South Africa - Day 6

Today was safari day! 

At 4:30 a.m. we got our wake-up calls, and at 5 a.m. the bus rolled out of the Hotel Numbai and headed to the gates of Kruger National Park. We broke into groups of seven and Heather and I, Brett, Greg, Tony, Tanner, Wade, and Flat Riley (all but Greg are in the pic below) climbed into Jeep type vehicles for our adventure.

Our goal today was to see "The Big Five." A rhino, elephant, leopard, cape buffalo, and lion. We achieved our goal! 

The lion was the first find of the day. A lioness was jogging down the middle of the road before jumping off to the side if the road. 

The second find was elephants, and we found a bunch! They were fascinating. We were in the right place at the right time to see a parade of 48 elephants! There were several mommas, babies, and a few bulls looking after the herd.

The third find was the rhino. I spotted this one at about 300 yards out. We also caught a look at a black rhino, which are more rare with only 500 in the park. I wasn't fast enough to get a pic. 

Our fourth find were the cape buffalo, which are one of the most aggressive of the five. We also saw groups of them later in the day, they smell terrific! (Sarcasm)

The final of the five was the elusive leopard. Our jeep had gotten a tip late in the day and we began a tear across the park for a glimpse. When we arrived at the spot there were a few jeeps there already. We looked hard for the cat, but were unable to spot it right away. Once we looked closer we could barely see an outline, and then it got up and walked toward the watering hole for a lap or two before heading to a shade tree.

These were not the only animals we watched. We saw hippos, bandit mongoose, kudu, impala, bush buck, water buck, warthog, crocodile, leopard turtle, lizards, baboons, blue ball monkeys, nynla, giraffes, and zebra. We also saw several species of birds. 

It was an incredible day in the park! 

Tonight at the hotel we had cultural entertainment. Drummers and dancers. We also had a delicious meal. One thing I can say about South Africa, it's meat and potaoes all the time! 

Tomorrow we head into another town, visit a school, stay in a lodge, and tour a game reserve.