Day 2: Kruger National Park

​Well, I’m a day late in posting this, but it’s not dark yet and my day didn’t start at 4:00 am, neither of which was true yesterday! We departed the lodge for Kruger at 4:00 am (yes, students really CAN get up that early! It was dark, cold, and misting, and we traded our usual van for a Game Viewer, which is an open-sided sort of Jeep-like vehicle with seats in ascending tiers so that everybody can see the animals well. Fortunately, ours had a canvas top that helped keep us semi-dry, but the wind was pretty chilly on the 90-minute drive to Kruger! Fortunately, we were forewarned and had brought blankets and warm clothes!

We arrived in time to see the sun rise over the park, but it was so grey that only a subtle lightening of the sky greeted us. It is very unusual to have rain this time of year, and especially cold drizzle—lucky us! But we are intrepid types, and we set out. By 9:30, most of the clouds were blowing over, and the remainder of the day was mostly sunny and in the 70s, perfect for viewing wildlife. 

Impala we’re our first sighting inside the park. They are fast and leap as well as run. Locals call them “the McDonalds of antelope”, because they have a dark brown M-shaped marking on their rumps, they are everywhere, and they feed large numbers!

We saw SOOOO many elephants! This good-sized bull was the first, standing alongside the road. He is using his trunk to strip leaves from the saplings and branches and stuff them into his mouth, where he slowly chews them. The animals in Kruger are very used to seeing vehicles, so they tend to simply ignore them. However, it is vital not to lean out the window or get out of your vehicle, since they are real animals and potentially dangerous!

We also saw several giraffes, browsing the upper layers of the trees. This one is male, as his ossicles (false horns) are bald at the ends from marking and neck fighting with other males. Females have central-facing ossicles with dark tufts of hair on the ends.

It was hard to differentiate the species of this eagle, since the light was poor and he was quite soaking wet. We saw many raptors and other birds.

Male kudu with his herd. These are spiral-horned antelope, known as the “grey ghosts”because they are so effectively camouflaged by brush, trees, branches and rocks.

These yellow-beaked and red-beaked hornbills are everywhere (yes, it’s Zazu.) we stopped at a picnic area where a group had learned to hang out for crumbs.

This red-beaked hornbill was ready for his closeup. I say “he”, but hornbills are not sexually dimorphic (males and females look alike), unlike many bird species. So this could as easily be a female. Regardless, cool birds!

Baboons are commonplace, mostly considered a nuisance, and potentially dangerous. Their canine teeth are far longer than those of a lion and males, especially, can be very aggressive.

More elephants. I’m personally completely fascinated by these creatures, so you’ll be seeing more ellie photos, I’m sure! Did you know that elephants are pregnant for 22 months?!

Female baboon with an infant on her lap.

Posing for the camera!

You can see by the background that the weather has cleared.

Hyena scat. It is white due to the high calcium phosphate content from all of the bones they crunch up.

This is a lilac-breasted roller, the most gorgeous bird I have ever seen! Photo in no way does it justice! Use the link to see better photos! In flight, it’s wings are an electric turquoise color!

lilac breasted roller

Look closely in the right tree crotch. There is a leopard looking at us!

Wildebeest tend to be in herds, and this one was with a group but I was able to capture him in motion. They really are unusual looking: Their fronts seem too heavy for their hindquarters.

African wild dogs are a threatened species and do not typically appear where people are. But as we were leaving the park, we came upon this pack that hung around the edge of the road for quite a while. Notice the lovely golden color to the light!

Sunset is coming!

And a baby elephant! I don’t think there’s anything cuter!

Sunset over Orpen.

We came back to an amazing supper of lasagna and dessert. Everybody was pretty tired, so after supper, we pretty much crashed!