned how astonished I was that such a dry, barren-looking environment could support the quantity and diversity of incredible wildlife I saw. On this second trip, in contrast, we saw a landscape exploding in greenery. It is said that this is a less good time to visit the park (unless you’re especially into birds), because all the vegetation makes animals tougher to spot. The really big upside to this, however, is that when you’re not seeing animals there is so much more to capture your attention: the birds, for one, as well as heaps of beautiful flowers, vast plains, quiet meadows, and deep blue skies which are, in my opinion, a great improvement over the haziness of the dry season. So whereas I was totally focused on the big mammals on my first trip - because there wasn’t really anything else to focus on - I felt I gained a much fuller appreciation of the park this time.

Rather than moving through the length of the park, North to South, as I had done with Laurel, Lisa and I stayed in the South, where the greatest number of animals are found. In addition to spotting 4 of the Big 5 (no leopards), we saw all sorts of amazing creatures, including some new ones for me. Of special note: a couple little cats - a Spotted Genet, and an African Wildcat - both about the size of a house cat, 1 of only 23 pairs of Saddle-billed storks, a side-striped Jakal, a Spotted Hyena (beneath the balcony at the camp), an albino baby impala, and some Bloody Big Rhinos. Many of the animals we saw seemed much more active than they had been in October. The hippos were out and about on land (previously I’d rarely even seen them move, let alone get up out of the water!), as well as leaping about (“breaching” might be a better word here) and wrestling in the water. The male impala were knocking horns whle the females fed their babies.

The only real negative to visiting Kruger in mid-summer is that if you wish to go on a guided morning drive (we went on two), you have to get up at 3:30 in the morning. One can convince themselves that this makes for a fun adventure the first time, but come the second morning wildlife watching takes on a much paler hue. Nevertheless, I am now a certifiable Kruger fan. For a city boy from Canada it is a place of incomparable wonder, and despite the roads and people and souvenir shops, I would happily go back again and again.

Photos are here.