152,000 Impalas

If you buy the Kruger Park Map and Animal Identification Booklet, you learn about how many of the different kinds of organisms inhabit the area.  It states that, "The Kruger National Park boasts approximately 147 mammal species, more than 507 bird species, 114 reptile species, over 49 fish species, 34 amphibian species, 227 butterfly species and 336 tree species."  The booklet lists 25 different animal counts, of which 152,000 are impalas. They supply much of the food for the carnivores such as lions (1620-1750), leopards (1000), and cheetahs (120) that live there among them.  We saw a lot of impalas, everywhere in the park.

These mid-sized antelopes are easy to identify with the black stripes on the rear, black scent glands on the back legs, and the lyre-shaped horns of the males.

You rarely see impalas by themselves, and they appear in either a group of females or a group of males.  Indeed, there is safety in numbers.

Often you see them with other animals: the noisier, the bigger, the better.

Kruger Zebras

I was lucky enough to spot our first animal in Kruger National Park, and it was a zebra.  What a moment!  Steve had to back up to find it.  We sat there a long time with the motor off just gazing at this little guy while he looked back at us.

It is not particularly easy to spot any animal, and our eyes eventually would become buggy from looking so hard and for hours on end out the windows to see something.  Our speed was limited to about 40 kilometers per hour, but even then that was too fast.  Often someone would yell, "Stop!", we'd back up, peer eagerly into the bush, and discover it was only a dead trunk of a tree or a big rock.  Later we were informed that what we saw was an ALT: animal looking thing.  We saw plenty of those.

Sometimes we would glimpse only part of an animal for a very short time.

The animals were not always close to the road, either.  Our binoculars were invaluable accessories.  The zoom feature of my camera was priceless since I just use a Panasonic Lumix point and shoot.

The zebras are my favorite animals.

The Road to Kruger

It takes a l-o-n-g time to get to Kruger National Park when you drive because of all the potholes...everywhere...potholes...big potholes!  It took me a while to figure out that everywhere else...most of Botswana, all of Namibia, and western and central South Africa have good to great roads.  But eastern South Africa has so many potholes that you have to drive extremely slowly.  Everyone complains, too.  Near the end of our adventure, it dawned on me why the potholes never got fixed.  Drivers are being trained to slow down, no matter where you come from, because when you drive down a road, you are never sure when an animal might make an appearance right in front of you.  Drivers need to be ready to stop, and potholes are the way to do it!

Africa...Here We Come

AFRICA!
WOW!

Yes, we did.  Six weeks in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and back to South Africa.   Around Thanksgiving we had arranged to rent a Toyota Hilux double cab diesel camper pick-up with two collapsible tents on top for the three of us: Jim and I sharing one; Steve in the other.  Steve drove on the left side of the roads nearly 6,000 miles beginning near Johannesburg, the mile high city of South Africa.  We picked the truck up our first afternoon and began our grand adventure by heading east towards Kruger National Park where we had reservations beginning two days later.

Our first campsite was in a park outside Dullstroom, the coldest city in South Africa, which we did not realize until the middle of the night.  However, we went to bed with tummies filled with the delights of Mrs. Simpson's chef.  If South African food is this good, we will be really happy travelers.

The first animal we heard in South Africa was a horse munching grass at dawn.  The first animals we saw in South Africa were chickens and sheep.  This shy mama hen did not want her photo taken, but see what she was sheltering...8 babies!

            

We drove by the overlooks of Blyde River Canyon including God's Window.  Blyde River Canyon is the second largest canyon in Africa.  

God's Window is really a slit between the big sections of rock, but the sun was in the position to limit my photography skills.

The view from God's Window opened a vista towards Kruger Park and other private game reserves.

The parking lot was our first glimpse of tourist souvenirs.  Someone told me much was made cheaply in Zimbabwe, and everyone had nearly the same things for sale.  I decided to try to buy directly from the artisans who make the items I chose to buy on our trip.