Sat Nov 24 - Kruger day 2 - Bucket List South Africa

Sat Nov 24 - Kruger day 2

Today was day 2 of our wonderful visit to Kruger NP. Despite travelling over 200km each day we covered only about a quarter of the park. Kruger NP is 352km (220mi) top to bottom and covers 19,633 sq km (7,580 sq mi). We did come within an hours drive of the Mozambique border on our tour today. We had the same guide again today for just the two of us. We opted to go for another all day safari starting a little earlier to catch more of the animals and we could cover different terrain. We were very lucky with our sightings except for leopards. We even saw a full pride of lions with a very large male and an impala giving birth. We spotted several new varieties of birds and had good luck with crocodiles, hippos and a rhino. Lastly we finally captured the velvet monkey on camera. There was more retail therapy of course. I will let the photos do most of the talking. Tomorrow we begin the LONG trek home.

A Calabria tree that is poisonous to humans.

A female Impala with her very young one.

A white rhino. The black rhino are almost extinct due to poachers.

Retail therapy, my new placemats. This projetct supports a women’s group in SA.

A very handsome male lion with a pride of at least 20 lions.

A herd of buffalo coming to drink in the river.

An African spoon bill with crocodiles in the background.

A baby giraffe was spotted right inside the gate.

A spotted hyena, notice the teeth that can crush bones.

The gâté through which we entered the park everyday.

A Murula tree whose fruit ripens in December. All of the animals love it and elephants will even knock over the tree to get the fruit. Jams, jellies and liqueur are made from it.

Some of the products made with the Murula fruit.

A bunch of the fruit on the Murula tree.

A close up of an unripened fruit. When ripe is twice as big and orange.

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Gail JohnsonBob and I have just finished viewing all of your very AMAZING photos. We are very impressed with all of the animals you have seen and the pictures and scenery you were able to capture.
What an adventure and how lucky were you to be the only two on the tour - LOVE undivided attention you must have received.
Congratulations on an extremely exciting adventure. This certainly was the icing on the cake!
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5 years ago

Hilary JaegerFantastic photos! Are you sure you need a new camera? The impala are very elegant, and I admit I have a soft spot for warthogs - they are so ugly they are cute.
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5 years ago

Deb HunterOh my gosh! Your safari photos are incredible. You really lucked out in the variety of animals you saw. You must have quite a telephoto - you seemed really close to almost everything. I love your retail purchases as well. All in all, this trip appears to have been a smashing success.
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5 years ago

Margaret KavanaghThx for all your comments it is nice to know people are actually reading the blog since it does take some effort.
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5 years ago