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.

How Does Your Garden Grow - Kruger National Park

It doesn't rain in South Africa in the winter and after the drought and water shortage from last summer, Kruger National park is very dry and very brown. The river levels are very low and some river beds have dried up completely.

However Kruger is still stunning, with amazing scenery and wildlife. You can tell when you're near water as the grass and shrubs are greener, other than that there is very little colour unless you look very hard at the picnic sites where the flora is looked after.

Hippo Christmas with #AnimalTales

Just because it's Christmas and because I can, this week's Animal Tails post is all about the hippos.

These photo's were taken in South Africa, by me, over a 4 year period at Kruger National Park, KwaZulu Natal and various Nature Reserves in Gauteng.......enjoy.