Day Safari at Kruger National Park

Two weeks ago I was in South Africa for 8 days, my friend and I visited another friend in Nelspruit, a 3 hour drive north of Pretoria and she took us into Kruger for a day drive about another hour from where she lived.

It's worth noting that with the school holidays, you should book in advance as they limit the number of visitors to the park.

We entered at Malelane Gate, the nearest entrance, drove up the H3 to Skukuza rest stop near the Paul Kruger Gate, where we had lunch and visited the souvenir shop, then exited the park on the H4 at Crocodile Bridge, approximately 150kms.

The gate closes at 6pm and the time differs throughout the year, you are fined if you are late back to the gate. The speed limit also varies and is monitored by radar.

We saw 4 of the Big 5, Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Lion but sadly no Leopard, as well as many other animals and birds and quite a few stupid drivers, blocking the road to follow the Lion, leaning out of an open window to take a photo of the Lion and 2 large 4x4's that blocked the road between a Mother and a baby elephant, as they filmed the elephant in distress, we got out of there as quick as we could, rather than wait for Daddy elephant to come.

My view from above

After a recent trip to Dubai and a journey in the lift to the 'at the top' experience 452 meters above the ground, I realised I've been 'at the top' of a lot of places in a lot of places. I've seen many things from above and I thought I would share some of my photos from 'up above' and ask you 'what have you viewed from above?'

Dubai

 Table Mountain

 To the left, South Africa, the right, Mozambique

 The Grand Canyon

 Hoover Dam (picture taken from the road bridge, not the air)

 A Hippo in South Africa

National Zoological Gardens, Pretoria

On Saturday we visited the National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria. We were there for nearly 5 hours. It was lovely to be out in the open and walk around without being in a Mall or stuck in a car.
If you plan on visiting I'd recommend you take your own food and drinks as there were 1 or 2 fast food stands and a cafe that sold unappetising food. Also take your own toilet roll as the facilities left a lot to be desired.

I know a lot of people don't like Zoo's and having seen these animals in their natural habitat I understand why. We live only 5kms from a nature reserve and less than a hours drive to see the Big 5, but I wanted to visit the zoo as I've heard they do a lot of conservation work and run breeding programmes.

Established during the Boer War and constantly being updated, I wasn't disappointed, although it is strange seeing an elephant with a tower block in the frame and the animals seems much smaller in the zoo than they do in the wild.

#snaphappybritmums photo a day for May

Day 31. My blog....do come say hi

Day 30. Fruit....we are moving tomorrow, haven't been shopping in a while

Day 29. Panorama....view from the balcony

Day 28. Macro image

Day 27. Something for baby....well I'd need medical intervention so here's a teenagers pram

Day 26. Supermarket....Lethabong township

Day 25. Something old....My Gran's engagement present from 1934 and yes I use it

Day 24. Water....one of the few open spaces I found when we first moved to South Africa

Day 23. Religion....no hunting in back streets for a bible bag here

Day 22. Something beginning with A....Armoede, Afrikaans for Poverty

Day 21. Music....I've been playing this clarinet since I was 7

Day 20. A poster that catches your eye....one of the many organisations I have volunteered to work for

Day 19. Your favourite smile

Day 18. What the weather is like today....well it's winter now and temps will drop to below freeaing, but they do reach 25c in the day

Day 17. Boots....by Crocs

Day 16. Smooth....this floor took me all day to clean

Day 15. Fly the flag....as an expat you can never have enough

Day 14. Mirror Image

Day 13. Guilty pleasure....my bedside cabinet filled with goodies from the UK

Day 12. Kissing....Glaswegian kiss on the rugby pitch

Day 11. Frozen....despite it still being 22c in the day, the inside of buildings are really cold

Day 10. Blossoms....son has been diagnosed as dyslexic,now he can use his laptop at school he is blossoming

Day 9. Inside my (drinks) fridge

Day 8. Best part of me....My hubby

Day 7. Warmth....autumn is coming to an end

Day 6. View from a above....we'd been in the bird hide 5 minutes before we realised this was under us

Day 5. Blue....our pool

Day 4. Tipple

Day 3. School days....last time all 3 of mine were together for a school photo

Day 2. Pampering...my sons flight was delayed by 24hrs and while I tried to track him hubby made coffee

Day 1. 1st thing in the morning